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October 29, 2004
Educators learn of ways to detect child abuse
Lisa Schaeffer -- pottsmerc.com
MARLBOROUGH -- Several local forces recently joined together in hopes of preventing perpetrators of child abuse from walking free.
The Upper Perkiomen School District hosted a free workshop at the Marlborough Elementary School to teach local educators the proper way to report child abuse.
"The goal is to make sure children are not victimized," said Greg Dickey, the supervisor of pupil services for the school district. "Your purpose as an educator is to protect the child."
Representatives from the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, the Upper Perkiomen Domestic Violence Task Force and the Montgomery County Office of Children and Youth conducted the workshop. Nearly 50 school nurses, teachers and guidance counselors from the Pottsgrove, Pottstown, Spring-Ford, Upper Perkiomen, Perkiomen, Owen J. Roberts and Methacton school districts attended.
Former Montgomery County prosecutor Wendy Demchick-Alloy spoke at the event and shared several of her experiences with the crowd. She said that in many cases of sexual abuse there is no physical evidence and the act is usually committed by someone the child trusts.
Since there is rarely evidence to prove the abuse occurred, maintaining the credibility of the case is key to putting people in jail, she said.
"I’m here to tell you child sexual abuse doesn’t leave evidence," Demchick-Alloy said.
She said it is the responsibility of every adult who works with children to report abuse to the proper authorities. Not following proper reporting procedures could result in a child abuser being found not guilty, she said. From the perspective of someone who knows firsthand what it is like to be in the courtroom, Demchick-Alloy briefed the educational staff on the proper steps to take if they detect a child is being abused.
"You have a job to do as a guidance counselor, teacher, nurse, school person who is watching this child for the day," Demchick-Alloy said.
She said it is important that adults do not ask too many questions. In many cases, the qu-estions asked by adults can be construed by defense lawyers as putting suggestions into the child’s head, she said.
"I’m trying to explain the importance of not suggesting to a child what happened to them," Demchick-Alloy said.
She told the audience that if they discover a child is being abused, they should contact police, who will then conduct an investigation and contact additional authorities if necessary, including the district attorney’s office and youth services. Demchick-Alloy said the most important follow-up questions to ask are what happened, where it happened and how the abuse occurred. After that, the best thing for an adult to do is to let the child tell the story on their own.
One way police are working to make children more comfortable in telling their stories is by reducing the number of people the children have to talk to.
Mark Wickersham, a detective with the Pottstown Police Department, talked about the borough’s child advocacy center, Parck Place. He said Parck Place provides a safe haven for children who have been abused and offers medical, law enforcement, educational and social service contacts in the Pottstown area. Wickersham said Parck Place eliminates the number of places and people an abused child has to visit before the case can go to court.
"We want a place where kids can feel safe. We also want a place where a kid can feel like a hero, because they stood up for themselves," he said.
Wickersham explained that when a child does report abuse, in most cases they end up having to re-tell their story to a slew of people, including social workers, doctors, nurses, detectives, teachers and school administrators. He said everyone tells a story in their own way, and down the line the details can change, which in the long run could ruin the child’s credibility.
"We want one person doing the talking in that environment," Wickersham said.
Also in attendance at the workshop was Mary Lou Doughty, supervisor of protective services at the Montgomery County Office of Children and Youth. Doughty said that each month the office receives more than 300 reports of child abuse. Despite their heavy workload, Doughty said the Children and Youth workers pursue the majority of the reports they receive and take each case seriously in hopes of providing children and families with the help they need to prevent future incidents.
"We’re afraid if we don’t get in the door now, we’re going to have a child down the road that has really been hurt," Doughty said.
Posted by Nealus at October 29, 2004 12:51 PM
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