By Wendy Diaz, Lead Forensic Interviewer
Earlier this year, an 11-year-old child (Lali*) came to CAC to talk about the abuse that she experienced by her grandpa. During her interview, Lali disclosed what had happened and shared with me (the Forensic Interviewer) things she hadn’t told anyone else before. Lali’s sisters were also interviewed that day, but they did not disclose any abuse during their interviews.
However, two months later, the detective assigned to the case received a call from the family that there were new disclosures of abuse by the siblings which involved the same grandpa.
The detective, as the law enforcement member of the Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) for Lali's case, called CAC to discuss the new developments and what would be best for the children. The detective stated that the other sisters had made a disclosure about the same offender (grandpa). The MDT agreed that a follow-up interview should be conducted for all children involved.
The children returned to CAC that week, and I conducted follow-up interviews. During the interviews, the other siblings disclosed the abuse by their grandpa. They felt it was okay to talk about it because their sister had already talked about it with me. After a thorough investigation, the offender was arrested and charged with one count of Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse and two counts of Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault of a Child.
All children were referred for medical exams, along with CAC’s in-house trauma therapy services.
This case illustrates the effectiveness of the MDT model that CAC uses:
The purpose of a forensic interview is not to force a child to disclose abuse. Sometimes a child is ready to share that terrible experience, like Lali was. Sometimes a child is not – like Lali’s sisters.
The MDT model protects the well-being of the child by allowing CAC’s Forensic Interviewer to do a single interview with the child to gather their account of what happened. This approach avoids multiple interviews conducted by multiple people in multiple locations, which can re-traumatize the child. (The MDT includes law enforcement, DCFS, the State's Attorney's Office, healthcare personnel and CAC staff.)
However, in Lali’s situation, the MDT agreed that because the siblings came forward with disclosures of abuse after Lali had been interviewed, all children should participate in follow-up interviews. Even though Lali had completed her forensic interview, she was likely a witness to her siblings’ abuse and needed an opportunity to tell what she knew about those incidents.
Because the forensic interview process is coordinated by CAC, the MDT is able to quickly communicate throughout an investigation as needed. In addition, the CAC Advocate assigned to each family keeps them updated on the case and can provide referrals to supportive services.
Last but certainly not least, because of the MDT's perseverance, the alleged abuse was investigated and substantiated and charges were filed. While we would love to say that charges are always filed when a child discloses abuse, that is unfortunately not the most common outcome, so the MDT was extremely pleased with this outcome.
*Name has been changed to protect the child's identity.
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