Shattering the Silence
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Daily Journal Staff Writer
Madison County Prosecutor Lora E. Cooper knows how frustrating it can be to prosecute those who commit sex offenses against children.
Convincing a jury can be a challenge, because jurors don’t want to think such things happens in their community, said Cooper, who previously prosecuted most of the child sex abuse cases in Cape Girardeau. She handles child sex abuse cases much in the same way she does a homicide.
“You want to make sure every ‘i’ is dotted and every ‘t’ is crossed,” she explained. “But frequently, there are no physical findings. It comes down to the child’s word against the perpetrator’s. At what point does affection become molestation?”
The road toward a conviction begins with proper, age-appropriate questioning, Cooper said. For example, young children may interpret “touch” as only done with the hands. When asked if someone touched them in a certain place, “no” might mean no one touched them with hands, not necessarily that they were not touched there, she explained.
Often, children do not tell until long after the abuse. They might have begun acting out as a way to deal with the sex abuse, which could make it appear that they are just trying to make trouble when they finally do tell. That requires calling an expert to court to explain delayed disclosure to the jury.
Children are very forgiving, and predators rely on that when they increase the abuse.
“They don’t usually escalate directly to a rape situation; they do a little bit more, a little bit more, a little bit more.” Cooper explained. “The child is uncomfortable, but is not sure why. It’s only a little bit more than last week.”
If a case will be difficult to prosecute, Cooper sometimes decides the best thing is to drop the charges.
“I have to ask, ‘Am I doing more harm to this victim by pursuing it?’” she explained. “I can’t think of anything worse than putting a child on the stand in front of a jury who then essentially calls him or her a liar. The children already feel like they’re being punished when you make them talk about things adults don’t even want to talk about.”
Other frustrations include non-offending parents who don’t want to believe a child. That is more common than a parent coaching their children to accuse the spouse when the accusation is a lie, Cooper said.
Non-offending parents find it difficult to admit that this could have happened to their child, or that the spouse could have been the abuser. While some want to help their children, their feelings for the spouse make them reluctant to provide evidence against him or her. Others worry that if the spouse goes to jail, they will not be able to make it on their own.
Some parents make the child feel guilty by telling the child that they will have nowhere to go if the offender is arrested.
Parents can help with prosecution by learning how to handle things when the child does tell.
“Parents need to understand that there has to be something that makes a child disclose,” Cooper said. “They disclose when they feel safe, or when the perpetrator has been out of the home and the child is afraid he’s coming back. They are not going to tell you about it the day it happens.”
Cooper said it is important that the parent does not panic, although that is a normal human response. Instead, the parent should sit down and try to find out without putting suggestions in their head.
“Don’t try to cross examine,” Cooper advises parents. “That requires a specialized training that most parents don’t have. The child might refrain from saying things if they feel you don’t believe them.”
Children also might hold some information back if they feel that what they are saying is upsetting or hurting their parent, she added. That is one reason children disclose to a friend or an adult at school.
Once Cooper is alerted to a child sexual abuse accusation, she sends the child to Madison County Sheriff’s Deputy Rebecca McFarland for an initial forensic interview. A more in-depth interview takes place at the Children’s Advocacy Center in De Soto or the SEMO Network Against Sexual Violence in Cape Girardeau.
Parents need to walk the line between trusting everyone they know and trusting no one.
“You don’t want to think that the Scout leader or the nice lady who watches your kids at church is doing it for any reason other than being nice,” Cooper acknowledged. “But predators don’t have a sign around their necks. They have to be good at befriending children and people with children, or they’re not going to have access to any victims.”
Paula Barr is a reporter for the Daily Journal and can be reached at 573-431-2010, ext. 172 or at pbarr@dailyjournalonline.com.
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