Investigation of Death in Abused Children
Abstract
Investigating any death in search of foul play is a difficult job that requires a person to investigate it with the ability to look over the fact that the matter is sensitive to find the clues that are needed. A medicolegal death investigator has an extremely sensitive task of investigating children’s deaths when there is suspicion that the death was caused from child abuse. Every year children are abused and many of these incidences go unreported however, they ones that can never be ignored are the cases where the child dies. Whenever a child dies under suspicious circumstances the medical examiner must put aside personal empathy and look at the child’s body for any clues left behind that can prove who the killers were and what their intent was. This is important because if proof can’t be established that the child was murdered on purpose the killer(s) will most likely get away with it.
Keywords: Medicolegal death examiner, intent, child abuse
Introduction
Many children are abused each year in the United States. The exact number of abused children is unknown because no two sets of statistics are the same due to different types of reporting and different levels of abuse. Add this in with the number of children who are abused and the abuse never gets reported and the actual number of abuse cases is nearly impossible to factor in to an evidence based statistical analysis. The most dependable data available currently comes from a national database known as the National Child Abuse and Neglect System (NCANDS). This takes all of the reports of abuse and allows for an analysis that is staggering. In 2005 alone there were over three million reports of child abuse in the United States. Out of these three million just over 800,000 were documented as confirmed cases. The results of this put the issue of child abuse into perspective for anyone who thinks that it is not that big of a current issue. That same year the amount of children that actually died because of abuse was just under 1,500. If even one child was to suffer abuse it would be unacceptable but the numbers provided by statistics show that not only is it a problem it is even bigger than anyone could imagine (Association, 2016).
Knowing that child abuse has become an epidemic that results not only in the harm of children but the deaths of such a large number of children every year, the only acceptable response to this knowledge is to act against it immediately and as harshly as possible. The first step to doing so is to determine without question that child abuse was the leading cause of the individual child’s death so that charges can be filed. This job is delegated for a person that specializes in determining if a child’s death looks like it was not caused by natural elements. A medicolegal death investigator is defined as: A person in the position “to investigate any death that falls under the jurisdiction of the medical examiner or coroner, including suspicious, violent and unexplained unexpected deaths (Investigators, 2016).
A medicolegal death investigator only examines bodies that died from suspicious causes in an attempt to determine if in fact someone is at fault legally for a person’s death. This person does not examine or prepare everybody that comes into the morgue; instead they specialize in determining the cause of death by investigating a body. Police officers are in charge of determining if there is any evidence left at the scene of a crime and a medicolegal death investigator looks for evidence on around or inside a person’s body after death. This job is not a career choice for everyone as it involves knowing exactly how a human life is lost unnecessarily. It also requires someone with a strong stomach and a precise eye for determining if a person is at fault for a death or not. Children that die from alleged abuse or neglect are also part of an investigation that a medicolegal death investigator is in charge of. In some instances the investigator may find that a child died because of abuse. In others it is just a case of an accidental death. One investigator describes brains from a deceased child that were underneath a car. The child’s own mother had accidentally run over the child after dropping the young one off with grandma. With all of the cases of abuse it is no surprise that this death would be investigated. In the end it was determined that it was a horrible accident and unfortunately though the mother felt something she had no idea it was her own child and continued to go about her day driving down the road. The interesting part of this and many of the other stories told by this specific investigator is how morbid they sound to the average person. However, the investigator points out that this is part of their job. They have to look at the worst situations in a person’s life from a clear perspective to determine if anyone can be found to be at fault for a person’s death.
Parents That Are Convicted
When a parent kills there child by accident an investigation during the time that they are grieving can be the worst time of their life. However, to ensure that there is justice for the children that are killed by unremorseful parents this step is necessary. Children are so helpless when trying to defend themselves against an adult attacker. This is even worse when it is a parent or caregiver that they trust. You would think that a crime this horrific would carry the harshest punishment but unfortunately there are many times that parents are not charged or receive a very light sentence. When compared to a punishment that is similar against an adult it seems that the abuse of a child leading to death awards a mere slap on the hand to these parents in most cases. There are rare cases where a parent will receive a lengthy or even life sentence for killing their child or children but statistics show that this is not the normal pattern. The reason that convicting an adult is so difficult when it comes to the death of a child is that it is difficult to prove that the murder was intentional. For example when a spouse decides to murder another motive can usually be established which shows that the spouse intended to end the other ones life. However in cases of child abuse resulting in death it is much more difficult to prove that the abuse done by the child’s parent was intentionally meant to end the child’s life. Even though it seems like there would never be an excuse for this court cases usually end up with the defendant being painted like a person who made a mistake and lost their cool. Jury members will empathize with the adult realizing that the same thing could happen to them in a moment of weakness and frustration. One person with personal insight into these specific situations directly stated that “you will have a lot of folks on juries who will look at these perpetrators and say, I have been frustrated with my kids, I understand why you might lose your temper.” It seems like this would be a far reach from murdering a child but this defense continues to work (Aug & Mitchell, 2016).
Conclusion
In conclusion it is safe to say that child abuse is becoming a problem of epic proportions. It is equally safe to say that the reason it may be out of control is that there is not harsh enough punishments ensured for the parents who are convicted of abusing their children to a point of killing them. A medicolegal investigator has a difficult enough job being the one person who will bear witness to so many of these cases but there job is very important. Any little detail could be the one determining clue that will ensure no jury could see a reason that a child’s death could have been accidental. In many cases the defense will try to prove that even though the child’s death was ruled to be caused by abuse that the parent was not one hundred percent responsible because there is no proof that the parent intended to kill his or her child. However if the medicolegal investigator of the death can find evidence that proves this situation was not a one time lapse of holding ones temper or that the abuse was so extensive it had to be intentional then there will be little the defense can do to convince the jury otherwise. Finding out that the abuse caused the death is not the end of the battle. It is up to the investigator to prove that this abuse was intended to harm the child badly enough to kill them. If more parents would be found guilty and sentenced accordingly for this horrible crime it might be the one way that child advocates can fight against future occurrence. Deterring this abuse is major steps in ensuring children are safe from harm or death. This deterrence will not come when a parent or caregiver can get out of trouble by making the jury feel empathetic for them. The only person(s) that the jury should empathize with on the day of the trial is the helpless children or child that trusted the adult on trial to keep them safe from harm and lost their life because of it. Without a medicolegal investigator of death justice would never be available for innocent child victims of abuse. Without a good one the justice will not happen because of empathy in the courts.
References
Association, A. (2016). Child abuse statistics – Get the facts of Child abuse and neglect. Americanhumane.org. Retrieved 15 February 2016, from http://www.americanhumane.org/children/stop-child-abuse/fact-sheets/child-abuse-and-neglect-statistics.html
Aug, K., & Mitchell, K. (2016). Short on justice: Penalties for child deaths less severe than for adults in Colorado. Denverpost.com. Retrieved 15 February 2016, from http://www.denverpost.com/failedtodeath/ci_21996958/inequity-exists-length-sentences-deaths-kids-and-adults
Investigators, B. (2016). ABMDI - American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators. Abmdi.org. Retrieved 15 February 2016, from http://www.abmdi.org/faq
Morgan, J. (2016). Postmortem: The Life and Deaths of a Medicolegal Death Investigator | VICE | United States. VICE. Retrieved 15 February 2016, from http://www.vice.com/read/postmortem-0000449-v21n9
