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If your child has been physically or sexually abused in a day care facility, school, residential treatment center, foster care agency, or other childcare setting, contact the police immediately, file a report and cooperate fully with their investigation. But don’t expect too much from a criminal prosecution standpoint. When a child is forensically interviewed in a child advocacy center as a victim of abuse, the clinician involved is limited in how they conduct questioning, in that the concern of prosecutors is always that a defense attorney in a criminal case may show “taint” by the use of leading questions, or by asking for clarification. Thus, it is not uncommon that a child victim of physical or sexual abuse in a childcare setting will fail to disclose enough during a forensic interview to trigger an arrest. Unfortunately, that means the majority of these cases are never prosecuted.
Civil Action and Legal Support
In a civil context, the process is very different and burden of proof much less. Accordingly, as soon as you contact the police, it would behoove you to speak with a childcare abuse lawyer who practices in this area of specialization. In some cases, they may be able to push reluctant police or prosecutors to do more in investigating your child’s claim of abuse, thereby effectuating criminal prosecution. Furthermore, while not all cases are actionable, if your child has been sexually abused or suffered physical injury by a childcare provider, an attorney may be able to seek justice for you by filing a lawsuit. This often publicly exposes the individuals and organizations involved, preventing similar victimization of other children. An attorney who specializes in childcare abuse typically works on a contingency basis, meaning there is no cost to you unless they take the case and win it. Until there is accountability, there can be no reformSM.