Child Abuse Case
The commander of criminal investigations has assigned you to investigate numerous complaints of alleged child abuse at the Angel Academy. The Angel Academy is owned by Mary Wilkerson-Jones. The Angel Academy is a licensed daycare that houses 40-50 children from infant to preschool ages and has 12 employees, including Mary.
You are en route to the Angel Academy for a scheduled interview with the owner Mary. As you are driving to the interview, you take notice of a young male appearing to be alone on a street corner in the business district. Upon arrival at the Angel Academy, you are greeted by the daycare manager Kris Lemke and introduced to a couple of daycare workers as you go to the office to meet with Mary. On your way out of the daycare, Kris slips you a note you read that she would like to speak with you somewhere neutral as soon as convenient.
Also, of note, as you leave, you observe two children that raise your suspicions. The first child is laying in a box by the far corner and the second child is being picked up by presumedly his dad and has quite the shiner to his right eye.
On your way back to the police station a couple of hours later, you once again see the young male sitting in the same area on a bench by himself. You approach the young male and initiate a field interview. The young male identifies himself as Randy and offers very little other than to say he has nowhere to go. You have no better mission now than to help Randy out. You take a seat on the park bench and begin your interview that will lead to a successful intervention for Randy.
You have scheduled a meeting for later in the day with the Angel Academy daycare manager Kris Lemke. You meet at a local coffee shop. Kris relays her suspicions that Mary Wilkerson’s daughter Amber is being sexually assaulted by her stepfather Sam Jones.
After gathering as much information as possible about Amber from Kris, you ascertain the names of the child you observed at the daycare when you exited earlier in the day. Rose Miller was the girl in the box. Her parents are Timothy and Silvia Miller. It is Rose’s first week at the daycare and little else is known other than Kris says she has not socialized at all so far.
Jake Young is the boy with the shiner. His parents are David and Elizabeth Young. Kris mentions that there have been multiple times that Jake has shown abrasions and other minor injuries at the daycare. Kris further states that Jake told her that his shiner was the result of running into the doorknob at home while chasing his dog. You thank Kris for the information and leave her with your card. You realize that there is more work to be done.
Your preliminary thoughts lead you to believe that Randy is homeless, Rose is emotionally abused, and Jake is being physically abused. Amber does have some red flags involving sexual abuse and it is of the essence to get to the truth of the matter. You realize that protection of these children involved requires an expedited investigation.
Moving forward in your investigation, you have generated a list (see below) of who to interview that includes victims, witnesses, and suspects:
Sam Jones, Step-father
Mary Wilkerson, Daycare Owner, Amber’s Mom
Amber Wilkerson, Teenage Daughter of Mary; Step-daughter of Sam
Kris Lemke, Daycare Manager; Informant
Jennifer Smith, Daycare Worker *interview only as needed
Kathy Rodriquez, Daycare Worker *interview only as needed
Niki Ahmed, Daycare Worker *interview only as needed
Jeff, Homeless Young Male (Last Name Unknown)
Rose Miller, Young Girl at Daycare (in box)
Timothy, Silvia Miller, Rose’s parents
Jake Young, Young Boy at Daycare (w/Blackeye)
David, Elizabeth, Young Jake’s Parents
Importantly, you have also enlisted important allies in law enforcement from other child advocacy groups realizing the importance of a community response to protect these children.
It is time to move forward towards completing a successful child abuse criminal investigation. In your most creative fictional sense, fill in the script with lessons learned by doing the following:
Preliminary Investigation advising your initial strategy. This must include the specifics for each type of offense and an offender(s) profile.
What agencies have you enlisted for help in your case. Explain your reasoning as to why they are important to your case.
Interview all the people of interest in proving your cases. This must include the alleged victims and suspects, not to forget any witnesses that can support your case.
The interviews should consist of a minimum of 3-5 questions and answers for the people on the above list.
What type of evidence was discovered? Be sure to describe how the evidence supports the offense.
Present your cases to the DA or prosecuting attorney for prosecution. Make sure to present the suspect(s) and their subsequent offenses you want them charged with in a criminal court.
Advise your thoughts on the application of these cases to a Civil Court of Law.
Your final paper should be 6-8 pages (of content) in length in APA format and include a title page, in-text citations, and references. You should have a minimum of three credible sources to support your writing.
The children:
Amber Randy
Picture of Amber Randy – Homeless Boy
Jake Rose
Jake_PhotobyFlickerDavidWiley.jpg Rose
