Sexual Abuse in Educational Facilities Expert Article

Sexual violence and abuse occur in all types of educational settings, and in all age groups. Our forensic casework demonstrates that sexual violence and abuse can occur in pre-school and school aged children as well as young adults in higher education settings (colleges and universities), and in both private and public education.

This article will focus on our forensic approach to the investigation of sexual abuse cases, specific to incidents within K-12 educational facilities that serve minor children.

Investigating Sexual Abuse in Schools

Children are vulnerable; they are cognitively and developmentally unable to consent to sexual acts and many struggle to reliably communicate and/or report incidents of assault and abuse.

Sexual abuse in the primary and secondary school setting typically occurs in situations where supervision has changed or lessened. These situations can occur more easily during before and after school hours, in empty classrooms, hallways, stairwells, locker rooms, vacant offices, and on field trips or away sporting events.

Within the variety of educational environments, perpetrators have both influence and proximity to children. The way a predator accesses the child, and the methods used in accessing the child, can vary depending on the setting.

Grooming

Some perpetrators will use their position of authority or power to sexually harass and engage in sexual relationships with the student and/or peer. They may lure vulnerable students into sexual acts with the promise of money, love and affection, good grades, peer acceptance, and material items such as phones, jewelry, and clothing.

Developmentally, children are not yet equipped to understand the nuances of the grooming process. The grooming process is a practice used by offenders that involves building trust with a child and the adults around a child to gain access to and spend isolated time with the child. The grooming process allows a predator and/or perpetrator to use their knowledge of the child and vulnerability of the child to commit the sexual abuse.

A child‘s level of cognitive and emotional development may limit them from disclosing abuse. For example, a young child may be unable to discern that the verbal threats made by a perpetrator might not be realistic.

Older children may not recognize sexual abuse or harassment for what it is, be embarrassed to report it, succumb to peer pressure and/or deny that it occurred when confronted. Potential threats of social exposure, isolation or peer pressure, at a time in a child’s life when they are changing developmentally, can result in sexual abuse or sexual harassment going unreported.

Sexual Abuse Injury Investigation

In sexual abuse injury investigations, our experts examine several key areas of sexual abuse prevention and intervention efforts:

1. School district policies and procedures
2. Staff and student education and training
3. Active student supervision
4. Employee and volunteer screening and hiring processes
5. Employee and volunteer supervision and evaluation
6. Discipline policies and procedures
7. Behavioral and social emotional interventions
8. Physical environment for safety
9. System(s) in place for reporting sexual abuse

Federal law Section 8546 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), “seeks to protect students by preventing the aiding and abetting of Adult Sexual Misconduct (ASM).”

Aiding and abetting in the context of ASM is the practice of K-12 employers enabling an individual with a known or suspected history of sexual misconduct against children to transfer to schools or obtain new employment without facing consequences.

Expert examination of these areas is critical to conducting a thorough investigation to best assist clients in litigation.

Expert Witness Investigations of Sexual Abuse in Schools

Among the supervision experts at Robson Forensic are former teachers, school administrators, and child / adult day care program coordinators. They have hands on experience working in organized educational and care settings, designing and implementing the processes and procedures used to screen staff during the hiring process, train staff, and report/investigate incidents.

For more information, submit an inquiry or call us at 800.813.6736.

Featured Expert

Suzanne Rodriguez, Ed.D., M.S.W., P.P.S.C., C.P.S.I.

School Administration & Social Work Expert

Dr. Suzanne Rodriguez is an expert in school administration and social work with nearly 30 years of professional experience. She applies her expertise to forensic casework involving instances of… read more.