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Legal Outcomes of Suspected Maltreatment Cases Evaluated by a Child Abuse Pediatrician as Part of a Multidisciplinary Team Investigation

Child abuse pediatricians often carry the stigma that their sole role is to diagnose maltreatment. In reality, child abuse pediatricians use their clinical experience and current evidence‐based medicine to make the best medical diagnoses for the children they evaluate. To better understand the legal...

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Published in:Journal of forensic sciences 2020-09, Vol.65 (5), p.1517-1523
Main Authors: Hendrix, Amy D., Conway, Lauren K., Baxter, Michael A.
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Language:English
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description Child abuse pediatricians often carry the stigma that their sole role is to diagnose maltreatment. In reality, child abuse pediatricians use their clinical experience and current evidence‐based medicine to make the best medical diagnoses for the children they evaluate. To better understand the legal conclusion of suspected maltreatment cases with medical examinations, this study sought to: (i) evaluate the percentage of children seen for suspected maltreatment that led to a clinical diagnosis of maltreatment, (ii) determine the number and type of criminal charges associated, and (iii) analyze the legal outcomes of cases as they proceeded through the judicial system. This study retrospectively reviewed the legal outcomes of 1698 children medically evaluated in 2013–2014 as part of an investigation by a multidisciplinary team at a children’s advocacy center in a mid‐sized city in Oklahoma. Data were collected from electronic medical records, the district attorney’s office, and a public court docket. Of the original cohort, 477 (28.09%) children yielded a medical diagnosis of at least one type of maltreatment. Further analysis yielded 115 unique court cases involving 138 defendants and 151 children. A total of 286 charges were filed resulting in 190 convictions. While maltreatment allegations yield a high number of children that must be evaluated, a comprehensive medical evaluation helps determine which cases do not have sufficient medical findings for a diagnosis of maltreatment. The findings in this study indicate that a majority of suspected maltreatment cases seen by child abuse pediatricians did not result in criminal court outcomes.
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source Wiley-Blackwell Read & Publish Collection
subjects Child
child abuse
Child abuse & neglect
Child Abuse - diagnosis
Child Abuse - legislation & jurisprudence
Child Abuse - statistics & numerical data
child neglect
child physical abuse
Children & youth
Convictions
Crime
Diagnosis
Electronic health records
Evaluation
Homicide - legislation & jurisprudence
Homicide - statistics & numerical data
Humans
medical evaluation
multidisciplinary team
Oklahoma
Patient Care Team
Pediatricians
Pediatrics
Physical examinations
Physicians
prosecution of child abuse cases
Retrospective Studies
sexual abuse of children
title Legal Outcomes of Suspected Maltreatment Cases Evaluated by a Child Abuse Pediatrician as Part of a Multidisciplinary Team Investigation
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