NCJ Number
137423
Date Published
1991
Length
35 pages
Annotation
A workshop on sexually exploited children, sponsored by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, focused on the current situation regarding child exploitation with a view toward developing research and program ideas that effectively address the problem. This report summarizes the presentations and discussions.
Abstract
The first presentation outlined general problems associated with child exploitation crimes including statistical underreporting, delays in reporting the crime, the vulnerability of children as victims, and the cyclical nature of victimization in which victims often become offenders. The second presenter addressed the issue of child exploitation from a judicial consideration, focusing on the traumas endured by child victims during the investigative process and court proceedings. Another speaker focused on the most difficult issues in prosecuting child exploitation cases and offered some remedies from the local prosecutor's perspective. The Section Chief of the Department of Justice's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section summarized his office's responsibilities and current initiatives. Additional subjects covered at the workshop included the volunteer ad litem program, the involvement of juvenile courts in civil proceedings, and types of interventions to pursue in child exploitation cases. Several representatives of child service agencies described their programs.