Child Advocacy Centers are being set up throughout the state to protect young witnesses in child sex-abuse cases.  Sometimes the state’s best witness is a very young child and his/her testimony may be thrown out of court because his/her answers are prompted by leading questions that frighten or confuse.  However, at child advocacy centers, police, therapists, prosecutors and Health and Human Services workers watch a trained interviewer question the child.  They stand behind a soundproof one-way mirror so that they will not intimidate the victim.  Any questions they have are fed to the interviewer through an earpiece.

The testimony is also videotaped and may be used later to convince an accused offender to strike a plea bargain.  The state is also working on developing a standard interview format to create more uniformity in all cases.  The Attorney General’s office is spending nearly $100,000 on workshops this fall and on special training for child abuse investigators, including forensic interviewers.  Victim and Witness Assistance Director Sandra Matheson said a number of grants are in process to set up a two-county center for Grafton and Sullivan counties at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Other counties are in various stages of organization.

The above information is taken from a news story by Tom Fahey, State House Bureau Chief and is from the Union Leader of Monday, September26 in which issue it may be read in its entirety; it is used by permission. 

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