Investigating possible child abuse
Tips to help YOU determine if the case before you is a case of child abuse. This review will help you to determine if the child has been abused by burning/scalding.
The worse type of offender in my eyes is one who abuses a child that he/she has in their care. They are SCUM and must be prosecuted to the fullest extent. Hopefully my little guide here will help you to determine if a child has been abused/tortured by applications of extreme heat.
If YOU know what to look for you can help stop this type of abuse!!
When you recieve a child abuse call this will be one of the most trying type of investigation that you may encounter, grown Officers have been known to break down and cry, and there is NO SHAME in that. It is one of our bodies defence mechanisms to help us deal with the situation before us, and it helps to show that you have not been " de-humanized" by the sights and sounds of the job we do daily.
Our LE Brothers who are " street cops" don't recieve formal training in the recognition of abuse cases, usually handled by juvie or sometimes even a SRO.
This type of abuse occurs by two methods, intententional burning and immersion. Both of which are extremely painful and will/can scar the child for life. Stats show that a child who has been intentionally burned will be of a much younger age than one who is accidentally burned.
Immersion burning occurs when a child is placed in a liquid which is much too hot for the skin to bear. Intentional burning occurs when a hot object is placed against the skin. The ' weapons' may include lit cigarettes, hot knives, lighters, curling irons, a hot pot or pan. The person who uses this type of intentional burning may indeed be very crafty and use things you would ever suspect, metal coat hangers, a screwdriver, the list is as endless as the sick mind who does the task. You must be ever vigilant when being first on scene to look for items that seem " out of place" to you. If an item is in the vicinity of the child or even in the room or surrounding rooms and is out of place it may very well have been used as the instrument of abuse. No matter how well you think your eyes have been trained to look for the unusual you must become extra vigilant and observent at the scene. The smallest of things may be just what you have been looking for, ( hair pins, screws,flat head screwdrivers,...).
I can guarantee you that the care taker of the child will claim that the child received the burn accidently, never close your investigation on a statement such as that. If anything it should set the " bells and whistles" going off in your head. This is when you will want to be fully armed with certain information and knowledge to help you fully investigate the matter at hand.
There are commonalities you should look for when investigating a suspected case of abuse or willful endangerment. Here is a quick list of things to look for on your initial assessment f the scene:
Look for multiple burns across the body.
Look for burns in the various phases of healing. If the child presents with multiple burns that are in stage one, stage two, and stage three of the healing process it is a very good probability that these are NOT accidental.
Where are the burns located?? Can the child reach that part of his/her body??
Look for bruising, that can be an indicator that the child was forcibly held down while the perp was hurting him/her.
Monitor and interview anybody that was in the residence when the crime took place. What is your general feeling towards how the caretaker of the child feels towards the child.
It can be very hard to determine if a burn was acidental or on purpose. Especially if the burn was made by a hot solid object. Even a very brief contact with a hot solid object can lead to an accidental second degree burn on a child. Accidental burns like this could be caused by over heated seat belt buckles in a car that has been in the sun all day. It could be from over exposure to the sun, or even contact with hot asphalt or pavement materials. Children have been known to walk in to lt cigarettes but then the accidental burns should be around the eye or face area or upper torso, and DEFINETLY NOT on the soles of the feet or lower leg areas of the childs body.
Accidental burns have irregular shape patterns to them, where an intentional burn will have a uniform pattern from the object being held in the one spot. Such as burn patterns from an electric stove element. Accidental burns will be a first degree burn or slight second degree, NEVER a third degree burn.
Scalding Burns:
Scalding burns result in having a body part immersed in a hot liquid, usually water. A telltale sign of this kind of burn is a " water line" where the burn only extends up to a certain part , and circles the limb or torso. There won't be much tapering to the burn which indicates that the child was actually held in place. All children will thrash about in a hot liquid to try to escape the pain , thereby causing elongated water lines to appear in the burned area. This is the bubbling effect which you can tell by observing an upward elongating pattern to the burn. It is a sick fact that this type of punishment happens when a child doesn't respond to ' potty training" the way the care giver expects and is used as a punishment. Check the childs clothes they were wearing for signs of fecal staining or urine if they are around the ' potty training age".
If the caregiver claims that the child pulled down a pot of hot water from the stove go into the kitchen and check to see if the child could even reach the top of the stove and add 6 inches on for the depth of the pot. Also did it occur at a time of day when cooking should be going on , or did it happen mid-afternoon or late evening?? Another clue to look for.
Bathtub injuries occur when the child is forced into the tub of hot water. If the tub hasn't been drained check the water level in it. If it is unreasonably high of a level for lets say a newborn or one year old let that set off some bells in your head.
Check the palms of a childs hand VERY GENTLY, as when a hand is immersed in hot liquid the body reacts by making a fist thereby trying to spare as much skin area on the palm of the hand. If this pattern is evident you have a pretty good case the childs hand was intentionally immersed in the hot liquid. The same happens with the toes, and if the child was forced to sit the area of sparing would be behind the legs as the body would naturally draw them up and together.
In the medical community they use the terms stocking or glove pattern to describe immersion burns on the hands and feet. This is because the water line ends where a glove or sock would. Look for this. The soles of the feet will be spared if the child is forced to stand in the hot liquid.
When interviewing the care giver use good common sense questions, a LEO who is a paret would know immediately what common sense dictates in the situation that has happened. Was the injury caused by an item such as a child proof lighter that of course a child couldn't work, is the item to heavy for the child to lift, or maybe it was too high up for the child to reach or grab onto, what in your opinion is the child's level of developement and co-ordination skills.
Like in all investigations take the time to walk through the scene and re-create it in your mind. Could there be a possible explanation for the injury, and like I said earlier, look for things that are out of place and don't belong in the area. Take nothing at face value, take nothing for granted.
If we don't protect these little guys and gals who will?? Getting a child out of an abusive situation is one of the best feelings a LEO can exerience, but on the other hand being first on scene can be the most horrifying, especially if you are a parent.
My family Doctor helped me with these facts and signs to help with this article, so I wish to thank Dr. Anton Kloppers MD, for his help in opening MY eyes to this form of child abuse, and hopefully yours as well.
Work safe everybody, and be ever vigilant on the job.
Tom ( AKA S/ Sarge in Serge)
The worse type of offender in my eyes is one who abuses a child that he/she has in their care. They are SCUM and must be prosecuted to the fullest extent. Hopefully my little guide here will help you to determine if a child has been abused/tortured by applications of extreme heat.
If YOU know what to look for you can help stop this type of abuse!!
When you recieve a child abuse call this will be one of the most trying type of investigation that you may encounter, grown Officers have been known to break down and cry, and there is NO SHAME in that. It is one of our bodies defence mechanisms to help us deal with the situation before us, and it helps to show that you have not been " de-humanized" by the sights and sounds of the job we do daily.
Our LE Brothers who are " street cops" don't recieve formal training in the recognition of abuse cases, usually handled by juvie or sometimes even a SRO.
This type of abuse occurs by two methods, intententional burning and immersion. Both of which are extremely painful and will/can scar the child for life. Stats show that a child who has been intentionally burned will be of a much younger age than one who is accidentally burned.
Immersion burning occurs when a child is placed in a liquid which is much too hot for the skin to bear. Intentional burning occurs when a hot object is placed against the skin. The ' weapons' may include lit cigarettes, hot knives, lighters, curling irons, a hot pot or pan. The person who uses this type of intentional burning may indeed be very crafty and use things you would ever suspect, metal coat hangers, a screwdriver, the list is as endless as the sick mind who does the task. You must be ever vigilant when being first on scene to look for items that seem " out of place" to you. If an item is in the vicinity of the child or even in the room or surrounding rooms and is out of place it may very well have been used as the instrument of abuse. No matter how well you think your eyes have been trained to look for the unusual you must become extra vigilant and observent at the scene. The smallest of things may be just what you have been looking for, ( hair pins, screws,flat head screwdrivers,...).
I can guarantee you that the care taker of the child will claim that the child received the burn accidently, never close your investigation on a statement such as that. If anything it should set the " bells and whistles" going off in your head. This is when you will want to be fully armed with certain information and knowledge to help you fully investigate the matter at hand.
There are commonalities you should look for when investigating a suspected case of abuse or willful endangerment. Here is a quick list of things to look for on your initial assessment f the scene:
Look for multiple burns across the body.
Look for burns in the various phases of healing. If the child presents with multiple burns that are in stage one, stage two, and stage three of the healing process it is a very good probability that these are NOT accidental.
Where are the burns located?? Can the child reach that part of his/her body??
Look for bruising, that can be an indicator that the child was forcibly held down while the perp was hurting him/her.
Monitor and interview anybody that was in the residence when the crime took place. What is your general feeling towards how the caretaker of the child feels towards the child.
It can be very hard to determine if a burn was acidental or on purpose. Especially if the burn was made by a hot solid object. Even a very brief contact with a hot solid object can lead to an accidental second degree burn on a child. Accidental burns like this could be caused by over heated seat belt buckles in a car that has been in the sun all day. It could be from over exposure to the sun, or even contact with hot asphalt or pavement materials. Children have been known to walk in to lt cigarettes but then the accidental burns should be around the eye or face area or upper torso, and DEFINETLY NOT on the soles of the feet or lower leg areas of the childs body.
Accidental burns have irregular shape patterns to them, where an intentional burn will have a uniform pattern from the object being held in the one spot. Such as burn patterns from an electric stove element. Accidental burns will be a first degree burn or slight second degree, NEVER a third degree burn.
Scalding Burns:
Scalding burns result in having a body part immersed in a hot liquid, usually water. A telltale sign of this kind of burn is a " water line" where the burn only extends up to a certain part , and circles the limb or torso. There won't be much tapering to the burn which indicates that the child was actually held in place. All children will thrash about in a hot liquid to try to escape the pain , thereby causing elongated water lines to appear in the burned area. This is the bubbling effect which you can tell by observing an upward elongating pattern to the burn. It is a sick fact that this type of punishment happens when a child doesn't respond to ' potty training" the way the care giver expects and is used as a punishment. Check the childs clothes they were wearing for signs of fecal staining or urine if they are around the ' potty training age".
If the caregiver claims that the child pulled down a pot of hot water from the stove go into the kitchen and check to see if the child could even reach the top of the stove and add 6 inches on for the depth of the pot. Also did it occur at a time of day when cooking should be going on , or did it happen mid-afternoon or late evening?? Another clue to look for.
Bathtub injuries occur when the child is forced into the tub of hot water. If the tub hasn't been drained check the water level in it. If it is unreasonably high of a level for lets say a newborn or one year old let that set off some bells in your head.
Check the palms of a childs hand VERY GENTLY, as when a hand is immersed in hot liquid the body reacts by making a fist thereby trying to spare as much skin area on the palm of the hand. If this pattern is evident you have a pretty good case the childs hand was intentionally immersed in the hot liquid. The same happens with the toes, and if the child was forced to sit the area of sparing would be behind the legs as the body would naturally draw them up and together.
In the medical community they use the terms stocking or glove pattern to describe immersion burns on the hands and feet. This is because the water line ends where a glove or sock would. Look for this. The soles of the feet will be spared if the child is forced to stand in the hot liquid.
When interviewing the care giver use good common sense questions, a LEO who is a paret would know immediately what common sense dictates in the situation that has happened. Was the injury caused by an item such as a child proof lighter that of course a child couldn't work, is the item to heavy for the child to lift, or maybe it was too high up for the child to reach or grab onto, what in your opinion is the child's level of developement and co-ordination skills.
Like in all investigations take the time to walk through the scene and re-create it in your mind. Could there be a possible explanation for the injury, and like I said earlier, look for things that are out of place and don't belong in the area. Take nothing at face value, take nothing for granted.
If we don't protect these little guys and gals who will?? Getting a child out of an abusive situation is one of the best feelings a LEO can exerience, but on the other hand being first on scene can be the most horrifying, especially if you are a parent.
My family Doctor helped me with these facts and signs to help with this article, so I wish to thank Dr. Anton Kloppers MD, for his help in opening MY eyes to this form of child abuse, and hopefully yours as well.
Work safe everybody, and be ever vigilant on the job.
Tom ( AKA S/ Sarge in Serge)
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