Sexual Exploitation of Children

I have had some challenging jobs in my three-decade medical career, but one job in particular ranks high on the stress-o-meter. For several years, I worked part-time as a pediatric sexual abuse examiner.

Our on-call medical team would be summoned by law enforcement to provide the proper forensic examinations in the emergency room when children have been sexually assaulted or raped. Each examination would take up to two to three hours and would involve the collection of numerous specimens for DNA analysis and photographic evidence. I performed about a hundred of these intense examinations on children from three months to adolescents, and it never got easy, as you might imagine. If the perpetrator was ever caught and prosecuted, I would have to defend my examination findings in a court of law.

A few weeks ago, a friend of ours discovered that her 13 year old daughter was being groomed by a child molester on a popular (unnamed by choice) Internet site used by teens and children. The parents were horrified when the read the sexually-explicit postings by their “innocent” little girl and a man named “Death”.

I shudder to think what might have happened if she and this criminal would have met. Recently, Dateline NBC has been doing a series of sting operations on Internet child molesters. As the school vacation time approaches, our pediatric sexual assault team saw an increase in calls for examinations. Bored teens are left alone at home; and younger children are often left in the care of others.

Adolescents are not stupid, but they certainly do a lot of stupid things. A repeating summer scenario was the 13 to 15 year old girl involved with an over-18 (in some cases, over 30) year old man. The girls would typically lie about their age (and many looked mature-enough to pull it off) and they would strike up a relationship with these men.

Even if they revealed their true age, it probably would not make any difference to these child sexual predators. Soon, alcohol or drugs will be offered. Somewhat later, these girls would be facing a serious situation that no girl or woman should ever face. They may be staring into the face of a rapist.

Many of these sexual assaults are never reported to law enforcement. The young girls are terrified to reveal what happened. They worry about sexually transmitted diseases or pregnancy. They worry what their parents might say. And, they worry that it was their fault. The girls that do reveal the sexual assault and involve law enforcement must undergo an evidentiary examination. Someday, they may have to face their perpetrator in court.

Parents are supposed to protect their children. I remember a case of a 13 year old mentally-challenged girl who attended a Special Education Program in our country. During a school program about inappropriate sexual conduct, she mentioned that her father did those things all of the time.

School officials called law enforcement; law enforcement interviewed the child and she was transferred to the emergency room. The ER called me at 1 AM to perform the evidentiary examination. By this time, Lisa (not her real name) had clammed up and was no longer admitting to being molested. She was cooperative for the examination which included a pregnancy test. The test was positive.

When I informed the mother of this finding, she said, “Damn, he told me he had stopped doing it.” She grabbed the little girl by the arm and said they were going home. I informed her that I was placing this child in protective custody. She was not going home to the perpetrator on my watch. A struggle ensued, security was called, and even some misdirected people in the waiting room tried to beat me up.

I did not let go of that child until Mom was in handcuffs. She hugged and cried on my shoulder as the police searched her for weapons. When the police pulled out some crack cocaine, the little girl wailed even louder. God, I hate this job, but someone has to do it.

Another evening, I was called to examine a six month old baby girl and her three-year old sister. Their prostitute mother had left them in the expert care of a homeless man that lived in the garage. Another child in the apartment complex had looked through the window and witnessed this animal sexually assaulting both children. The police were called and he was actually caught in the act. The children were sent to the ER so that I could examine them.

The baby was sleeping, and the three year old was very happy to see me. I offered my hand and she jumped on my lap and hugged me, head lice and all. She said she was hungry. I took the necessary mouth swabs, but before starting the genital examination, I ordered some food from the hospital kitchen for her. When the food arrived, she devoured it. She tore into one of the two chicken legs like nothing I had ever seen. She downed the milk, ate the apple, and inhaled the granola bar.

As I collected the trash, I notice only one chicken bone. Where was the other? This little three year old had hid it in her jacket, saving it for her six month old sister. “Why are you crying?” she asked. Six hours later, I had completed the forensic examinations on these two little innocent children and went home.

The evidence that I collected put this child rapist in prison for life.

I am sorry, I can’t write about this anymore. Next time I’ll write something happier.

Parents, protect your children.

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