Child abuse allegations have a significant and lasting impact on all parties involved: the accused, the alleged victims, families, and communities. These cases are emotional and complex, and can be very intimidating. These resources are meant to make this area less scary and more manageable.

This page contains materials and information related to child sexual abuse in forensic science.

Guide for Child Porn Cases - There are common issues with child pornography cases that can be dealt with to make the case go more smoothly for you and your client.

Probationary Sentences in Child Porn Cases, List updated September 2017.

Explore law and sentencing issues in the child pornography context.

Presented by Kate Judson, Executive Director of the Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences, and Dr. Andre Lloyd discuss defending child abuse cases in light of the American Academy of Pediatrics' position paper on shaken baby/abusive head trauma cases (attached)

Forensic Computer Experts Larry Daniel, Lars Daniel, and Jake Green from Envista Forensics cover child pornography cases and how experts can help you win your case. Topics include issues related to common social media platforms in child pornography cases, such as Omegle, Discord, Whisper, and Kik, the FBI’s use of undercover covert employees, discovery issues that can turn cases around, and how an expert can help reduce that production case into receipt or possession.

Presented by Mark Satawa of Satawa Law, PLLC, and Mark Mahoney of Harrington and Mahoney

A Champion article on SBS and its relation to the retina.  

Cross-examining children is a potential minefield because the cross-examiner must tread with care yet with a deliberate aim, all while maneuvering across a field that is unfairly stacked against the defense. Andres R. Guevara discusses the pitfalls and offers strategies for the successful cross-examination of a child.

In many respects, interviewing a child client shares many of the same characteristics as the interview of an adult client. 

Researchers recreated an incident of a fatal short-distance fall using the same play structure and a dummy matching the proportions of the deceased infant. 

Cases alleging child sex abuse often hinge on the forensic interview of the alleged victim, and thus the forensic interview should be the first place defense counsel looks. In this article, a forensic psychologist and a criminal defense lawyer discuss the forensic interview and how failure to follow best practices may encourage false allegations and elicit misinformation.

Particularly in child sex cases, success lies in preparation. It may be tempting for a lawyer to pass a case alleging a child sex offense to another lawyer who has more experience in handling such cases. While experience is important, a lawyer prepared to spend the time and resources researching the facts and background information and thoughtfully analyzing the issues can successfully defend cases that may initially appear hopeless. Kathleen Stilling provides a basic plan for preparing, analyzing, and investigating child sex cases.

Motion practice plays a critical role in establishing the parameters of the defense and prosecution cases when child sex abuse has been alleged. Defense attorneys must consider how they can use motions to gather information, provide critical testimony to the jury, and prevent the prosecution from using inadmissible or improper evidence to taint the fairness of the trial. Demands for exculpatory evidence should be specific and grounded in the facts.