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64 Chapter Seven A Child and a Critical Nightshirt  Child-molestation cases are often the most difficult, challenging, and draining ones for investigators, lawyers, and judges. They can evoke primitive and emotional responses from jurors and court watchers alike. But abuse of children is a fact of life and is often met head-on in courts across the United States. Courtrooms in San Diego are no exception. Other than in a handful of cases, I had managed to avoid the oftencomplex area of child molestation. One case, however, became a memorial to the difficulties and unique problems that can be encountered with child victims, their interviews, and the social-services systems that deal with the abuse of children. Alicia, a vibrant eight-year-old, lived with her father, mother, and sixyear -old brother, Joshua, in U.S. Navy housing in the Serra Mesa area of San Diego. Her father, James, was in the navy and stationed on a nearby ship. On an early Tuesday morning, May 9, 1989, young Alicia told her mother, Denise, that it hurt when she went to the bathroom. Denise saw blood coming from Alicia and phoned James at work. Because Denise didn’t drive, James came home and took both Alicia and her mother to a navy clinic. Denise and James were concerned about their daughter’s condition, but Alicia had a history of infections of her urinary tract and was frequently treated for them. The three waited in the reception room while Alicia watched television and read books with her parents. At about 8:30 that morning the family was seen by a doctor. The parents told the physician about Alicia’s problems going to the bathroom and said that they had observed blood on the back of her nightshirt and on her bedsheets. The doctor examined Alicia and was stunned to discover that she had suffered serious injuries. Those injuries included a tear between her rectum and vaginal area, along with a gaping opening in her R4400.indb 64 R4400.indb 64 8/24/07 11:46:26 AM 8/24/07 11:46:26 AM 65 A Child and a Critical Nightshirt anus that also revealed multiple lacerations. The doctor believed the injuries were the result of molestation. Alicia denied to the doctor that anyone had done anything to her that led to her injuries. Alicia’s parents were questioned by the treating physician, but they denied any knowledge of how Alicia could have been hurt. James and Denise were told by the doctor that he would have to inform the county’s Child Protective Services (CPS) of his findings. Alicia, he explained, would need to be seen at the Center for Child Protection, a facility attached to Children’s Hospital. Personnel at the center specialized in the examination and treatment of victims of child abuse. James and Denise acknowledged what was going to happen and agreed to cooperate. San Diego police and CPS were both called and arrived later at the navy clinic. Alicia, after talking to a representative of CPS, was transported by police to the Center for Child Protection, where she underwent a comprehensive examination that included looking for other evidence of sexual abuse. The findings mirrored those at the clinic. Fresh blood was observed from a tear in her perineum, the area bounded by the vagina and anus. The rectum itself was unusually large and two fresh cuts were observed inside . The doctor who conducted the examination believed the injuries were the result of forced penetration of Alicia’s genital and anal openings. The same doctor believed that the object used to penetrate Alicia was approximately the size of an erect male penis. The physician did not, however, observe any evidence of semen on Alicia. Fortunately, that same day a surgeon was able to successfully repair the injuries that Alicia had suffered. The doctor who initially examined Alicia at the Center for Child Protection told Alicia that someone must have hurt her. Alicia answered that a man had come in her bedroom window, taken her out of the house, and then hurt her. A CPS worker came to the navy clinic and interviewed Alicia and her parents that same day. Alicia told the representative that she did not remember anything out of the ordinary happening the night before, between going to bed and getting up the next morning. Alicia denied that her father or anyone else had ever touched her inappropriately. Confused, the worker asked Alicia why she...

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