The chairman of a state task force on child protection said the existence of a child advocacy center in Centre County would have discovered Jerry Sandusky’s activities at least ten years earlier.
The completed report is just the beginning. Many of the recommendations will require approval by the General Assembly and the Governor.
Others will require new levels of cooperation between child advocates, law enforcement, prosecutors and medical providers.
“All those in favor please say aye. Aye!! Any opposed? Any abstentions? Of those present, the vote is unanimous,” stated Bucks County District Attorney and Task Force Chair David Heckler.
The task force chair says state law requires children advocacy centers. But in smaller counties it hasn’t proven feasible. Heckler used the Sandusky conviction as an example of the need to do more.
“In the 1990s and early 2000s, you would have heard about Jerry Sandusky then and not years later and that all the intervening victims would have been spared,” Heckler explained. “There would have been a conviction of him a long time before there was.”
Dauphin County Chief Deputy District Attorney Sean McCormack has been prosecuting child abuse cases since 1995. He concurs with Heckler’s assessment based on his experience with the Dauphin County Child Advocacy Center.
“It’s a place where a child is interviewed by a forensic interviewer, which is someone who is specially trained to talk to children and ask the right questions the right way,” explained McCormack. “While that child is being interviewed the police, Children and Youth and the DA’s office is observing the interview, getting the info right then and there. The child doesn’t have to keep repeating, telling what happened to them.”
Governor Tom Corbett applauded the task force on child protection. He pledged to work with the legislature, law enforcement and advocates to review each recommendation in detail.
He said the work of the task force will help create a culture that promotes greater awareness, more accountability and better coordination.
The completed report is just the beginning. Many of the recommendations will require approval by the General Assembly and the Governor.
Others will require new levels of cooperation between child advocates, law enforcement, prosecutors and medical providers.
“All those in favor please say aye. Aye!! Any opposed? Any abstentions? Of those present, the vote is unanimous,” stated Bucks County District Attorney and Task Force Chair David Heckler.
The task force chair says state law requires children advocacy centers. But in smaller counties it hasn’t proven feasible. Heckler used the Sandusky conviction as an example of the need to do more.
“In the 1990s and early 2000s, you would have heard about Jerry Sandusky then and not years later and that all the intervening victims would have been spared,” Heckler explained. “There would have been a conviction of him a long time before there was.”
Dauphin County Chief Deputy District Attorney Sean McCormack has been prosecuting child abuse cases since 1995. He concurs with Heckler’s assessment based on his experience with the Dauphin County Child Advocacy Center.
“It’s a place where a child is interviewed by a forensic interviewer, which is someone who is specially trained to talk to children and ask the right questions the right way,” explained McCormack. “While that child is being interviewed the police, Children and Youth and the DA’s office is observing the interview, getting the info right then and there. The child doesn’t have to keep repeating, telling what happened to them.”
Governor Tom Corbett applauded the task force on child protection. He pledged to work with the legislature, law enforcement and advocates to review each recommendation in detail.
He said the work of the task force will help create a culture that promotes greater awareness, more accountability and better coordination.