Sarah Anne Font, Thesis Supervisor Stacy Silver, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
child sexual abuse failed prosecution credibility
Abstract:
The criminal justice system, in the United States, works diligently to keep the citizens of our country safe and to punish those who do not abide by the laws set forth by the government. However, before being punished, everyone in the United States has the right to a fair trial. Once a trial is complete, a judge or jury must decide on a verdict, guilty or not guilty. Therefore, prosecutors work and hope for a guilty verdict for the defendant they are prosecuting. A failed prosecution can be defined as a case that is charged by a prosecutor and results in a not guilty verdict. Unfortunately, there are certain cases that are much more difficult and complex to prosecute than others. One type of case that fits into this category is child sexual abuse. As a result of child sexual abuse cases in the United States displaying high rates of failed prosecution, it is important to understand why that is. Therefore, I conducted a three-phase study to identify the difficulties in child sexual abuse cases in hopes of increasing successful conviction rates. This study consisted of qualitative interviews with key professionals in the field, the thematic coding of a set of child sexual abuse cases, and the extraction of common themes amongst these cases.
