Video: Forensic Interviewer Role In Combating Child Abuse

by Victoria Bailey

WEST POINT, Miss.(WCBI)—Hurt, abandoned, abused.

More than two thousand children in Mississippi were the possible victims of abuse just last year.

The Mississippi Department of Human Services works child abuse cases every day.

Local groups like the Sally Kate Winters Child Advocacy Center provide a refuge for children impacted by abuse.

Working with abused children takes the skill, training and caring of a forensic interviewer.

It sounds very technical. A forensic interview is a structured conversation with a child intended to gather information that could help in a criminal investigation.

It is the job of the interviewer to bridge the gap between a scared and possibly injured child and law enforcement.

It is one of the hardest jobs in the world – reaching children at their most vulnerable.

“Part of the process in order to seek investigation and precaution avenues is to have a record to give the child an opportunity to explain and give the information to a forensic interviewer as oppose to repeating a traumatic event to each person along the line of investigation, Sally Kate Winters Child Advocacy Center Program Coordinator Heather Usry.

Forensic interviewer Maggie Raper says when dealing with child abuse, time is of the essence. It plays a huge role in getting the children the help they need.

“It its important to get a child soon after child abuse has been reported because um over time the child could begin to forget the abuse and when it’s fresh on their memory we can obtain as much information as we can. The sooner, the better,”said Raper.

Program Coordinator Heather Usry says a key part of the job is making sure to comfort the child following a trauma.

“We work very hard to make sure that children have a safe, comfortable, trusting environment where they can feel comfortable to explain situation that parents and teachers and really anybody hopefully never have to experience,”said Usry.

For more information on family services and combating child abuse visit www.sallykatewinters.org