The National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect recently estimated that approximately 2,000 children, or five children every day, die as a result of child abuse or neglect. This piece will briefly discuss the impediments to the prosecution of child abuse fatalities, child homicide legislative actions, the failure nationwide to document the effectiveness of such legislation and how these issues are playing out in the state of Maine.
Several factors can impede the prosecution of cases of fatal child abuse.
First, there are often no witnesses to maltreatment fatalities, making it difficult to link the crime to a specific individual. Moreover, when there are witnesses, they are frequently family members who are reluctant to incriminate a relative. Second, for children who live in a pervasive environment of abuse, it can be impossible to identify the one individual who gave the fatal blow to the child. Third, unsuspecting law enforcement officials often fail to gather sufficient evidence of the crime. Fourth, prosecutors often have little experience with cases of child abuse.