News Report

Reprinted with permission from The Morning News of Northwest Arkansas
December 21, 2000

New attorney will handle child-abuse cases.

by Lana F. Flowers
(THE MORNING NEWS — LFLOWERS@NWAONLINE.NET)

BENTONVILLE — Benton County has growth in an unwanted area: There are enough incidents of child abuse that the prosecuting attorney's office is hiring a deputy prosecutor to handle child-abuse cases exclusively.

Bob Balfe, deputy prosecuting attorney, said he believes the program to hire a deputy prosecutor who specializes only in child-abuse cases will be the first of its kind in the state.

The Benton County Quorum Court at its meeting Tuesday unanimously approved a request for the prosecuting attorney's office to spend a $60,000 grant from the CommunityCare Foundation to hire the new deputy prosecuting attorney.

Balfe, who becomes the elected prosecutor Jan. 1, said an attorney to handle only child-abuse cases is needed for several reasons:

• The number of child-abuse cases grows along with the increasing population of Northwest Arkansas;
• Child-abuse cases are time-consuming;
• It takes an experienced person with passion and emotion to handle the stressful, draining nature of child-abuse cases.

Balfe noted that, in 1998, the prosecuting attorney's office reviewed 42 child-abuse cases in which arrests were made, filed charges in 37 cases and dismissed nine cases. Of the charges filed, 27 defendants pleaded guilty and one case went to jury trial.

In 1999, the prosecutor's office reviewed 64 child-abuse cases in which arrests were made, filed charges in 48 cases and dismissed 17 cases. Balfe said that, in 1999, 29 defendants in child-abuse cases pleaded guilty and two cases went to jury trials.

Through August, the prosecutor's office reviewed 51 child-abuse cases, filed charges against 37 defendants and dismissed 10 cases. Of the charges filed, 24 defendants pleaded guilty and three went to jury trial.

Of the six child-abuse cases that have gone to trial since 1998, two trials resulted in convictions, two resulted in hung juries and two resulted in acquittals, Balfe said.

He expects the number of child-abuse cases to continue increasing in 2001 and 2002.

"Obviously, all our crime numbers are up — more thefts, more murders, more burglaries — because we have an increase in population. In this type of crime (child abuse), we are seeing an increase more disproportionate to the population," Balfe said.

Law officers have become more aggressive in investigating child abuse, Balfe noted. Also, more people are reporting suspected child abuse to police because of greater public awareness about the problem, he said.

The increasing number of child-abuse cases made it more difficult for prosecuting attorneys to investigate them, Balfe said.

That caused Balfe to think about how to handle child-abuse cases, and he decided to approach the CommunityCare Foundation about a grant to hire an experienced attorney to specialize in child-abuse cases.

"It is an absolutely emotionally draining type of case. You have to get a person with passion and the emotion to deal with it," Balfe said. He requested a higher salary for the child-abuse prosecutor, to attract someone with significant experience.

"This is something that is one of my top priorities," Balfe said. "Child-abuse cases are very unique. All the evidence you often have is the victim statement. Not everybody has that kind of relationship with children and can talk to them."

Balfe also noted that, in most other cases, there is hard evidence, such as a gun, bullets, hair samples or fibers, that is painstakingly collected, labeled, packaged, sealed and sent to the state Crime Lab in Little Rock, where analysis is done and reports are generated that can be used in court.

However, in most child-abuse cases, the only evidence is the victim's statement — the words of the child.

"What happens in these types of cases, oftentimes, the social worker interviews the child, the police interviews the child and they come in here and we interview the child," Balfe said. "The testimony of the children is often bandied about between the police officers and the social workers to our office.

"We have got to, on our part, treat the victim and the testimony that comes from the victim with the care that it requires. We have to be careful not to lead and to explore what the child has to say," Balfe said.

The deputy prosecutor who specializes in child abuse will work out of the Children's Advocacy Center in Little Flock, Balfe said, to build relationships with law-enforcement and social-service agencies. Balfe noted the advocacy center is set up to deal with abuse, and it has a comforting environment for children.

In addition, Balfe said, the deputy prosecutor who deals only with child-abuse cases will not appear in court on Mondays, for arraignment days, or deal with any other routine matters like getting search warrants.

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