Sex Offenses/Death & Violent Crime (Chapters 11 & 12)

Motives

Difficult to find and sometimes hard to understand

Escalation (Progressive Degeneracy)

Can be gradual until it becomes criminal

Sexual Addiction

Sex offenders, pedophiles, will risk anything

Impulse

Not able to control themselves

Consenting

Typically low priority for investigations

Annoyance

Prostitution, “peeping”, low priority for most LE

Threatening

Injury or death always possible, physical & psychological damage to
victims

Rape

Forcing against one’s will, numerous state laws , ages, up to 4 levels

Expressed

Upset, crying, shaking

Controlled

No emotions, victim may seem to be not concerned

Fear

Can be overwhelming for victim, threatened by rapist, fear death

Anger

Can be misdirected at others (including LE) and make it difficult to get fact

Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kit

Identify a suspect, show that penetration has occurred to specific body parts, document both physical and genital injury

Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners

Registered nurses trained in meeting the specific healthcare needs of patients who have experienced sexual assault or abuse

Sexual Assault Response Team

Specific intervention model focused on immediate and consistent response to sexual assault victims

Statutory Rape

Even if consensual, law focuses on age

Pedophilia

Child is object

Pedophiles

Multiple victims, age range & gender, often has access to children,
many are religious, collectors

Priests

Parents don’t believe it, often do not report it , same some time with boy
scouts, coaches

Spotlight

Boston Globe investigative team

Carnal Knowledge

An archaic or legal euphemism for sexual intercourse

Suicide

The act of intentionally killing oneself

Homicide

The killing of one person by another

Homicide Scene

The most important crime scene an investigator will analyze

Detailed, Comprehensive Notes

Have to stand the test of time. No detail too small

Livor Mortis

Blood begins to settle approx. 30 minutes after death

Rigor Mortis

Within 8 – 12 hours of death

Petrification or Decomposition

Begins immediately and becomes noticeable within 36 hours

Firearms

Trace evidence, entry/exit/direction

Asphyxiation

Strangulation usually has visual signs, hyoid bone

Sharp Objects

Knife or other edged weapon, glass wounds

Blunt Force

Beatings, falls, explosions, crushing

Fire

Usually accidental. If alive = carbon monoxide in blood

Poison

Drug overdoes, alcohol

Mass Murder

The killing of 3 or more people at one time and in one place

Serial Murder

The killing of 3 or more people over a period of more than 30 days, with a significant cooling off period

Autopsy

Postmortem examination

Battered-Child Syndrome

Describes children who have been physically abused and have received external or internal physical injuries

Infanticide

Deaths of infants from strangulation or through a violent act

Lust Murder

Is sexually motivated and involves torture, violent sexual trauma, mutilation, or dismemberment

Munchausen’s Syndrome by Proxy

A form of child abuse that normally involves the mother

Postvention

Therapeutic work with the survivors/ victims

Psychological Autopsy

Determines whether death was natural, accidental, suicide, or homicide

Putrefaction

The decomposition of a body after death that occurs due to microbial action

Medicolegal Investigation

A trained professional who investigates deaths to determine the cause and circumstances

Spree Murder

Perform three or more killings within hours, days, or months and do their killings in different locations

Amber Alert

Public notice issued by law enforcement to help find a missing or abducted child