Jefferson County Crimes Against Children Unit

The Jefferson County Crimes Against Children Unit is used here as an illustration of an excellent program – one that is aware of the needs of children and one that also gets the job done.  This Unit, which is composed of four District Attorneys, two investigators, and a victim’s advocate, meet weekly to review plea offers and the status of the cases. 

The primary goal of the Unit is to do whatever possible to keep a child out of court, but still give a fair plea disposition.  In addition to this goal, the Unit has other practices that they believe are similarly important.  The Unit seldom subpoenas a child for a preliminary hearing.  If the defense subpoenas the child, the judge is asked to quash that subpoena.  This tactic has found to be effective 100% of the time, and is supported by case law.  If the child does have to testify at trial, the Unit works closely with the child and their therapist in order to prepare him.  Alane Holstee, the Victim Advocate at Jefferson County, states that a completely competent child can shut down very quickly upon seeing their alleged perpetrator.  Therefore, the Unit makes sure that the child is in therapy with a very good therapist for a long time before taking the stand.  The Unit works closely with the therapist in order to help the child as much as possible before they have to be in court.

In response to sentencing, the Victim Advocate of the Unit attempts to get the victim impact statement complete before the PSI is done.  Alane Holsteen has developed a victim impact statement that is developmentally geared specifically for children and adolescents.

On average, about 5% of the Unit’s cases go to trial, and a guilty verdict is received in approximately 70% of those cases.  In past years, this percentage has been as high as between 80 and 100%.  This statistic is one of many which demonstrates how effective the Jefferson County Crimes Against Children Unit is in bringing perpetrators to justice, while shielding a child victim from unnecessary trauma and exposure.