J. J. in Phila
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Hmm. I wonder what happens next when someone like Lauro or a CYS investigator finds sex abuse (or related action)? One of the articles linked above indicates that these two entities (LE and CYS/DPW) at times arrive at different conclusions; what would have happened if, say, the police closed their case but CYS/DPW found abuse?
According to JKA, it is a civil matter.
Regarding "charges," these result from an investigation; charges or no charges are the result of what police learn, and the DA's assessment of whether that case can be proved beyond a reasonable doubt in court. And of course, because someone makes an allegation or LE suspect s someone committed a crime doesn't mean it is true.
Okay, but let's remember that the AG has charged, with less information than there was in 1998.
The point of the investigation is to investigate what happened and then see if the "what happened" breaks any laws, not to start by picking a charge and then proving it.
They would look at "what happened" and look at all statutes to if what allegedly happened violates any of them. In 1998, there were a lot of statutes that the action did not violate. Unlawful Contact with a Minor was one, the felony.
It would be possible, for example, in a case like this one, that a child might tell a good investigator or a psychologist more than he would tell his mother and so what might have started looking like "corrupting the morals" or some such thing can turn into a lot more--or not.
A psychologist would not necessarily understand the legal aspects of the case. He might conclude that there was no sexual assault, but might miss totally Corruption of Minors, or Endangering Welfare Of Children. Neither of those has a sexual element.