New Laws Designed to Protect Children, Elderly From Abuse
By Sanford J. Schmidt, Telegraph staff writer
Originally published in The Telegraph, July 23, 2001
EDWARDSVILLE, Illinois — Local prosecutors say two new state laws will help stem the tide of abuse of children and the elderly. Illinois Gov. George Ryan signed a bill this month to provide an exception to the normal trial rules against hearsay evidences in cases in which the elderly victim has become disabled and unable to recall important facts of the case.
Madison County State's Attorney William R. Haine said there is a law on the books allowing a similar exception in cases involving juveniles.
"It's a good bill, and it's consistent with an existing statute covering child abuse cases," Haine said.
"I've used the child hearsay exception many times," Assistant State's Attorney Kyle Napp said.
"The rule is often crucial in proving physical and sexual abuse," she said.
Even if the defendant takes the stand, the testimony is more likely to be garbled, and the effects can be harmful to the prosecution in jury trials, Napp said.
The law also can be used to bring witnesses to the stand to corroborate a victim's testimony, Haine said. People such as social workers and police officers often can provide better, clearer details than a victim with limited recall of the incident, the lawyers said.
Defendants in some cases may adopt a strategy of delay to allow more time for their victims to forget the incident or some of the details, Haine said.
A formerly lucid elder victim can suffer rapid deterioration of their mental capacity due to strokes or illness, such as Alzheimer's disease and quickly become a poor witness, a spokesman for the governor's office said.
"Without these laws, we reward the defendant who tries to delay, delay, delay," Haine said.
The normal rule against witnesses providing second-hand testimony about a defendant's guilt or innocence would be excepted only after a hearing before a judge, who would have to rule that the exception is reasonable in the specific case, Haine pointed out.
Eligible adults must be at least 60 years old and must have been diagnosed by a physician to suffer from dementia, developmental disability or other form of mental incapacity, or any physical infirmity.
The judge would not rule on the believability of the testimony. That still will be the responsibility of the jury, Haine pointed out.
Haine and Napp said the exception can be an important new tool in the state's responsibility of protecting the innocent and punishing the guilty.
The other new law, signed by Ryan this month, would require operators of day care centers and schools to take steps to eliminate illegal contact between parties who by law may have limited or no contact with the subject of the order.
An example may be a court order protecting a child from an abusive relative or a parent who may be at risk to abduct the child.
Haine said school districts are likely to take such steps, even before the law was signed, but this will give them some legal leverage.
Too often, schools find themselves caught in the middle between the courts, which issue orders of protection, and people who want to have contact with children covered by those orders, Haine said.
Under the new law, the circuit clerk must send a written notice of the order to the child's day care, school or college within 24 hours of the issuance of the order of protection if requested to do so.
"Children and seniors are often targeted as victims of abuse. With these two bills, we are making strides toward ensuring that these vulnerable citizens have greater protections under Illinois law," Ryan said.
The Illinois Department of Aging's Elder Abuse and Neglect Program annually responds to nearly 8,000 reports of abuse, neglect and financial exploitation.
Department Director Margo Schreiber said that of those reports, three out of four cases involve abuse by family members. Seventy-five percent of the alleged victims are women, and the average victim's age is 78.
