eSANE: Normal is Normal – Effective Use of Medical Evidence in the Prosecution of Child Sexual Abuse Cases
Objectives: Understanding the process and procedure of a pediatric sexual assault exam, using “normal” exam findings to corroborate and support a child’s disclosure of sexual assault, developing medical witnesses as experts and sing that testimony to prove the element of penetration in a sexual assault charge
Trainers: Kathleen Nolan, Senior Attorney with Zero Abuse Project
This webinar will discuss the importance of pediatric sexual assault exams in cases of child sexual abuse and how to present the findings of that exam to a jury. A majority of the exams will be “normal” and that evidence can be used to corroborate a child’s statement using expert medical testimony. The testimony of the expert can also be used to explain anatomy which gives prosecutors medical evidence to argue issues of penetration.
This session is the first in a two-part training on June 18th for the eSANE training series. Registration for this session will also provide access to Where the Boys Are: Investigating and Prosecuting Cases of CSA When the Victim is Male, which will begin at approximately 10:45am CT/9:45am MT.
Kathleen Nolan is a Senior Attorney with Zero Abuse Project. She joined the team in May of 2021. She brings over 15 years of experience as a Prosecutor in the area of Child Protection.
Kathleen previously served as the Chief of the Children’s Justice Division in the Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office in Madison County, Illinois. She was appointed to that role in 2015 after joining the office in 2013. The Children’s Justice Division handled the charging and prosecution of all child victim cases in the county including physical abuse, sexual assault and child deaths. Her role
as Chief of the Division also involved mentoring and training the attorneys she supervised. She also created and presented specialized trainings for members of the Madison County Multi-Disciplinary Team including police, forensic interviewers and Department of Children and Family Services workers.
As a board member of the Southern Illinois Child Death Investigation Task Force, Kathleen worked with a team of professionals across Southern Illinois to create more effective procedures for the examination of suspicious child deaths. Her work as a board member including the creation and presentation of trainings for the various members of the task force.
Kathleen began her prosecution career in the Tazewell County State’s Attorney’s Office in 2006. Her role as a prosecutor in that office began with the handling of Juvenile Abuse and Neglect cases as well as the Juvenile Delinquency docket. She transitioned to the prosecution of all child abuse cases in the county and managed a docket of felony and misdemeanor cases.
In 2009, Kathleen accepted a position with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office. She traveled throughout the state of Illinois handling the commitment of violent predators under Illinois’ Sexually Violent Person’s Commitment statute. She also prosecuted cases through the Trial Assistance and Statewide Grand Jury divisions.
Kathleen attended St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights, Illinois. She graduated from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois in 2001. Kathleen received her Juris Doctorate from Valparaiso University School of Law in 2004.
This training is hosted by CPCM under Grant No. 2019-MU-GX-K014, awarded by the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations in this document are those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.
