KRS § 431.600 Coordination of child sexual abuse investigations and prosecutions -- Protection of and counseling for child victims.

431.600 Coordination of child sexual abuse investigations and prosecutions -- Protection of and counseling for child victims. (1) Each investigation of reported or suspected sexual abuse of a child shall be conducted by a specialized multidisciplinary team composed, at a minimum, of law enforcement officers and social workers from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. Cabinet for Health and Family Services social workers shall be available to assist in all investigations under this section but shall be lead investigators only in those cases of reported or suspected sexual abuse of a child in which a person exercising custodial control or supervision, as defined in KRS 600.020, is the alleged or suspected perpetrator of the abuse. Additional team members may include Commonwealth's and county attorneys, children's advocacy center staff, mental health professionals, medical professionals, victim advocates, including those for victims of human trafficking, educators, and other related professionals, as necessary, operating under protocols governing roles, responsibilities, and procedures developed by the Kentucky Multidisciplinary Commission on Child Sexual Abuse and promulgated by the Attorney General as administrative regulations pursuant to KRS Chapter 13A. (2) Local protocols shall be developed in each county or group of contiguous counties by the agencies and persons specified in subsection (1) of this section specifying how the state protocols shall be followed within the county or group of contiguous counties. These protocols shall be approved by the Kentucky Multidisciplinary Commission on Child Sexual Abuse. (3) If adequate personnel are available, each Commonwealth's attorney's office and each county attorney's office shall have a child sexual abuse specialist. (4) Commonwealth's attorneys and county attorneys, or their assistants, shall take an active part in interviewing and familiarizing the child alleged to have been abused, or who is testifying as a witness, with the proceedings throughout the case, beginning as early as practicable in the case. (5) If adequate personnel are available, Commonwealth's attorneys and county attorneys shall provide for an arrangement which allows one (1) lead prosecutor to handle the case from inception to completion to reduce the number of persons involved with the child victim. (6) Commonwealth's attorneys and county attorneys and the Cabinet for Health and Family Services and other team members shall minimize the involvement of the child in legal proceedings, avoiding appearances at preliminary hearings, grand jury hearings, and other proceedings when possible. (7) Commonwealth's attorneys and county attorneys shall make appropriate referrals for counseling, private legal services, and other appropriate services to ensure the future protection of the child when a decision is made not to prosecute the case. The Commonwealth's attorney or county attorney shall explain the decision not to prosecute to the family or guardian, as appropriate, and to the child victim. (8) To the extent practicable and when in the best interest of a child alleged to have been abused, interviews with a child shall be conducted at a children's advocacy center. Effective: June 25, 2013 History: Amended 2013 Ky. Acts ch. 25, sec. 23, effective June 25, 2013. -- Amended 2005 Ky. Acts ch. 99, sec. 650, effective June 20, 2005. -- Amended 2000 Ky. Acts ch. 144, sec. 1, effective July 14, 2000. -- Amended 1998 Ky. Acts ch. 339, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1998; and ch. 426, sec. 601, effective July 15, 1998. -- Amended 1996 Ky. Acts ch. 18, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1996. -- Amended 1994 Ky. Acts ch. 207, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1994. – Created 1992 Ky. Acts ch. 351, sec. 1, effective July 14, 1992.