BY MIKE FUHRMAN
From crime scene investigators to probation officers, there are many unsung heroes connected to the local criminal justice system.
In Iredell and Alexander counties, Colleen Medwid’s name has been near the top of that list for more than two decades.
As a forensic interviewer for the Dove House Children’s Advocacy Center in Statesville, Medwid plays a critical role in the investigation and prosecution of child sexual abuse cases. Over the past 21 years, she has interviewed more than 2,600 children who have reported being abused. The vast majority of perpetrators in these cases, she said, are relatives or trusted family friends of the victims. Only “four or five” of the offenders in the cases she has handled could be classified as strangers.
It’s a difficult job, the kind that makes your heart hurt over and over again. But, according to Medwid, it’s also a very rewarding career.
“We try to do everything we can to make a very scary experience less scary for that child,” she explained.
A native of Pittsburgh, Medwid worked in an Illinois state attorney’s office as a victim-witness advocate before accepting her position with Dove House in 2002. She has undergone extensive formal training, participates in peer regular peer reviews and professional development, and stays on top of the latest research in her field.
After abuse allegations are reported to law enforcement, that agency begins an investigation and notifies Dove House staff. As soon as possible, the child at the center of the investigation is brought to Dove House, which provides a comfortable, home-like environment for the child to disclose what happened.
Medwid, who has undergone special training to ensure that evidence obtained during the forensic interview meets legal requirements, sits down with the child and takes a video-recorded statement. It’s critical that she not influence the victim through her body language or by the way she phrases her questions. Statements obtained by suggesting what happened through leading questions, for example, would be heavily scrutinized when the case makes it to court and could result in an acquittal.
During the forensic interview, a law enforcement investigator and district attorney are present in another room and can watch the interview in real time and relay questions to Medwid through an earpiece. Their input, Medwid said, helps ensure that the child gives one detailed statement that can be used as evidence in court.
“We’re trying to get that one good interview instead of multiple interviews,” she said.
The victims of child sexual abuse and their non-offending family members receive a variety of services, including referrals for counseling. Two Dove House victim-advocates support the children throughout the process, and an assistant district attorney make testifying less stressful by helping them prepare ahead of time through courtroom visits and practice questions.
Before Dove House opened in 2002, child sexual abuse cases were handled very differently in our community. The child at the center of each investigation was subjected to as many as eight interviews in which they were questioned by nurses, doctors, law enforcement personnel, a prosecutor and social workers.
That earlier approach, in which the child was repeatedly forced to answer questions about the most horrifying moments of their young lives, only compounds what they have gone through, Medwid said.
“It causes them trauma,” she explained. “They sometimes feel like people don’t believe them because people keep asking the same questions.”
As a result of the multi-agency approach to handing child sexual abuse investigations, the District Attorney’s Office for Iredell and Alexander counties boasts an 89 percent conviction rate in child sex abuse cases, according to Dove House Executive Director Beth McKeithan.
That’s a vast improvement over the pre-Dove House days, when only 22 percent of child sexual abuse cases ended with a conviction, she said.
Medwid has been a driving force behind that turnaround.
“Her experience and empathy are making a difference for children in Iredell and Alexander counties every day,” McKeithan said. “She is an essential part of the team to help children who have experienced abuse start their pathway to healing.”
District Attorney Sarah Kirkman said Medwid is a consummate professional who consistently displays compassion for the child victims without showing any bias or favoritism.
“She has received extensive training in forensic interviewing and is considered by those in her field, as well as those of us in the criminal justice system, to be a role model and an expert,” Kirkman said. “As a prosecutor, I feel fortunate to have Colleen Medwid on the Multi-Disciplinary Team for Iredell and Alexander counties.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was originally published in the April edition of “IFN Monthly.”