Gift Helps Local Child Advocacy Center

Thanks to the Trinity Mother Frances Healthcare Foundation, law enforcement and prosecutors in east Texas have a new tool to aid in the investigation and prosecution of child abuse--a state-of-the-art digital camera recently donated to the Northeast Texas Child Advocacy Center (NETCAC), headquartered in Winnsboro.

“Sexual Assault Nurses at the center were trained to use the $25,000 camera system September 20 and are excited to have this telemedicine tool to aid them in the forensic examination of children,” says Kim Basinger, sexual assault nurse examiner coordinator at NETCAC.

“Nurses will use the camera to take high-resolution images of body cavities that may have been injured during a physical or sexual assault, and then transmit the images over a secure network which has a level of encryption that is higher than the military’s to detectives and prosecutors,” says Executive Director, Jerry Edwards.

The camera replaces the colposcope, a lighted magnifying device that had been used in sexual assault examinations. The camera is smaller than a colposcope and captures higher-resolution images,” Edwards notes. "It takes such clear photos and is many times better than a colposcope."

The camera will aid in investigations and prosecutions of child abuse crimes because its level of detail will capture even the subtlest injuries a victim suffered during an assault.

Since the images can be sent electronically, prosecutors can submit them to forensic specialists to get expert opinions for use during trials. Images of physical injuries suffered during an assault can be a powerful persuader for juries. "Show and tell is a powerful thing," Basinger says. "We're a visual people."

However, Basinger acknowledges that the camera's uses will be limited in some criminal prosecutions since many victims don't suffer physical injuries.

In the majority of child abuse cases, the victim knows the perpetrator, and thus threats and coercion are often used instead of physical force. “I'm really excited that we have a state-of-the-art camera that can help document those subtle injuries. Anything that can aid in prosecutions is great," Basinger says.

Front: Kim Basinger
Back Row L-R: Teresa Wallis, Charla Denman, Roselyn Anglin, Mary Lynn Palmer