Legal consequences in cases of child abuse]

Background: Medical child protection includes besides interdisciplinary diagnostics and treatment of physical and psychological symptoms also a discussion that looks at the ensuing legal consequences. Method: This study analyses 21 criminally investigated cases of suspected child abuse from a 2 year study period and compares severity of injury to legal outcome. Results: 7 of those 21 criminal proceedings were already dropped by the prosecution and never went to trial. 4 of the 8 cases that led to a trial ended with a conviction. In all of the 4 cases that resulted in an acquittal the judges had been convinced that the child had been abused but found themselves unable to exactly identify the perpetrator. Our study's cases did not show a positive correlation between severity of injury and legal outcome. Conclusion: Diagnosing and treating children and minors within the context of medical child protection should always also include the question of possible legal consequences. The judicial process in cases of serious child abuse requires high medical expertise. Such expertise particularly includes the ability to determine the time of injury as exactly as possible and to provide precise written documentation of any medical findings. However, our study also shows that medical assessment is only one of many aspects in the legal response to child abuse.