Van de Kamp Cites Child Abuse ‘Answers’

State Atty. Gen. John Van de Kamp announced a sweeping package of recommendations for preventing and prosecuting child abuse Tuesday, including several that could change the course of the McMartin Pre-School molestation case now before the courts.

The 144-page package is the result of six months of work by 20 California child abuse experts named to a special Commission on the Enforcement of Child Abuse Laws and charged with coming up with what Van de Kamp called “some real answers.” The group held public hearings in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Noting that child abuse reports in California have increased by nearly 1,000% during the past decade, Van de Kamp said too often young victims “are re-victimized by the system as a result of clumsiness or insensitivity.”

As a remedy, he said his office not only will support such pending legislation as Senate Bill 46, which would permit children to testify by closed-circuit television, but also will introduce several bills aimed at creating “a children’s bill of rights.”

Protect Youngsters

A bill by Assemblywoman Gloria Molina (D-Los Angeles) would deem children competent to testify unless otherwise demonstrated, limit repetitive cross-examination in cases where there are multiple defendants and require--not merely permit--the court to protect children from embarrassment or harassment by defense attorneys. Such a measure, if adopted, could shorten the McMartin preliminary hearing and any subsequent trial by months.

Van de Kamp said he is confident that his legislative proposals can withstand constitutional challenges by defense attorneys. Other legislation outlined by Van de Kamp included a bill that would set guidelines for taking action against child abusers in day care settings and allow licensing investigators to check the backgrounds of job applicants against the state’s child abuse central registry. Another would provide $1.5 million to fund local child abuse coordinating councils, such as Los Angeles County’s Interagency Council on Child Abuse and Neglect.

‘One-Stop Court’

Van de Kamp also urged the formation of a “one-stop kid’s court,” which would deal with both dependency issues (whether the child should be removed from the home, for example) and criminal prosecution. However, the commission’s report instead recommends a three-year child victims’ court pilot project, which would handle all civil litigation involving children in a special court.

The commission’s 85 specific recommendations ranged across the areas of reporting, investigating and prosecuting cases of suspected child abuse; licensing day care facilities; preventing child abuse, and conducting research.

Prevention proposals included a suggestion that preschool and after-school programs be expanded to cover the needs of working parents and “latch-key children” and that public schools be kept open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.