Unlawful Sex Prosecutions

Sally Nava Kanarek states (Letters, May 10) that there is a “blatant lack of prosecution” by the district attorney’s office of thousands of cases of unlawful sexual intercourse with minors in Orange County. Her allegations apparently stem from statistics showing 7,000 pregnancies by female minors per year in the county.

Although we appreciate Kanarek’s concern and agree that the level of teen-age pregnancies is a serious social difficulty, the suggestion that the problem can be overcome by law enforcement or that prosecutors are not fulfilling their responsibilities by filing as many cases as there are pregnancies is erroneous.

The district attorney’s office carefully reviews each of the cases brought to it each year alleging a violation of the law against unlawful sexual intercourse. These reported cases are evaluated for filing according to evidentiary and legal standards which are applied to all crimes, and those that meet the standards are vigorously prosecuted by deputies in our Juvenile, Sexual Assault/Child Abuse and Municipal Court units.

Like other crimes where the victim or her family may be embarrassed by what has happened, there are many more unreported than reported cases. This lack of reporting, rather than disinterest on the part of the police or prosecution, is the real cause of the disparity in numbers between underage pregnancies and criminal case filings.

MAURICE L. EVANS

Assistant District Attorney,

County of Orange