Compassion in Abuse Cases

Local law-enforcement officials and private donors have joined to create in Santa Monica what should become a model program for helping children who have been sexually abused. The idea is simple: Take children to one place where they feel comfortable rather than forcing them to go from police station to hospital and so on.

Before the new program was established in a refurbished building called Stuart House, a child who said that he or she had been molested would have been taken to a police station, then a hospital, then a county agency, then a counseling agency, then a court building and perhaps then even to dependency court. That’s frightening. Before it is over, some children have an impression that they were the ones who did something wrong. Stuart House is designed to reduce that problem.

Helping to put the program together were the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office and Sheriff’s Department and the police departments of Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and Culver City. The effort was spearheaded by the Santa Monica Rape Treatment Center. Santa Monica Hospital donated the building, and the Stuart Foundations paid for remodeling to create offices, interview rooms and bright play areas. The project, which involved many other donors, was a team effort that deserves imitation.