DA To Reach Out To Schools On Abuse Awareness
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- In light of the Jerry Sandusky scandal erupting at Penn State with a former assistant coach facing 40 counts including sexual abuse of children, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala says it's time to attack this issue head-on among those who have constant contact with children through an education campaign.
"Meeting with every school district hopefully in Allegheny County explaining to the teachers what their obligations are, explaining theories of criminality that came out of Penn State, reminding everybody that child abuse crosses all socioeconomic considerations," he said.
Specifically reminding those who come in contact with children about the provisions of the Child Protective Services Act – realizing that the first 24 hours are critical and that the case becomes more difficult to prosecute the longer it takes for witnesses to report what they see.
The now-famous alleged observation by assistant coach Mike McQueary of Jerry Sandusky with a boy in the shower at Penn State is what Zappala used as an example.
"It's extraordinary if the assistant coach – assistant coach I guess he was – actually saw somebody engaging in criminal conduct with a child.
"We do not see that we do not typically – we do not have that type of evidence, but we have evidence which manifests itself with the change in the child's disposition. People that know the child well know that the child has now changed," Zappala said.
Zappala also says in light of the allegation made against an assistant basketball coach at Syracuse that a teenaged boy was abused in Pittsburgh, city detectives have touched base with his office in the event the investigation in New York requires their expertise for something that may have happened 10 years ago.
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