Officer's threat to charge 11-year-old crime victim draws sharp critique of Columbus police

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “It was a complete fail on a legal level and on a human level,” said Scott Berkowitz, founder and president of the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network — the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization. Columbus police spokesperson Andrés Antequera said the agency has a nuanced policy that considers each case individually, but that “the focus is to protect the minor through education, counseling and social services, not criminal charges.” He said the department sometimes provides information on those resources to parents, as well as referrals for services. Riya Saha Shah, the senior managing director of the Juvenile Law Center, said the center was part of that advocacy and has continued to raise concerns about sexual exploitation laws being used against child victims. “It went right to punishing her, which unfortunately is all too common in a system that really isn't designed to help first, but rather to punish first.” Berkowitz said the interaction reflected the importance of training and the scarcity of standardized training for interviewing and interacting with child victims of sexual crimes.