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Published: October 10, 2008

“The abuse would have ceased immediately”

Seasoned sex crimes investigator says informing families before minor has abortion would help police catch more predators, protect girls from ongoing abuse

A veteran Southern California police investigator says family notification before a minor has an abortion would help stop the sexual abuse of young girls and could reduce the suffering of both the victim and her family.

Sgt. Tom Yarrington has spent 17 years working as a police officer in San Bernardino County, including three years in a sex crimes unit. He has investigated more than 1000 sex crime cases, most of which involved minors.

Yarrington recalls one case especially, that of Roberto, a 14-year-old El Salvador native who moved to California in 1992 to live with his father and stepmother. There were two stepsisters, ages 3 and 4, living in the home. At 17, Roberto began molesting his two stepsisters, initially luring them to “play” with him in exchange for money. The abuse continued for several years until Roberto impregnated the younger sister at age 12. He was 24. To help her obtain an abortion, Roberto insisted that she lie and tell the clinic that she was 14. Her family was never notified, and after one more instance of sexual contact, Roberto stopped abusing the girl. Her parents did not learn about the abuse or her abortion until she was 16.

Four years after the abortion, in 2006, the older sister learned of the abortion and told her mother. When Roberto discovered that his parents had been informed, he fled the country. He was arrested later the same year in Florida, after returning to the United States. Yarrington, who was assigned to the case, helped arrange the arrest.

“Without proper handling and proper follow-up, the family unit can be destroyed,” says Yarrington. “We work with an interdisciplinary team. We have CPS (Child Protective Services), social workers, and we all work together when we have a case we can bring in support people for the family—the victims as well as the parents of the victims and family members who are affected by the situation. We provide free counseling to help them through this time.”

Yarrington says he is convinced that if the abortion provider had informed the family when the victim sought its services, the lives of the family would not have been as badly damaged. “The biggest difference is that the abuse would have ceased immediately,” says Yarrington. “Second of all, she would have been receiving counseling immediately, which is going to help her through the healing process and allow her to move on with her life. “

The trauma of sexual abuse, especially of a minor, is devastating for families, but when it is not reported, it only delays the interventions that can save such families and help the victims rebuild their lives, explains the sergeant. If no intervention is made, it is not uncommon for the victims to carry their personal anguish for the rest of their lives. Yarrington says that children who are sexually abused often “become reclusive, become social outcasts through their own personalities, they don’t learn how to deal with people, or sometimes they become ‘cutters’ and hurt themselves. As they get older, they have difficulty having normal relationships. If we can’t help right away because the information isn’t disclosed and she has to carry that burden on her own, that’s a very difficult, heavy burden for someone to carry. A 12 year old is not mentally prepared to deal with not only the medical complications that can occur, but the mental anguish.”

Abortion providers and physicians are required to report suspicions of child abuse (including statutory rape) to law enforcement, but there is much evidence that such abuse is not always reported. While lying about one’s age (Roberto’s victim did) is not uncommon at abortion clinics, Yarrington says he believes that family notification requirements would greatly reduce the likelihood of allowing the abuse to continue. “At 14 years old, there’s not parental notification, however, they’re still required to provide that information to Child Protective Services,” says Yarrington. “This 12 year old had no identification, but she provided her real name. The perpetrators are smart enough—if they don’t tell the girl to give their own name, they at least tell the girls to give a false address. If a 12 year old goes in and says, ‘My name is Jane Doe and I’m 12’ or ‘I’m 14, and I live in…’ and they make up an address or a city—even if they disclose that information, how are we going to find them? That’s where parental notification would be the most effective.”

What if the father is notified when he is, in fact, the abuser? “If he is, at least they will have all of this information and he will have to provide his identity, so at least we have some type of lead to follow up on,” says Yarrington.

Yarrington says he believes that family notification for minors seeking abortions would make law enforcement’s job easier and, ultimately, be better for the victims and their families. “It give us better investigative leads, allow us to locate more victims and allows us to provide earlier intervention—not only to provide the help that the child needs to make it through this time, but it is also going to assist us in stopping further abuse from occurring to that victim and, potentially, other victims.”

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