Transitioning Times

Content from the blog of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape , (PCAR) Joseph Amendola, attorney for former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, was in court Monday threatening to request that criminal charges against his client be dropped. Sandusky is charged with 52 counts of child sexual abuse involving 10 minors beginning in 1994. Amendola, arguing before Judge John M. Cleland at a pretrial hearing in Bellefonte, Centre County, claims that he needs a more specific time frame from the alleged victims in order to better defend his client. If he does not get that information, Amendola says he will make a motion for all of the charges to be dropped. The trial is set to begin May 14. Judge Cleland ruled that Amendola’s request is moot and cited nine Pennsylvania cases that have refined the standards and expectations for discovery in child sexual assault cases. Judge Cleland ruled that the Commonwealth has established greater latitude when the alleged crimes invol...

As a sexual assault center, Transitions often takes calls and provides services to parents and family members of children who have been sexually abused.  While it is very difficult to completely prevent child sexual abuse from occuring, the PA Sexual Offenders Assessment Board released the following list to help unsuspecting caregivers recognize grooming behaviors.  It is this grooming that allows for predators to perpetrate undetected, often for extended periods of time.  They have also released a video , available on their website, called Unusual Suspects.  The 11 Methods and Styles Used by Child Molesters from PA Sexual Offenders Assessment Board One of the most difficult topics for parents to understand and comprehend is the variety of “methods” that child molesters and abductors use to get physically close to children. One of the primary reasons that this topic is difficult to confront is that the approaches used by adults who “seduce” children ap...