It didn't dawn on me that someone might think there would not be actual rebuttals.Great point you brought that up!! I noticed 2 of the 6 had not testified before and that's a fed court case.
Thanks to "cookiedough
" from the elizabeth smart threads..
click link for full article..
http://www.ndaa.org/publications/newsletters/apri_update_vol_12_no_10_1999.html
At the Hands of a Stranger: Child Abduction
by Susan S. Kreston, Senior Attorney
National Center for Prosecution of Child Abuse
Child Abduction/Sexual Exploitation Unit
Every year there are estimated to be over 100,000 attempted abductions of children by non-family members in the United States.1 The National Incidence Study of Missing, Abducted, Runaway and Thrownaway Children indicates the number of successful attempts by non-family members to be between 3,200 and 4,600.2 Some of these children are victims of an acquaintance abduction while others fall prey to stranger abduction. Acquaintance abductions are perpetrated by individuals known to the child (friends, neighbors, etc.) but where the abductor has no legal relationship to the child. These abductions involve the coerced and/or unauthorized taking of a child into a building or vehicle, or for a distance of more than 20 feet; the detention of a child for more than one hour; or the luring of a child for purposes of committing another crime.3 Many short term abductions that take place in the course of a sexual assault are counted in this group. It is believed that this number is an underestimation, as many sexual assaults are not reported to law enforcement, thereby lowering the number of reported kidnappings attendant to the assault.4
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The most common device used in attempted kidnappings was inviting a child to get into a car.11 Other lures that are commonly used involve requests for assistance, invitations to see pets or requests to help look for them, claiming that an emergency has happened, name recognition of the victim, an authority figure (such as a police officer or firefighter) telling the child to accompany him/her, and computer solicitation for meetings.12
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1. Assess the case and take all missing children reports seriously. Speed is of the essence. Remember the victim has a three hour life expectancy in a stranger abduction case, and that there is typically a two hour delay before the police are informed that the child is missing. Use the child's age, zone of safety (how far form home is normal and appropriate) for his or her developmental age, circumstances surrounding the child's disappearance, and the child's history to help determine whether this is a kidnapping or runaway situation. The following questions may help in making this assessment:
Has the child ever run away or threatened to run away from home before?
Are any of the child's clothes or favorite possessions missing?
Is money missing?
Has the child recently been depressed or withdrawn?
Have the child's grades in school recently fallen?
Are there unhappy circumstances at home?
Does the child have new friends of whom the parent(s) don't approve?
If the answers are generally negative, proceed under the assumption it is a kidnapping.
It should be stressed that while the extreme youth of a child should always act as an accelerant to action, even teenagers are kidnapped. Age of the child is not determinant of the type of event that has occurred.
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