In February, members of the Christian County Multidisciplinary Team were selected from applications from across Missouri to participate in a three-day training program called “Train the Trainer: Crime Scene to Trial.” Kristen Tuohy, Shana Mara, and Cathryn Ables represented the Christian County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.  The team from Christian County also included members from Children’s Division, the Child Advocacy Center, and Nixa Police Department.   There were four multidisciplinary teams (MDT) who were selected to receive the training through the “Zero Abuse Project.”

In Missouri, every county has a local MDT and the members are responsible for the investigation and prosecution of cases of child physical and sexual abuse in their community. The MDT includes the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Child Advocacy Center, Children’s Division, law enforcement, medical professionals, the Juvenile Office, and victim advocates. This specific “Crime Scene to Trial” specifically trained MDTs on how to complete a case, beginning with a crime scene and ending with a trial.

For a typical “Child Scene to Trial” training, the event would occur at a mock house in St. Louis. However, this year participants had a virtual tour of that mock house. The mock house appears as if a fight happened, with damage to the walls or floors and evidence of injury with imitation blood on the walls. When real-life child abuse happens, officers will often be involved and make a hotline to the Children Division. This training allows each member of the MDT to be involved from the beginning of the investigation and encourages communication between local agencies to make the best decisions for the investigation and, more importantly, the safety of any children involved.

A typical training with this program will give the participants a fact pattern, including a made-up 911 call. In this virtual training, the participants used virtual breakout calls where they interacted with suspects and witnesses. Many of these MDT members have had previous training on how best to interact with witnesses, specifically children, in these situations and how to ask questions so they are able to best communicate with children and gain the most information on the child’s current safety in the home.

Members of the MDT, like law enforcement and Children’s Division, interview suspects and witnesses to gather information. The Child Advocacy Center conducts forensic interviews of child victims and provides the opportunity for the child victim to be seen by a medical professional. The team members routinely reach out to the local prosecutor for legal guidance on issues that may arise in the case and for assistance with things like obtaining search warrants for homes, cell phones, phone records, etc. This training includes other necessary people in child abuse investigations like judges, doctors, neighbors, and even family members (all these roles were played by various presenters and volunteer actors). This training is beneficial for local MDT members to learn the best practices in handling child abuse investigations.

At the end of the training, each group had to give a presentation on their investigation. The presentation included:

• Their initial response. 
• Detention of any possible suspects.
• The investigation.
• The placement of the children; and
• Any potential charges to be filed

Each of the four teams presented their findings and received feedback from the presenters and the other teams. Although many of the teams had similar charges, there was variety in the types of charges and number of suspects charged with criminal offenses.

Completing this course was the beginning step. Upon graduation from the program, the teams now get to train other teams created from local and regional MDTs in the “Crime Scene to Trial”. This type of training provides and reinforces valuable information on best practices for member of the MDTs to utilize to better investigate and prosecute cases of child abuse in their area.  All of this is done with the focus on putting the safety and well-being of the child first.  All with the goal to hold offenders accountable and keep children safe. 

The Christian County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, along with other MDT members (Child Advocacy Center, Children’s Division, Nixa Police Department), will be conducting its first “Crime Scene to Trial” training in Ozark, MO between September 14-16, 2022.

On June 3rd, 2022 Judge Bacon confirmed Fredrik Kirkhaug as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney.  Prior to receiving his badge of office he was administered the Prosecutor Code of Ethics by Prosecuting Attorney Amy Fite.

Fredrik received his Undergrad degree from Missouri State University, receiving his Bachelor’s degree in Finance, and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Missouri – Kansas City School of Law. He has previous experience as a Rule 13 Intern at the Greene County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.