FBI PROVIDES TRAINING ON SEX CRIMES

JACKSON -- Sex crimes against children are often hard to detect, and even harder to prosecute if the person conducting the investigation does not have the training and expertise needed to investigate such crimes.

When the FBI in St. Louis surveyed municipal and county law enforcement and related agencies in eastern Missouri, they were told, "We need help in the investigation of child sexual assault cases, and help on how to investigate crime scenes involving sex crimes."

As a result of the survey, the FBI's staff has prepared a seminar to train officials how to investigate and prosecute sex crimes.

The three-day seminar is being presented this week in Cape Girardeau County at the sheriff's office in Jackson.

The seminar started opened Wednesday with a welcome by Sheriff Norman Copeland and James L. Vermeersch, attorney, principal legal adviser, and special agent with the FBI office in St. Louis.

The 45 participants in the seminar include members of the Cape Girardeau, Bollinger and Scott Counties sheriff's departments; Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Perryville police departments; the Cape County Prosecuting Attorney's office; the Cape County Juvenile Office; the Missouri Division of Family Services, and Probation and Parole; Southeast Missouri State University Department of Public Service; and the Cape County coroner's office.

Although the FBI often gets the credit in many criminal investigations, Vermeersch said the bureau recognizes that it is the work done by municipal and county investigators that makes it happen.

"It's very clear to the FBI that you people on the local law enforcement level make us look good," said Vermeersch. "We come in and claim credit for what you do."

He said seminars like the one this week give the FBI an opportunity to share their knowledge.

"We can share with you the training that we have been given," Vermeersch said. "That's why one of our priorities is to spend our time with you, to give you the training we have received.

Vermeersch said in an interview that most of the child sexual assault cases the FBI sees usually involve one, or both parents of the victim.

"These cases are hard for law enforcement officers to investigate because they do not often know what to look for," he said. "This is an educational program to show the officers what these people are doing to their children."

Although most child sex abuse cases are reported through the Missouri Division of Family Service's telephone hot line number, it is up to the local law enforcement agency to conduct the investigation, collect evidence, interview witnesses and victims.

"How well that job is done will depend on whether or not the case can be brought to court and successfully prosecuted," Vermeersch said.

The seminar will also cover serial murders. Vermeersch said rural areas of Missouri are not immune to serial killers.

"When it comes to serial killers, I don't think you can draw a boundary or wall to prevent them from going anywhere they chose," he said.

"These are very unusual type of people to understand, but they are somewhat predictable," he added. "We have a number of FBI agents assigned to our Quantico, Va. training facility who are specially trained in psychologically predicting this type of killer. Their success rate has been astronomical."