Scott County fund helps pay for child abuse investigation training

BENTON, Mo. -- Money the court collects from offenders will be used to train some Scott County officials in the latest child abuse investigation techniques.

The board of trustees for the Scott County Law Enforcement Restitution Fund approved a total of $6,600 in expenditures for the sheriff and prosecutor's offices Monday, according to Commissioner Dennis Ziegenhorn.

Ziegenhorn said during Tuesday's county commission meeting the restitution fund provides money for unbudgeted purchases.

"Child sexual assault is a big problem anywhere," said Paul Boyd, county prosecutor. "We're doing what we can to stay on the forefront to address it in Scott County."

Boyd said he originally requested $3,600 from the Restitution Fund's board based on a cost of $595 per person to send six Scott County deputies from the Sheriff's Department to Child Abuse Investigations Training Oct. 11 to 13 followed by the Physical and Neglect: Child Abuse Injury Reconstruction Techniques course Oct. 14. Both seminars were offered by John E. Reid and Associates at the Public Safety Building in Park Hills, Mo.

"John E. Reid is a very respected trainer of interrogation and law enforcement investigation techniques," he said.

Reid and Associates ended up providing the county with one additional training slot free of charge since the county paid for six, Boyd said.

As not enough people registered for the physical and neglect seminar, it was canceled, dropping the price to $425 per person, which left enough approved funding to bring an eighth person for training, Boyd said.

"So we're going to be sending 7-8 people to the training based on the availability of the officers," he said. "One of those will be Assistant Prosecutor Amanda Oesch."

Seminar topics will include, among others, "Understanding the Mind of an Offender," which will cover how offenders select, set up and manipulate victims as well as how they rationalize their abusive behavior; "Preparation Prior to the Interview," which explores common characteristics and behavior patters of offenders and evaluating their alibis; and "Behavior Symptom Analysis," which teaches how to evaluate both verbal and nonverbal cues.

"The idea behind sending this group for this training is to make sure each department has someone that can be appointed to conduct the child sexual assault and child abuse investigations," Boyd said. "I want them trained in how to talk to these individuals. Oesch is going so she understand what the officers are doing so she can better explain it to juries."

Also approved Monday by the Restitution Fund board was $3,000 for the Sheriff's Department to conduct drug investigations, according to Boyd.

The Scott County Law Enforcement Restitution Fund was approved in October 2004

Defendants can be ordered by judges to pay up to $300 in restitution for offenses they are found guilty of or plead guilty to, except for speeding, careless and imprudent driving, traffic sign and signal violations or class C misdemeanors, with these fees going to the Restitution Fund.

The board, which consists of five county citizens who are not current or former employees of the sheriff or prosecuting attorney's offices, oversees how money from the fund is spent.

"All funds expended will be kept in a journal for a review by auditors," Boyd said.

Also during Tuesday's County Commission meeting:

* Commissioner Donnie Kiefer noted the Missouri Department of Transportation is scheduled to begin work Monday on a construction project replacing the bridge over Caney Creek on Route 77 between Chaffee and Oran.

According to a Tuesday news release from MoDOT, Route 77 will be closed from the Route EE/A intersection to Route W until mid-December.

Commissioners are hoping to get the word out to county residents and other motorists in the area so they can plan alternate routes.

"We just want people to be aware it's going to be happening starting next week," Kiefer said. "We're encouraging people to use the state routes when they can because our county roads are going to be so busy with farmers using the roads for their crops."

Improvements to the Route 77 bridge are part of MoDOT's Safe and Sound Bridge Improvement Program which aims to improve over 800 of the state's lowest-rated bridges by winter 2013, according to the news release.

* Ziegenhorn said he appreciates the sheriff once again bringing trustees from the Scott County Jail to Sikeston to clean up after the Cotton Carnival Parade.