Some Aspects of the Forensic Study of an Underage Victims Personality in Crimes Against Sexual Freedom and Integrity

Abstract

One of the priorities of modern criminal policy is counteracting crimes against sexual freedom and integrity of minors, which is especially relevant in view of the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation announcing the Decade of Motherhood and Childhood. The authors state that the detection of such crimes is hindered by their latent character due to the victims’ fear of making their intimate life public, as well as the age-related features of juveniles and minors. The official statistical reports on the number of registered crimes against sexual freedom and integrity of minors and the number of identified underage victims mentioned in the article are alarming and testify to the necessity of developing scientifically grounded recommendations on intensifying the counteraction to such crimes. The head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation also stresses that counteracting crimes against minors is a priority in the work of investigative bodies. The authors analyze the theoretical basis of recommendations in the works of scholars devoted both to the complex research of forensically relevant characteristics of the personality of an underage victim, and the research of its specific aspects, which helped to identify a system of personal features and conditions of the victim as a source of forensically relevant information reflected in the mechanism of the crime, and to single out investigative situations typical for the initial stage of investigating crimes against sexual freedom and integrity of minors. These investigative situations characterize the following conditions of investigating the crimes under consideration: the availability of information on the participants of the criminal event, their relationships, criminal actions, ways of concealing the crime and other measures aimed at counteracting the investigation. The analysis of the empirical basis of the research, namely, the results of studying criminal cases and statistical reports, allowed the authors to work out tactical solutions for organizing and carrying out the investigation in each of the specified investigative situations, the recommendations on establishing the psychological contact with the participants of investigative actions, as well as on dealing with organizational, procedural and operative-search problems.