More than 90 per cent of positive forensic evidence findings are foundwhen children are seen within 24 hours of an assault. Yet understaffedsexual assault services are failing to ensure children are immediatelyexamined following an assault, warn experts writing in the Journal ofClinical Forensic Medicine.
Researchers, who surveyed both services based in police stations andthose in health facilities, said their most significant finding was the"virtual absence of a service for any prepubertal child" directly afteran assault.
Dr Mary Pillai, consultant gynaecologist and forensic sexual assaultexaminer at Cheltenham General Hospital, said the shortage of adequatelyskilled doctors often meant that a paediatrician, usually a communitypaediatrician, and a forensic doctor were needed.
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