DOCUMENT RESUME ED 219 711 CG 016 135 TITLE Exploitation of Children. Hearing before the Subcommittee on Juvenile Justice of the Committee on the Judiciary. United States Senate, Ninety-Seventh Congress, First Session on Problems of Exploited Children. INSTITUTION Congress of the U.S., Washington, D.C. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. REPORT NO Senate-J-97-78 PUB DATE 5 Nov 81 NOTE 168p.; Paper copy not available due to small print size. EDRS PRICE MF01 Plus Postage. PC Not Available from EDRS. DESCRIPTORS *Adolescents; Child Abuse; *Children; *Child Welfare; *Delinquent Rehabilitation; Drug Addiction; Family Problems; Hearings; Juvenile Courts; *Runaways; Sexuality; Violence; *Youth Problems IDENTIFIERS *Juvenile Justice System ABSTRACT The proceedings of this hearing on the exploitation of children deal with the problems of children and adolescents who run away from home. Family problems and abuse that cause these children to leave home are described by former runaway witnesses. Other testimony is included from several people who work with runaway youths and describe programs to help adolescents who are on the street facing such problems as child pornography and child prostitution. Current laws dealing with the runaway problem are discussed and the need for improvement in the juvenile justice system is emphasized. The appendix contains a letter to the Attorney General and his response about the Justice Department's involvement in the exploitation of children as well as a statement by the Department of Health and Human Services on this problem. (JAC) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN HARD COPY NOT AVAILABLE HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON JUVENILE JUSTICE OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY (NJ UNITED STATES SENATE NINETY-SEVENTH CONGRESS L4.1 FIRST SESSION ON PROBLEMS OF EXPLOITED CHILDREN NOVEMBER 5, 1981 Serial No. J-97-78 / Printed for the use of the Committeeon the Judiciary U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) ?IN This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. , Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality Points of view or opinions stated in this docu- ment do not necessarily represent official NIE position or policy. U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 89-254 0 WASHINGTON : 1982 2 COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY [97thCongress] STROM THURMOND,South Carolina, Chairman CHARLES McC. MATHIAS, JR., Maryland JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR., Delaware PAUL LAXALT, Nevada EDWARD M. KENNEDY, Massachusetts ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah ROBERT C. BYRD, West Virginia ROBERT DOLE, Kansas HOWARD M. METZENBAUM, Ohio ALAN K. SIMPSON, Wyoming DENNIS DECONCINI, Arizona JOHN P. EAST, North Carolina PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont CHARLES E. GRASSLEY, Iowa MAX BAUCUS, Montana JEREMIAH DENTON, Alabama HOWELL HEFLIN, Alabama ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania VINTON DEVANE L1DE, Chief Counsel Q!JENTIN CROMMELIN, Jr., Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON JUVENILE JUSTICE ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania, Chairman JEREMIAH DENTON, Alabama HOWARD M. METZENBAUM, Ohio CHARLES McC. MATHIAS, JR., Maryland EDWARD M. KENNEDY, MassaChusettS BRUCE A. COHEN, Chief Counsel CONTENTS OPENING STATEMENT Page Specter, Hon. Arlen, a U.S. Senator from the State of Pennsylvania, chair- man, Subcommittee on Juvenile Justice 1 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF WITNESSES Rabun, John B., manager, Exploited Child Unit, Jefferson County, Ky., De- partment of Human Services 2,59 David 5 Sullivan, Terry, former prosecutor for the State of Illinois 17 Ritter, Father Bruce, founder and president, Covenant House, New York City. 27 Progliasco, Ronald J., vice chairman, Jefferson County Task Force on Child Prostitution and Pornography 58 Dobbs, C. Edward, chairperson, Young Lawyers Division, American Bar Asso- ciation 87 Davidson, Howard A., director, National Legal Resource Center for Child Advocacy and Protection, American Bar Association 87 ALPHABETICAL LISTING AND MATERIALS SUBMITI'ED David: Testimony 2 Davidson, Howard A.: Testimony 87 Prepared statement 92 Resolution of the American Bar Association, August 1, 1981 98 "Child Sexual Exploitation, Background and Legal Analysis," by the American Bar Association, Young Lawyers Division, Washington, D.C 101 Dobbs, C. Edward: Testimony 87 Prepared statement 92 Pregliasco, Ronald J.: Testimony 58 Prepared statement 63 Rabun, John B.: Testimony 2,59 Document guaranteeing anonymity/confidentiality, November 3, 1981 4 Prepared statement 63 Ritter, Father Bruce: Testimony 27 Prepared statement and additional material 33 Sullivan, Terry: Testimony 17 Prepared statement 23 APPENDIX Letter from Senator Arlen Specter to Hon. Willam French Smith, Attorney General, October 30, 1981, regarding Justice Department's involvement in the exploitation of children, with a response 147 Prepared statement of the Department of Health and Human Services on the exploitation of children, with covering letter 151 (m) EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1981 U.S. SENATE, COMMITPEE ON THE JUDICIARY, SUBCOMMITPEE ON JUVENILE JUSTICE, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:45 a.m., in room 6226, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Arlen Specter (chair- man of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Senator Specter. Also present: Bruce A. Cohen, chief counsel; Mary Louise West- moreland, council. 'OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. ARLEN SPECTER, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA, CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMIT- TEE ON JUVENILE JUSTICE Senator SPECTER. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. We will come to order and commence this hearing of the Juvenile Justice Subcommittee of the Committee on the Judiciary. Today we are going to be inquiring into the problems of exploited children, a problem which has grown to epidemic proportions in the United States, with more than 1 million young people running away from home, each year for a variety of reasons. The young- sters run away because of arguments with their parents, disagree- ments with brothers and sisters, sometimes school problems. When youngsters run away from home they may face a series of potential exploitive situations, which range from sexual exploitation to forced labor to being instrumentalities of crime and which can start the youngster on a life of crime. Runaway and homeless chil- dren range in age from the early teens to even younger, and their exploitation is a problem, really, of tremendous significance. This subcommittee, the Juvenile Justice Subcommittee, has been active in this field in the past in connection with the Office of Ju- venile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Certain legislative ini- tiatives have been forthcoming over the course of the last several years and we will be renewing our efforts today to see if we can gain some additional insights into the problem; some suggestions, perhaps, regarding early detection to spot the potential runaway; to try to bring the forces of families, schools, churches or syna- gogues to bear; to try to deal with this in some sort of an effective way; and to explore what role the Federal Government can play with seed money and programs, through the Office of Juvenile Jus- tice and Delinquency Prevention for example. At this time we will move right to the first witness, who is a young man, David. He will be introduced by Mr. John B. Rabun, (1) 2 Manager of the Exploited Child Unit of theJefferson County, Ky., Department for Human Services. David has an especially poignant storyto tell us, having had sub- stantial problems of hisown. Welcome. STATEMENT OF JOHN B. RABUN, MANAGER,EXPLOITED CHILD UNIT, JEFFERSON COUNTY, KY., DEPARTMENTOF HUMAN SERVICES Mr. RABUN. Thank you, Senator. Weappreciate being here. I have with me a young manwe have worked with for over a year now in Louisville. His name is David. I believeyou have before you a waiver form allowing him to be present, signed byhimself and his mother, with the juvenile court inLouisville being informed propriately. ap- David has just turned 17years old. He was a victim, as a young child of physical abuse and sexual abuseby his own family and friends of the family at. theage of 7. Later he learned he coulduse sexual acts to survive on the streets. Thatbecame an important part of his history. Senator SPECTER. Mr. Rabun, couldyou give us a little bit of background as to the form of sexual abuseDavid was subjected to at the age of 7? Mr. RABUN. Yes; it was adult malefriends of the family who can I mention the actual sex acts, Senator? Senator SPECTER. I think wecan deal with the problem only if we understand it, and to the extentyou can be subtle and diplomatic, fine. But we have to communicate. Mr. RABUN. Surely. Thesex acts involved fondling and oralsex from the adult onto the child. Obviouslyat that point the child did not understand whatwas going on nor the severity or seriousness of the acth themselves. The physicalabuse has to do more with beatings, being thrown up against wallsthattype of thing. Senator SPECTER. And, Mr. Rabun,over how long a period of time was David subjected to that kindof sexual abuse? Mr. RABUN. A couple of times, startingat 7 and then maybe 1 year or so later. It would be sporadic incidents arisingout of situa- tions, perhaps overzealousness in discipline,that type of thing. David is not gay. I say thatup front because he calls himself a hustler.