Child Abuse: Stages in the Criminal Justice Process

Running head: INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINOLOGY AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE 1
Introduction to Criminology and Criminal Justice
Name
Institution

INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINOLOGY AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE 2
Introduction to Criminology and Criminal Justice
Introduction
In essence, there have been varied opinions on the issue surrounding child abuse
particularly in the contemporary society given the increased cases of children being molested
across the globe. While some victims of the same have been denied the chance to report what
they are forced to undergo, some eventually find their death as a result of the child abuse.
Regrettably, most children are abused by their parents and in this regards some stories never
reach the necessary authority for a probable action. Melissa Chambers and her boyfriend Travis
Darrah were reported to have abused her 4 years old boy who was rushed to the hospital for a
broken femur. Initially, they told the police that the boy had fallen from a bunk bed. However,
when the police went to the house, they discovered that the house had no bunk bed, therefore,
inviting more investigation into the matter. Police revealed through text messages sent to
Melissa, that Travis was after her son for eating his sister’s cheese. Another message suggested
that Melissa should tell her son to lie to the police with an aim of protecting himself from arrest.
For any crime involving an adult in the United States whose investigation is complete, the
suspected criminals are always arrested, prosecuted, indicted, arraigned in court, taken through a
pretrial detention, the suspect allowed to plea for a bargaining, trial allowed to go on, sentencing
follows, appeals and finally punishment of the same amount. In regards to Travis’s case, the
weakest link to the matter is the fact that the son might have actually fallen from the bunk bed
while the strongest links are the messages he sent to Melissa not to reveal the matter. For a
successful conviction of Travis, the following steps will be considered.
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INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINOLOGY AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE 3
Stages in the Criminal Justice Process Subsequent To Conviction of Travis
Investigation
It is no doubt that all criminal matters require an extensive investigation by the federal
police before any action is undertaken. Apparently, the main purpose of an investigation is to
look for a rather enough evidence that identifies a suspect and therefore support an arrest in the
long run. Certain investigation often requires a thorough search, an exploration kind of
inspection of a particular person’s property (Sikkink & Lutz, 2017). For the police to gather
concrete information concerning a case then a viable investigation is paramount. For the case of
Travis, the police investigated and found out that the boy was not injured through bank bed. In
fact, the police found out that Travis had sent Melissa some messages trying to cover up the
matter.
Arrest
After a proper investigation by the federal police and satisfying evidence is arrived at, the
police make an arrest of the suspect. Apparently, most of the times an arrest involves taking a
particular person to the custody. This is done for the purpose of holding the suspect until a court
hearing. The main legal requirements for any arrest often require a probable cause (Cole, Smith,
& DeJong, 2018). This, therefore, means that there is an adequate as well as a reasonable link
between a particular person and a certain crime. In relation to the current case study, Travis is
attached to the case considering the fact that he had initially said that he had gotten rid of the
bunk bed while the bed was not actually there. In fact, the messages he sent to Melissa were
enough to confiscate him bearing in mind that he wanted to cover up the incident. This suggests
that the police had enough reasons to arrest Travis.
Prosecution
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