BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (AP) - When a child’s death cries out for answers, a Bloomington pathologist is part of the team of experts called on to provide an answer.
Dr. Scott Denton, forensic pathologist with the McLean County Coroner’s Office, serves as pathologist for the Southern Illinois Child Death Investigation Task Force, a multidisciplinary team that responds to calls in 38 Illinois counties.
Since he joined the task force in 2011, Denton has conducted autopsies in 16 cases from eight counties.
“You don’t want these cases or seek them out, but it’s part of the necessity of the job,” said Denton, who has made several trips to smaller counties in southern Illinois to testify about his findings in criminal cases related to the death of a child.
According to the most recent data covering all Illinois child deaths in 2013, 1,503 deaths from all causes were reported by Denton’s team and eight others that cover the state. Of that number, 163 deaths were analyzed by a child death review team.
The majority of child deaths were related to natural causes (69 percent) and accidents (12 percent). In addition, 8 percent of child deaths in 2013 were linked to homicides, three percent to suicides and 9 percent were undetermined.
Of the 163 cases examined by a review team, 34 percent were deemed accidental; 13 percent natural causes; 20 percent homicides and 33 percent were undetermined. Suicides accounted for one percent.
Work in child death investigations has evolved to a more scientific approach that begins with information and observations at the death scene, said Denton. An autopsy will either prove or disprove what authorities learn.
“The autopsy either fits into that story or it doesn’t,” he said.
When the medical evidence does not support what police are told about a child’s death, the investigation can turn into a criminal matter.
A southern Illinois case where a child died from allegedly ingesting dish washing liquid was such a case, said Denton, who has served as McLean County’s pathologist for eight years. A skull fracture detected during an autopsy provided police with their first clue as to the truth.
“The case quickly went 180 degrees from what we thought it was,” said Denton.
Last week, Denton performed an autopsy on a 3-year-old girl from Marion whose mother initially told authorities she had accidentally smothered the child. Murder charges were filed against the Salem woman after Denton told police her story did not match forensic evidence.
The nine regional review teams established by lawmakers in 1994 include representatives from the Department of Children and Family Services, law enforcement, state’s attorney’s offices, hospitals and mental health professionals.
Each group brings a different perspective to an investigation, said DCFS spokesman Andrew Flach.
Since its inception, “a number of task force investigations of serious harm and child death cases successfully led to prosecutions of child abuse and neglect,” in the state’s central and southern regions, said Flach.
Local authorities retain jurisdiction over the cases investigated by the review team. Autopsies for the southern task force are conducted at the McLean County coroner’s office. The state covers expenses connected with the reviews.
Criteria for a review include the deaths of children who are wards of the state or the subject of pending or past abuse investigations. The teams also have the discretion to review sudden, unexplained child deaths and cases of serious or fatal injuries to a child.
McLean County Coroner Kathy Davis supports Denton’s work with other counties.
“By staying current with procedures and practices in child death investigations and performance of an obsessively compulsive autopsy in these small children,” Denton has become a major asset to the review team, said Davis.
Union County Coroner Phil Hileman said the outside expertise assists the small county with the specialized area of death investigation.
“It’s always best to use an abundance of caution. You can’t do too much in these cases,” said Hileman, whose county has had two cases - both homicides - reviewed by Denton.
While some cases that lead to criminal charges are the result of a single, impulsive blow by an adult against a child, other deaths require an extensive study of a pattern of abuse, said Denton.
“You’re looking at the level of abuse and timing of injuries that may not be from a sudden act, but multiple injuries over time,” said Denton, adding that “injuries are getting more violent.”
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Source: The (Bloomington) Pantagraph, https://bit.ly/1EFJ1JT
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Information from: The Pantagraph, https://www.pantagraph.com
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