This NCACIA course is a 24-hour (3 day) course.  Topics of instruction will include:

 

Day 1: Foundations of Understanding and Victim Psychology

 

The first day establishes the foundational knowledge necessary for effective child sexual abuse investigations.

Participants will explore:

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• Scope & Context: National and local statistics, framing the issue, and recognizing myths vs. facts.

• The Investigative Mindset: Objectivity, bias awareness, and professional perspective.

• Victimology & Trauma: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), child developmental trauma, and the neuropsychology of the trauma experience.

• Understanding the Victim’s Experience: Victim psychology, disclosure barriers, and how trauma impacts memory, behavior, and communication.

 

Day 2: Disclosure, Reporting, and the Investigative Process

 

The second day focuses on the path from disclosure to investigative action.

Participants will learn about:

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• Grooming & Control Tactics: Behavioral patterns of offenders, manipulation strategies, and harmful family dynamics.

• Disclosure & Initial Reporting: Stages of the sexual abuse disclosure process, dynamics surrounding first reports, and investigative triage.

• Forensic Interview Fundamentals: Interview protocols, assessing child suggestibility, and working with forensic medical exams (SANE).

• Assessment & Investigative Planning: Evaluating outcries, applying SVA/CRAT principles, segmentation of statements, forming alternative hypotheses, and recognizing signs of coaching.

 

Day 3: Evidence, Offender Psychology, and Case Resolution

 

The final day equips participants with tools to strengthen cases and ensure justice.

Topics include:

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• Corroboration & Physical Evidence: Search warrants, evidence identification, interpretation of DNA/serological findings, corroborative searches, and crime scene photography.

• Records & Data Searches: Locating and leveraging school, medical, digital, and other relevant records; building timelines and family trees; creating demonstrative evidence.

• Offender Psychology & Interviewing: Behavioral patterns of offenders, suspect interviewing styles and strategies, and advanced “suspectology” techniques.

• Case Resolution: Arrest decision-making, post-arrest investigations, preparing for prosecution, and juvenile justice considerations.

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By the end of this intensive three-day training, participants will have the skills, frameworks, and investigative strategies to conduct thorough, trauma-informed, and evidence-driven child sexual abuse investigations. Graduates will be prepared to support victims, collaborate effectively within multidisciplinary teams, and hold offenders accountable through ethical and effective investigative practices.