The ECPO Special Victims Unit was formed in 2010 in order to better coordinate the efforts of the ECPO Child Abuse Unit, the ECPO Sexual Assault and Rape Analysis (SARA) Unit, and the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Program. These three units are presently co-located at the Winona M. Lipman Child Advocacy Center, and is co-located in the Center's facilities at 185 Washington Street in Newark. This allows the efficient and synergistic sharing of resources, information and experience between these units, whose roles and involvements in any particular case often overlap. These three functions within the Special Victims Unit now operate under the unified command of one Assistant Prosecutor / Director and a Captain of Detectives. This combined Unit is also able to expand its scope of service, e.g. to abused elderly victims.

The Sexual Assault and Rape Analysis (SARA) Unit is one of the oldest investigative units in the Essex County Prosecutor's Office. It originated in the 1970's after the Newark Police Department became one of the first police departments in the nation to establish a sex crimes unit. The SARA Unit was developed to provide legal guidance and investigative support for all municipal police departments within Essex Country.

The SARA Unit originally handled all cases of sexual abuse within the Essex County Prosecutor's Office. As the field of sex crime investigation became more specialized in the early 1980's, a separate Child Abuse Unit was developed. The Child Abuse unit handles all cases of abuse involving children under the age of 13. By 2001, after the opening of the County's new Wynona M. Lipman Child Advocacy Center, all cases involving juvenile victims of abuse (under the age of 18) were solely handled by the Child Abuse Unit.

Today, the SARA Unit exclusively handles cases involving adult victims of sex crime. The legal staff consists of an Assistant Prosecutor / Director and Assistant Prosecutor, and its daily operation is overseen by a Deputy Chief Assistant Prosecutor. Three sex crimes Investigators are assigned to the Unit, and are supervised by an investigative Captain. The Unit is also staffed by a Principal Clerk Stenographer, and draws upon the expertise of a registered nurse serving as the County Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Coordinator (see SANE Program, below).

Members of the legal and investigative staff are available 24 hours a day to assist local law enforcement in their investigations. The SARA Unit has also adopted a vertical prosecution approach, whereby prosecutors assigned to a case will handle it from its inception through trial. This allows for a more victim-centered approach. A victim will be given the stability of having to deal with a single investigative and prosecution team, thereby sparing the victim the need to endlessly repeat the details of the sexually abusive act to countless people. This approach protects the victim from the need to continually relive the abusive act.

The SARA Unit was involved in many cutting-edge legal issues, including the use of DNA evidence and Internet related crimes. With the establishment of a national DNA Data bank by the FBI, Essex County was the first county prosecutor's office in the State of New Jersey to have a positive match on a previously unidentified offender, as well as the first prosecutor's office in the state to have a positive match on multiple cases committed by a serial sex offender.

In 2009, the SARA Unit received 216 cases which included 103 original investigations. Forty-three cases were presented to the Grand Jury. Thirty-three cases were billed (i.e., indicted).

The Child Abuse Unit (CAU) was established by the Essex County Prosecutor's Office (ECPO) in 1983 in recognition of an urgent need to protect abused children and prosecute those who harm them. The Prosecutor's Office placed specialized law enforcement personnel with the desire, training and experience to service abused children. Unlike most child abuse units throughout the country, the ECPO Child Abuse Unit services all children up to the age of 18. The CAU is comprised of six Assistant Prosecutors, six Detectives, two superior officers who also command other units and support staff. The CAU maintains a twenty-four hour on-call service for all county municipal Detectives and Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) caseworkers.

The mission of the unit is to support an environment of lawful behavior, safety, security and justice for all of the people of Essex County. We recognize that the children of Essex County are our greatest resource and we are committed to their protection. To accomplish this mission, the CAU uses the most advanced methods to successfully identify, apprehend and prosecute those who commit crimes against children. When crimes against children occur, the CAU diligently pursues the arrest, indictment and conviction of those responsible. At the same time, all Constitutional safeguards of the accused are respected.

By their very nature, child abuse investigations and prosecutions are extremely difficult. The CAU uses a multi disciplinary team approach to investigations and victim services. The CAU is an integral part of the Winona M. Lipman Child Advocacy Center located in Newark. It may be the only child advocacy center in the country to have a full-time prosecutor's office unit, child protective service caseworkers, juvenile trauma therapists, forensic pediatricians and multi-disciplinary coordinators all under one roof. The philosophy of the center is the "Child Comes First" and a multi-disciplinary approach is used to protect child victims from unnecessary trauma during the investigative stages of a case. Under this approach, a single interview of all victims of sexual abuse under the age of 12 years old is conducted by a highly skilled primary interviewer while professionals from other agencies view the recorded interview. The technique prevents multiple interviews by law enforcement officials and reduces trauma suffered by the victim. In addition, victim family members receive a wide range of services.

Starting in December 2000, the Child Abuse Unit began videotaping the interviews of children under the age of 13 who have been sexually abused. A primary interviewer from law enforcement conducts the interviews while members from DYFS and the Child Advocacy Center manager (Wynona's House) sit in a monitoring room nearby.

Cases are investigated either solely by the CAU or through joint investigations with municipal Detectives or staff of DYFS. The Assistant Prosecutors assigned to the Unit handle a significant number of cases from the inception of the investigation to the case's ultimate disposition. The Unit is responsible for investigating or co-investigating cases involving children under the age of 18 who were victims of crimes which include:

Sexual Abuse
Physical Abuse
Child Endangerment (abuse, neglect, cruelty and abandonment)
Child Pornography
Interference with custody/kidnapping
Luring

In 2010, the Unit investigated 857 child abuse cases. 196 cases were presented to a grand jury.

The SANE program, under the direction of a Nurse / Coordinator, is a victim-oriented program designed to render care to survivors of sexual assault aged 13 and above throughout the county. The services consist of a medical forensic exam in which evidence of the crime is collected by a certified forensic nurse. The victims are also offered the services of a rape care advocate and law enforcement personnel. These services are provided mostly at affiliated hospitals within Essex County.

WYNONA M. LIPMAN CHILD ADVOCACY CENTER: The Child Abuse Unit of the Essex County Prosecutor's Office is an integral part of the Winona M. Lipman Child Advocacy Center, and is co-located in the Center's facilities at 185 Washington Street in Newark. The purpose of the Center is to formulate a multi-disciplinary approach to the investigation of cases of child abuse. The philosophy of the Center is that the "Child Comes First". This multi disciplinary approach was developed in response to a concern about the adverse effects that multiple interviewing of children was causing. Since a child had to be interviewed by several agencies once a report of child abuse was made, children were being forced to undergo numerous interviews regarding the abuse. This, in effect, re-traumatized the child. The team approach limits the number of interviews by having the child recount the details of the abuse to one primary interviewer. Also present outside the interview are the professionals from the other agencies who are able to view the interview and pose necessary questions to the child through the primary interviewer. Hopefully this approach will reduce the stress suffered by the child who is being subjected to the criminal justice system. This method will then result in a more successful prosecution of the offender. (Click here to see more about what the Wynona Lipman Child Advocacy Center means for children who have become victims of abuse).

In July 2000, members of the Child Abuse Unit along with an Intake Unit from DYFS moved into the new offices at the Lipman Center. Videotaping equipment was purchased and installed with support from a federal grant. A week-long training session was given in conjunction with the Lipman Center. At that session, staff from the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, DYFS, and the Regional Diagnostic C were trained by nationally recognized professionals on the interviewing of children and offenders. The Center had its grand opening in October, 2000. In 2007, the Center e moved to a new and larger location on Washington Street in Newark, in conjunction with the Wynona's House service organization, which provides on-going human and social support to child victims and their families, as well as a variety of community outreach meant to promote awareness of and prevent child abuse.

The Lipman Center's services are initiated when DYFS or any law enforcement agency refers a child alleging abuse. The child is interviewed on videotape by a specialized interviewer specifically trained to work with abused children and skilled in obtaining information necessary for law enforcement and prosecution. The interview allows the law enforcement officials, child protective services workers, pediatricians and mental health personnel to view the child's disclosure and initial reactions without having to further traumatize him or her with repetitive interviews. It also preserves the child's account of events to be used in court proceedings and has been useful in confronting non-believing caretakers. Often the outcome of a child's case depends on the initial forensic interview, which is the reason that a quality interview by a trained professional is imperative.

Depending upon the results of the initial interview with the child, he or she may require a medical examination and assessment by the Lipman Center's medical staff. The Lipman Center collaborates with Essex County Regional Diagnostic and Treatment Center for Child Abuse and Neglect at Children's Hospital of New Jersey (RDC), whose physicians have extensive training in both pediatrics and issues related to child abuse. Through the compilation of the child's medical history and the examination, evidence may be obtained and stored for the potential prosecution of the alleged perpetrator. The physicians also provide basic, preventative healthcare services to ensure the complete recovery of victims of child abuse.

Without proper intervention and treatment, sexually abused children are at risk for severe psychological problems. The Lipman Center collaborates with the RDC to provide children and their families with the treatment necessary to heal from the effects of the trauma. The Center's clinical services team is comprised of a clinical director, a clinical supervising psychologist, a bilingual supervising psychologist, 5 psychologists, 3 social workers and 4 Ph.D. candidates. These professionals are all experienced in working with children and family members who have been affected by child abuse. An individualized treatment plan is created for each child utilizing information not only from psychological evaluation, but also information gathered through visits with child, his/her family and other key individuals who interact with the child on a regular basis.

The Lipman Center has implemented a twenty-four hour, seven-day a week on-call schedule for its investigative staff, thereby ensuring that all child abuse victims will be treated with the best care and concern, regardless of when they are victimized or choose to disclose.