Greene Asst. D.A. Chambers speaks at national convention
WAYNESBURG – There are some things that a community does not want to be recognized for, and crimes perpetrated against children certainly would be one of those things. However, it was just such recognition that led the Crimes Against Children Conference (CACC) organizers to look to Greene County.
The annual conference, now in its 20th year, is a nationally and internationally recognized conference with attendance of close to 3,000 professionals from the fields of law enforcement, prosecution, child protective services, social work, children’s advocacy, therapy and medicine who work directly with child victims of crime.
It was the abduction and murder of 12-year-old Gabrielle “Gabby” Bechen of Dunkard Township in 2006 that led the group to request that lead investigators in the case attend as guest speakers for this year’s conference, which was held Aug. 11-14 in Dallas, Texas,
Three of the keynote speakers at the conference were Greene County First Assistant District Attorney Linda Chambers, Federal Bureau of Investigation Agent Mike Hochrein and state police Trooper Thomas Schuster. The three law enforcement officials were involved in the investigation.
Chambers was on-call the weekend that Bechen’s body was found, and followed the case from the crime scene to the courtroom as the prosecuting attorney. During the conference, she shared her firsthand knowledge of her involvement with fellow children’s advocacy professionals.
She credited the extensive work of the FBI and the state police with providing the district attorney’s office with the evidence that helped to bring the perpetrator of the crime, Jeffrey Martin of New Geneva, Fayette County, to justice.
Martin was convicted of first-degree murder and rape. He is awaiting sentencing.
After returning from the conference, Chambers said she was honored to have been able to participate in the event.
“To have them (conference organizers) use a case study from Greene County was an honor,” Chambers said. “When a crime upon a child happens, from start to finish, the focus is not on the defendant, it is on the victim and it helps when you are focused on that. You have to paint a picture of who this little girl was and what her life was about.”
She said she told the crowd at the conference that it was “amazing” to watch the crime scene investigators do their work.
“It was the latest technology that they had being used. They had a mapping system that could overlay diagrams on topographical maps and that was some of the evidence that I was able to use in the courtroom,” Chambers said. “The main thing I took from the case was that we have got to be patient and let these guys do their job.”
Chambers said that what she witnessed during the excavation of the all-terrain vehicle that Bechen was last seen riding before her disappearance drove home that point for her.
“They were excavating the ATV, and they were using what looked like a little garden shovel and something like a Shop-Vac. It was amazing to see,” Chambers said. “They sifted through the dirt so carefully and it was so precise so they would not lose or damage any evidence.”
Chambers, who has been with the county district attorney’s office since 2000, said that the conference was a valuable experience for everyone who attended.
“I was able to listen to the different perspectives that were offered about how to deal with kids,” Chambers said. “I studied art as an undergraduate, so I like to draw pictures and do things to relate to them. Others said they sit on the floor and play games with the children. Some said that they find it more effective to be an authoritative figure.”
Chambers said that the shared experiences helped in a sense to determine which interviewing method would work for which children, as all children are different.
“At times I will contact a school counselor and ask how they recommend approaching the child. Other times I speak with social workers or child psychiatrists that are in the child’s life,” Chambers said.
The conference also provided a series of lectures and workshops with topics such as: forming a child abduction response plan, locating known abductors, investigating and prosecuting cases of child sexual abuse, managing high risk offenders in the community, exploring the impact of trauma, and more.
In addition to the Bechen case study, there were cases presented where the outcomes were very different.
One speaker at the conference was Alicia Kozakiewicz, who talked about a crime where she was the victim.
Kozakiewicz was lured and abducted in 2002 at the age of 13 after developing an Internet friendship with a man. Kozakiewicz, now an adult, gives lectures about her experience and works with law enforcement toward education and awareness of Internet predators.
The experience of the conference was something akin to putting together a crime puzzle – from the act to the prosecution, according to Chambers.
Those in attendance were able to hear things from all angles, she added. The information that they gathered there will hopefully aid them in solving crimes and winning cases against those who perpetrate crimes against children, Chambers said.
“I don’t mind losing a case. I can handle that. But, when we take a case to trial, we want to win and bring that person to justice,” Chambers said.
The hardest part for her, she said, has been dealing with small children.
“It is hard dealing with those little ones and sometimes having to prosecute their dad or stepdad. It is heartbreaking. You don’t want to lose those cases,” Chambers said. “There are times when that happens and they are asking me, ‘Did they think I was lying?'”
Chambers said, “I tell them that it wasn’t their fault. I just didn’t prove the case to the jury. I didn’t do my job.
“Trying to protect these kids from more crimes against them is what this job is all about,” she added.