Utah’s Children’s Justice Centers are in nearly every county in the state and are a safe place for abused children to talk about and provide evidence regarding what they’ve been through. These CJCs look like residential homes to provide a comfortable, secure environment for interviewing young victims of violent crime.
The Utah Attorney General’s Office oversees the state’s CJCs, designed as important “safe houses.” There, specially trained investigators help children talk about what they’ve been through as part of an ongoing investigation. What they say can be used in court. It’s a compassionate way to deal with the dispassionate prosecution of a criminal case.
In this special two-part Legally Speaking, we first speak to the CJC’s Deputy Director, Heather Stewart, who loves to educate people about it. In part two being released next week, we will hear from Matthew Janzen from the Davis County Attorney’s Office about the CJC’s importance there.
