Disappearance of the victim in the system of criminal information on sexual crimes against juveniles

Commission of criminal acts against minors and young Russian citizens, due to some specific causes and characteristics, has always caused complexity in their investigation by law enforcement agencies. This situation is based on the fact that in the Russian Federation up to two million children and adolescents are subjected to violent acts annually, and the forms of violence are extremely varied: slave trade, slave labor, ill-treatment, sexual assault, etc. In this case, actions against sexual immunity of minors and young children should make up a special category. Violent crimes against minors and young people are characterized by a number of specific features that should be considered when carrying out search operations and pre-investigation checks. One of the features is disappearance of these persons. The concept of disappearance as a legal term does not exist in the criminal law. At the same time, phrases "missing person" and "untraceable person" (Article 42 of the RF Civil Code) used in this context do not reflect the essence of the case under study for various reasons. It should be emphasized that disappearance of children is one of the features characterizing latent violent crimes. However, analysis of the current state of criminological characteristics of these types of crime leads to a conclusion that researchers and law theory neglect this element of information. It should be understood that in most cases a child's disappearance testifies to the fact of committing sexual assault against them, regardless of who committed it: parents (guardians) or unauthorized persons. Sexual abuse of children and adolescents is characterized by frank violence against them or compulsion them to commit sexual acts by deception or abuse of minors' curiosity. Sometimes they become objects of sexual exploitation, usually associated with financial benefits for the "exploiter", which may occur with the minor's voluntary consent to it. However, all of these forms of sexual abuse of children and adolescents violate the moral standards of society protected by law, and are traumatic for minors' psyche, causing corrupting and sometimes criminalizing influence. Further life of such victims is likely to be destroyed. The study of criminal cases involving sexual crimes against children provides an opportunity to talk about disappearance as a forensic data element essential for investigating this type of crime, and further search of the juvenile and underage victim.

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