Evaluation of the use of substances facilitating child sexual abuse

Sexual abuse is a type of abuse that is difficult to reveal among other types of abuse applied to children and is difficult to detect. An adult, young person, or other child may use their power or authority to engage another child in sexual activity, or they may attempt sexual assault by facilitating it with a substance without the application of any physical force. These substances cause symptoms such as loss of consciousness, confusion and perceptual disorder in the person. In the study, the cases who applied to the Child Protection and Monitoring Center at Karadeniz Technical University Faculty of Medicine between 01 January 2015 and 31 December 2023 due to sexual abuse were retrospectively analyzed, and it was aimed to evaluate the sociodemographic information of the cases and the abuser, the data related to the abuse event, the biological samples taken from the cases for toxicological analysis, and the facilitators used in the abuse incident. In the study, 52 (2.5%) cases of substance-facilitated sexual abuse were identified out of 2063 cases of sexual abuse victims. The mean age of the patients was 15.6±1.7 years. Of the cases, 49 (94.2%) were female and 3 (5.8%) were male. It was determined that 4 (7.7%) of the cases were in the 9-11 age group, 13 (25%) were in the 12-14 age group, 35 (67.3%) were in the 15-18 age group, and 86.5% were high school students. It was determined that all of the abusers were men, the youngest abuser was 17 years old, the oldest abuser was 60 years old, and the majority of them were friends/lovers of the victim. It was determined that 34 (65.3%) of the abuse took place at night, 24 (46.1%) at the abuser's home and 21 (40.4%) indoors. It was determined that 67.3% of the abuse incidents were reported within the first 4 months, and the substances used in the abuse were alcohol, drugs, drugs and volatile solvents. In cases of sexual abuse, it is very important to take appropriate biological samples as soon as possible for the detection of substances that facilitate abuse in toxicological analyzes. Biological samples to be taken from the victim must be correctly selected, collected, preserved and properly transported to the toxicology laboratory. It should not be forgotten that every mistake to be made will affect the results of the analysis and the judicial decision