Criminal Prosecution of Child Protection Workers

Considerable attention has been given to the issue of civil liability of child protection workers when children are seriously injured or killed. Little attention, however, has been given to criminal liability. The authors of this article discuss several cases involving child protection workers who were tried for failing to protect children who were subsequently killed by an abusive parent. Furthermore, the authors discuss how child protection workers may protect themselves from criminal liability. Key words: child protection; criminal justice; death; liability; social workers A plethora of professionals have discussed the issue of civil liability of child protection workers resulting from severe injuries or death to children (Alexander, 1993; Besharov