Forensic Aspects of Male Child Rape and How We Can Prove It

Abstract

Introduction: Most cases of sexual violence against male children involve anal coitus. This type of violence has been proven in Brazilian courts based on the presence of sperm in the anus. However, other findings can also confirm this. This review aims to describe some forensic aspects of this crime and propose a rational form of evidence collection. Methods: An extensive search in databases (from 2009 to May 2022) like Medline, Cochrane Central, Scopus, Web of Science, and Science Direct were used, searching the following keywords: child abuse, rape, boys, and forensics. Results: From the sources found, only 24 were considered appropriate for this paper. Discussion and Conclusion: The absence of sperm research on the anus isolated is insufficient to exclude rape in a male child and increases the need for other methods to prove rape. Therefore, we propose a system of points based on some diagnostic criteria that should be analyzed together: the child's testimony, physical signs found in the anus, and the presence of spermatozoa in the anal cavity.