How Susie’s Place staff helped guide one case to a nearly 160-year prison sentence
Featuring Heidi Clossin,
Forensic Interviewer
A few years ago, a ten-year-old girl came to Susie’s Place for a forensic interview after disclosing serious reports of abuse and sexual assault.
“Everything she disclosed was severe, all at the hands of her grandfather,” recalls Forensic Interviewer Heidi Clossin. “This had been happening to her since age 6, and the most recent rape was a week or two prior.”
The events were a clear case of Level 1 felonies. “We interviewed her sibling the next day, who corroborated everything. That’s pretty rare for this magnitude,” says Clossin. “It’s rare to have a witness to a rape.”
Much of the benefit of coming to Susie’s Place is our multidisciplinary team approach. Prosecutors, law enforcement, DCS caseworkers, nurses, and doctors all come together for the benefit of the child and their non-offending family members.
And like any team, they look out for each other.
The case was lengthy, and like nearly all criminal justice investigations and proceedings, it took time, with unusual twists along the way. “We keep close track of all our cases,” says Clossin. “I kept her case in view for a year because I wasn’t going to let anything fall through.”
Over time, the case moved forward thanks in no small part to Clossin’s sheer determination. Conversations with new prosecutors and team members over time changed the state of the case, but the one constant was Clossin.
“It took a while, but the grandfather was arrested and was sentenced to nearly 160 years in prison,” says Clossin.
“Typically, my job ends when they leave the forensic interview room. By practice, we don’t make contact with the family or the kids. But that doesn’t mean we forget them. Our Child and Family Advocates stayed in contact with the family, even after they moved out of state, and I kept monitoring that case the entire time,” she says.
In the intervening time, several other victims came forward from the family. All had shared similar events. It took the bravery and courage of one ten-year-old girl to come forward and stop this abuse for other young girls and women. “No one else was victimized after she came forward,” says Clossin.
In addition to the grandfather, the grandmother was also charged with a Level 6 “Failure to Report” felony.
“We can advocate for kids. I knew what was happening was wrong for them and I used my power to advocate for them and kids like them in our community,” says Clossin. “None of us here would allow any other outcome in the face of such overwhelming evidence.”
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