Mahoning Valley Prosecutor’s Office announces new Special Victims Unit

Mahoning County Prosecutor Gina DeGenova announced the implementation of a new Special Victims Unit of her office during a Monday press conference.

The Special Victims Unit (SVU) will be staffed by Assistant Mahoning County Prosecutors Jennifer McLaughlin Bonish, who will serve as chief of the SVU, as well as Caitlyn Andrews, Kevin Day, Katie Jones and Daniel Yozwiak.

The team will be devoted to seeking justice for vulnerable victim groups, DeGenova said.

What will the SVU do in Mahoning County?

The SVU will handle:

• Sexual assaults;
• Domestic violence and domestic homicides;
• Crimes against children including child endangering and child pornography;
• Human trafficking;
• Crimes against individuals with developmental disabilities;
• Elder abuse, physical and financial; and
• Animal cruelty.

“I am always looking to impose best practices. Adding a specialized unit will help ensure the protection of the most vulnerable members of our community,” DeGenova said. “I am especially pleased that career prosecutor Jennifer McLaughlin Bonish will serve as Chief of the SVU. Chief Bonish has extensive experience in prosecuting sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse cases in Mahoning County. In her 18 years as an attorney, she has prosecuted numerous criminal jury trials and secured the first jury verdict finding a defendant guilty of Human Trafficking.”

Bonish is also passionate about animal welfare, recognizing that animals lack the ability to protect themselves from their abusers.

How will the SVU use vertical prosecution and what does that mean?

A distinguishing feature of the SVU will be vertical prosecution, meaning that the same prosecutors will handle the cases from pre-indictment through sentencing.

Many incidents of physical and sexual abuse are not reported to law enforcement. According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, one in five women will be raped in their lives. However, a staggering 63% of sexual assaults are never reported to police. The report rate is even lower when the victim is a child, with only 12% of child sexual assaults being reported to law enforcement .

Through the SVU’s vertical prosecution model, DeGenova said, victims will know who their prosecutors are early in the process. They will know who to contact with questions and concerns as their cases move through the criminal justice system.

Furthermore, vertical prosecution spares victims the trauma of describing their victimization to numerous prosecutors in various stages of prosecution. The SVU prosecutors are prepared to address the specific needs of these victims during the criminal justice process. Crimes Against the Elderly Alarming statistics consistently demonstrate the need for the SVU to encompass crimes against elderly victims.

The United States Department of Justice reported in 2023 that 10% of adults in the United States over 60 years of age are victims of elder abuse each year with twothirds of those victims being women. Elderly victims are particularly vulnerable to call center scams, reporting more losses in such scams in 2022 than all other age groups combined. Only 1 in 24 cases of elder abuse is reported to law enforcement. In cases of financial abuse by a friend or family member, 87.5% of elderly victims did not report their victimization.

Animal Cruelty Turning to the protection of animals, the link between abuse of animals in the home and the abuse of family or household members is well established.

As the Animal Legal Defense Fund explained, “violence is violence; and those who commit violence rarely limit their victim pool to a single species.”

When animal cruelty takes place in a home, it is more likely that other family members are being abused. In fact, animal abuse is one of the top four risk factors for domestic violence. Domestic abusers also commonly use animals to instill fear in their victims or to prevent their victims from leaving their abusive situations, DeGenova said.

In homes where domestic violence is occurring, 50% of children reported that their abusers threatened to hurt or kill a pet.

Who will the SVU work with?

The SVU prosecutors will continue to work with Mahoning County Children’s Services Board, the Child Advocacy Center at Akron Children’s Hospital, and law enforcement agencies across Mahoning County to help ensure the safety of children in our community.

Prosecutor DeGenova and the SVU will also collaborate with Mahoning County Board of Developmental Disabilities, COMPASS Family; Community Services, Direction Home of Eastern Ohio, and Animal Charity of Ohio.

“We cannot express enough appreciation for the hard work and dedication of our community partners.

Without their support our office and the SVU would not be able to achieve our mission to protect families and ensure justice is served,” said Prosecutor DeGenova.

This story was originally published January 29, 2024 at 10:29 AM.