In the 12 years I have worked as the Domestic Violence Investigator for Sagadahoc County, my main objective in writing the many articles that have appeared in The Times Record is an attempt at putting a face on the true nature of domestic violence. In daily conversations I have with folks, I am constantly amazed at the narrow vision people have about this societal plague. The stereotypical image of a man assaulting his wife is clearly the most common example of a domestic violence case that is posed to me. In actuality, these cases are the minority.

I bring this up now as I have been faced with several “non-traditional” type of domestic violence cases as of late. I have been involved with sufficient amount of cases in my 12 years to say I no longer categorize any case as nontraditional but use this term in this article as a theme and to make my point.

After five consecutive years of declining number of domestic violence cases reported to law enforcement in Sagadahoc County including the lowest amount in the past decade in 2013, we saw a slight uptick in 2014. There is no explanation available that anyone can provide for this number. Despite that increase, it was still 20 percent lower that our high in 2005.

In the first 17 weeks of 2015, there were 17 arrests for domestic violence offenses in Sagadahoc County. Even my limited math skills allow me to calculate this out to one case per week. I use this number as the benchmark as it allows me to compare previous years rates at any given time. The purpose of this article however is not to compare numbers but to discuss case dynamics.

Breaking down the 17 cases reveals some interesting facts regarding perpetrators and victims. In only two of these cases was the perpetrator the husband and the victim his wife. In another case the perpetrator was an adult son who assaulted his mother, with both residing in the same household. The other non-traditional case was the arrest of a young man for assaulting his sister.

In deference to my friends in the Defense Bar, as many of the aforementioned perpetrators have yet to be adjudicated, I must apply the term “alleged” globally when referring to theirs and the following defendants conduct.

In nine of the cases, males were charged with assaulting their current or former female partners. In five of these cases, the couple have children together. For those of you keeping score, only five of the 17 cases involved alcohol consumption by one or both of the participants and none occurred on a holiday unless you consider Groundhog Day a holiday; another misconception of domestic violence.

Aside from the cases involving siblings and the parent-child case, it is the remaining four cases that I bring to your attention. These four cases involve females being charged with assaulting their male partners. What is most disturbing is the age of the young ladies. Between the four the average age is 22, with the youngest being 18.

Traditionally, between 10 percent and 15 percent of the cases crossing my desk involve a female being charged with a domestic offense. Having a quarter of the cases in any given period runs a little higher than normal and when you add in the case involving siblings and an adult child assaulting his mother puts a new face on the issue of domestic violence.

To close this piece out, I want to point out the saddest statistic of all. Of these 17 cases, there were a total of 19 children involved among the various relationships. Many of the participants had children from previous relationships but were present nonetheless to the current event. Nineteen children exposed to some level of domestic violence in their young lives. Nineteen children who either witnessed an assault or experienced the sudden loss of a parent or adult figure who is now forbidden from being in the home. Nineteen children who had law enforcement officers come into their home and take mom, dad or an adult figure out of the home in handcuffs. Nineteen children whose lives were disrupted by domestic violence.

Nineteen children who, if past history is any reflection of future events and I believe it is in this field, are more likely to become perpetrators or victims of domestic violence themselves someday. This is the true face of domestic violence.

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Steven Edmondson is domestic violence investigator for the Sagadahoc County District Attorney’s Office.