Chris Smith: The predators that drew Sonoma County prosecutors to Africa are not lions or hyenas

Lions, hyenas, leopards, elephants, wild dogs - Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch marveled to behold exotic carnivores and other animals close up on a journey to Africa with two key members of her staff.

But wildlife isn’t what drew the trio from the county prosecutor’s office to Zambia earlier this month.

They went to help authorities there to more successfully try people who prey on children.

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THIS IS WHAT Cecile Focha, the ex-sheriff’s deputy and detective who’s now the DA’s chief investigator, said of the trip to train new prosecutors enlisted in Zambia’s campaign against sexual abuse of children.

“It was probably the most important thing I’ve done in my career,” Focha said.

On a two-week trip paid for by Gambia through a grant from UNICEF, Focha and Ravitch and Chief Deputy DA Anne Masterson taught 30 prosecutors, among other things, how to interview alleged young victims about crimes few want to talk about.

Rape. Human trafficking. Sexual abuse committed by adults who believe that the acts of predation will cure disease or bring them prosperity.

“You’re dealing with topics that are taboo,” Ravitch said. Speaking of the obstacles encountered by Zambian prosecutors attempting to bring to justice adults charged with child defilement, she told of how a case in one village was foiled when “the whole village moved away before they could get it to trial.”

Ravitch said that in Zambia, many prosecutors work in rural areas “without any resources to speak of.”

The visitors from Sonoma County were humbled, Ravitch said, by how committed the leanly supported Zambian prosecutors are “to helping vulnerable victims tell their story.”

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THE SONOMANS WENT to Zambia because in the recent past, officials of the south-central African nation of 17 million, among them top prosecutor Fulata Shawa-Siyunyi, looked for guidance on tours in the U.S.

They were impressed by how allegations of child abuse are treated at Sonoma County’s Family Justice Center.

“They liked what we are doing and they invited us to go there,” said Ravitch. She said discussions in Lusaka included exploration of how to replicate the Family Justice Center there.

The Americans gave the Zambian prosecutors coloring books and soccer balls that might help them to connect with the children they need to ask about horrific things done to them.

One day, Ravitch, Masterson and Focha each split off with 10 prosecutors-in-training and did role playing, asking the students to speak with them as they would a suspected victim of child abuse.

The Americans believe the prosecutors learned a great deal about how to put a frightened child at ease and to earn the child’s trust.

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THE EXCHANGE was not at all one way.

“I learned things from them,” Ravitch said. “I will tell you, they are doing things we should be doing.”

An example: Zambia has a court that fast-tracks child sexual abuse prosecutions.

Though now out of Africa, Ravitch and her colleagues tell of feeling forever changed by their devoted, hospitable hosts.

“We really made a difference,” the DA said. “And they made a difference in us.”

You can reach Staff Writer Chris Smith at 707 521-5211 and chris.smith@pressdemocrat.com.