Cases of Neglect Involving Entomological Evidence

As the many chapters in this text illustrate, forensic entomology has now gained widespread acceptance within the forensic science community. However, much of this acceptance has occurred in recent years despite the fact that applications of entomology in the legal system have been documented in the thirteenth century. Currently, many investigators and legal professionals are not fully aware of the scope and application of forensic entomology. They may be aware of this forensic discipline from death investigations in the criminal context, where entomological evidence can serve to support estimations of the postmortem interval by providing a scientific documentation of the period of insect activity (PIA), or by the determination of the time of colonization (TOC). Most investigators are not aware of the broad scope of forensic entomology in other criminal and civil investigations. While forensic entomologists are commonly called upon to render an expert opinion on cases of child and elder neglect, and in animal neglect and cruelty cases, with increasing frequency, the majority of these requests come from physicians and those in allied health professions. In order to realize the full potential of forensic entomology in these investigations, it is necessary for the forensic investigator to become aware of the utility of entomological evidence (Benecke 2004).