Working PIby Kendra Budd, Editor
Private investigators often become specialists within the profession. Some may focus on cheating accusations or pre-employment background checks, while others take a particular interest in finding missing persons, financial crime, insurance fraud and so on. In many instances, specialization requires specific knowledge and/or skills to excel. Others, such as working sexual assault and abuse cases, require investigators to take on an emotional endeavor.
Though every facet of private investigation work requires emotional stability and professional skills, working emotionally charged cases like sexual assaults can be mentally taxing and difficult. These types of cases require investigators to remain compassionate and exhibit empathy, while also seeking the truth. Not only do you need to identify and interview relevant parties to gather accurate information, you must be mindful to make every interviewee feel safe. This requires impartiality, which can be a difficult feat when a case is particularly stress and anger-inducing.
Jonathan Stewart, a private investigator in Des Moines, Iowa, happens to specialize in sexual assault cases. Working PI recently sat down with Stewart to ask him what makes these cases different from others as well as how investigators may need to prepare emotionally and professionally when conducting such an investigation.
Impressive Résumé
Stewart has built an impressive career résumé. As a 28-year veteran of the U.S. Marshals Service, a retired major in the U.S. Army Reserve, a former criminal investigator for the Department of Justice (DOJ) and background investigator for the FBI,
Stewart’s reputation precedes him. He also donates his services and lends his expertise as a Team Adam Consultant with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, a private nonprofit with a mission to help find missing children, reduce child sexual exploitation and prevent child victimization.
His transition into private investigation was relatively seamless. After mandatory retirement from the DOJ, Stewart started working as a private investigator shortly after beginning his stint with the FBI. He began concentrating on PI work when a large FBI case he was offered had the potential for a conflict of interest. “It wouldn’t have been an issue, but I did say that the PI stuff comes first,” recalls Stewart. “So, we [the FBI] mutually agreed to terminate my contract. … I just didn’t want the hassle. I wasn’t going to give up my PI business for it, and it was a smart move.”
With previous experience working federal court cases, Stewart’s services were highly sought after by attorneys who needed private-investigative help. “It was just a matter of saying, ‘I’m starting a PI business,’ and I had people knocking on my door before I could even get up and running,” says Stewart. Eventually, attorneys started asking for his help on sexual assault cases, which brings us to his work today.
Finding Cases
Stewart currently works with three investigators as president and CEO of JSQ Investigations, in addition to running a security service in which he offers executive protection. A majority of his business practice falls into criminal defense work, which is where his expertise in sexual assault cases comes into play.
Typically, these cases come to Stewart from attorneys hired to defend clients from sexual assault accusations. This often occurs on referral or from previous experience, including recently when he says he was contacted by three separate attorneys representing clients who “were accused of sexual assault involving a fraternity.” In that instance, he had previously worked with two of the lawyers; however, attorney-based work isn’t his only avenue for landing cases.
There are other times, Stewart says, when he’s contacted directly by family members of the accused and/or accuser. In one recent example, Stewart worked on a case in which a client’s “son was going through a trial and thought things were getting missed by the attorneys,” he notes.
When he begins working on a sexual assault case, Stewart says he tends to follow the same investigation process, beginning with assembling the necessary building blocks to get started: the accusation, evidence and an interview with the client. “We’ll go over [the case] and talk about which people we need to identify/interview, and any particulars I need to know,” Stewart explains.
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Piecing the Puzzle
After obtaining the necessary preliminary information, Stewart tailors a case appropriately. For example, “I had a case where sexual assault was alleged between two volunteer firefighters,” he recalls. Though sex had occurred, the female claimed it wasn’t consensual, while the male said it was. In this instance, Stewart had been called in by the male’s attorney. After taking the initial steps, Stewart learned “there was over a dozen witnesses to talk to” but not much other information to go on. As a result, he tailored the case to focus mostly on background information and finding anything he could about the alleged victim.
In fact, the need to investigate background information is often why private investigators like Stewart are brought into these cases because law enforcement sometimes doesn’t do the necessary legwork. In this particular example, detectives “decided they didn’t need to talk to anyone except the victim, and in this case, the victim was not reliable,” asserts Stewart. “… I found it mind-boggling that they would just convict somebody on the fact that she said this happened, when he says it didn’t.” This case illustrates why it’s sometimes imperative for private investigators to be brought in to dig deeper.
Stewart not only interviewed several people connected to the case but also researched the alleged victim’s past for additional information. In his investigation, Stewart discovered this was not the first time the woman had accused someone of sexual assault. Without divulging specific case details, he also says he was able to use her collected phone data to help “complete a picture in the hands of the jury,” which ultimately didn’t find her credible.
Stewart is quick to emphasize that it wasn’t his job to search for flaws or red flags in the victim’s background, but rather to research the facts. “My job as an investigator is to go out and find people that can tell me a story about certain events,” he notes. “The attorneys and courts can determine whether those facts are relevant or not.”
Indeed, a private investigator must remain impartial in their investigations, even in emotionally taxing cases. Though different cases may require different skill sets and actions, they generally follow the same outline. In each instance, the PI must focus on putting together the pieces without making judgments wherever the trail leads.
Mastering the Interview
Central to the work of any successful private investigator is mastering the ability to interview witnesses and people of interest—something Stewart has more than 20 years of experience doing. While this is a common facet of PI work, Stewart notes that interviewing subjects in sexual abuse cases requires investigators to also be masters of empathy.
“I have to be compassionate because I understand these [cases] are very delicate. I don’t know to how many witnesses I’ve said, ‘I understand that this is hard to talk about,'” shares Stewart. If an investigator talks to a witness or victim without expressing empathy, then odds are the interviewee may not feel safe or comfortable in sharing their story with you. This can be problematic, of course, because as an investigator, you need detailed stories to put the pieces together.
In fact, Stewart specifies that it’s important to validate an interviewee’s feelings while still pushing them to divulge necessary details. He even emphasizes that you may need to push your own emotional boundaries as an investigator. “I try to be as precise as I can be, and maybe sometimes it can be graphic,” says Stewart. “I’ve had people apologize to me for what they tell me, but I tell them not to. I need to know what happened.”
Although empathy is crucial to the interview process in these types of cases, Stewart also notes that investigators can’t let those emotions take over an investigation. Thus, it’s imperative “to learn how to compartmentalize and separate yourself from the case. You have a task to move forward with,” explains Stewart. Great investigators not only must be able to connect with interviewees emotionally, they must learn to control their own emotions as well.
In addition, Stewart stresses the importance in never taking one interview at face value. “I have to see who the other players are,” he explains. “You also need to learn about the person and about what might motivate someone to say or not say something.” This is also why it’s important to interview as many people as possible to uncover the truth.
Again, where the facts lead isn’t necessarily up to the investigator. “Sometimes, it’s just a matter of getting the information,” notes Stewart. “It’s the attorneys who determine if it’s useful or not, that’s not my job. I can’t tell them what I think is useful. Sometimes we’ll look at it from a different perspective.”
When conducting interviews for sensitive cases like a sexual assault, it can be helpful to drive the sessions with the tone and tenor of a normal conversation. After all, this is a fact-finding mission, not an interrogation. Ultimately, the client will decide if the information you provide is useful or not. Think of mastering the interview as mastering interpersonal interactions.
Final Thoughts
For any private investigator looking to work on sexual assault cases, Stewart advises to have an open mind. “You can’t be closed-minded about where the information may take you,” he says. “You have to have tough skin because some of these things aren’t pleasant.”
In fact, Stewart says he works on these types of cases because he likes to help people. “I have a special set of skills, and I’m grateful that the government spent a lot of money to train me. … And I’m glad to be able to use that experience to help those who cannot get help from what we call the justice system,” laments Stewart.
There is ongoing need for private investigators in criminal defense work, including sexual assault cases. To be successful as a specialist in this niche, investigators must be able to separate themselves from the weight and emotion of their cases and be adaptable as investigations change through discovery. Most importantly, it’s imperative to stay impartial and not let personal biases affect your work.
If you believe as an investigator that you have the mindset to perform this work well, then it may be time to consider pursuing any additional skills required that will allow you to add this specialization as part of your services.
Stay safe out there!
About the Author
Kendra Budd is the Editor of Working PI magazine and the Marketing Coordinator for OREP. She graduated with a BA in Theatre and English from Western Washington University, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Full Sail University.
We’re always listening. Send your story submission/idea to the Editor: kendra@orep.org.
