FORENSIC AGE ESTIMATION OF LIVING INDIVIDUALS: A RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS

One of the more difficult problems facing forensic medicine is that of estimating the age of living subjects, as in cases where individuals are undergoing criminal proceedings, or are requesting asylum. In cases where authorities are in doubt about the age of a suspected criminal, forensic age estimation is often requested in order to determine if the suspect is of an age in which he may be charged with a crime [1]. In many European countries, the need for accurate age estimation techniques has never been greater than in the last two decades. This is partly due to armed conflicts within the subjects’ native countries, resulting in an increased number of immigrants and asylum-seekers. In cases such as these, the refugee’s birth might never have been registered, and often, identity documents may never have been issued. Often one of the criteria for having asylum granted is being a minor [2]. In Italy, the age at which a person becomes legally responsible is 14 years. If such a person were charged with a crime, he would be tried in juvenile court, and if convicted, would face the possibility of serving time in a detention center designated for non-adults. At 18 years of age a person is considered to be an adult, and would therefore be tried according to general criminal laws. Determining the age of a living individual is a rather time consuming task and requires an interdisciplinary approach which involves the services of physicians with forensic experience, knowledge of auxology, radiology, dentistry, and legal medicine [3]. The most commonly used indicators used in age assessment are those related to somatic, sexual, skeletal, and dental maturity [4]. This case study involves the ascertainment of the ages of illegal immigrants from non-EU countries who lacked proper identification documents, and who were either accused of committing a crime and/or requesting asylum. The main objective of this study was to verify the differences and/or similarities between skeletal and dental age assessments. In order to achieve this, a comparison of left hand/wrist radiographs and orthopantomograms (OPGs) was first carried out, followed up by a comparison of reported ages and assessed ages.