Before we can do this we must obtain permission from the individual currently occupying the house as their home. Having written consent to search the premises, either from an adult person occupying the premises, whom we wish to search, or via a search warrant is extremely important. In fact, any evidence obtained through an unreasonable or illegal search cannot be used in the trial. This is known as the “exclusionary rule”. Law enforcement cannot use evidence obtained as a result of an illegal search to find other evidence. In our current situation, the victim is a minor and cannot give us permission to search the premises. Because the victim is a minor, we are required to obtain entry permission from someone of legal age of consent, such as the victim's parents. If we are unable to obtain entry permission from someone who has reached the legal age of consent, we can obtain a search warrant, although this may be a lengthy process that we want to avoid. Waiting for a search warrant prevents you from promptly collecting evidence and delivering it to the laboratory for analysis. Regardless of whether or not we are granted access by an adult to allow those in the residence or we have to wait for a search warrant to be executed, we always want to make sure the crime scene is secured. Once we are authorized to search the crime