What are the motifs in Are You in the House Alone? by Richard Peck?

Sexual assault is a reoccurring idea in the story. The officials, even Gail's attorney said there was lack of proof. There was no eyewitness to the crime and no proof that he burglarized the home, or even broke into the home. Prior to the term "date rape" being coined, it was much more difficult to prosecute rape in cases where the victim knows the attacker. As in this case, Gail opens the door and allows Phil to enter. Regardless of what Phil did to Gail, the official policy states that forced entry would have been proof that he forced himself into the house and attacked her. The doctor at the hospital did take cultures and retrieved sperm on the samples taken but even that did not seem to officials as "evidence" that she was raped.