Child abuse on the rise in region

The skull cracked. Twice.

She was 2 months old on that March day in Scott County. Police say her mother, apparently upset that the child would not sleep, violently shook her baby and slammed her head into a door, fracturing the skull.

Two months later in a separate incident in Scott City, a 7-year-old boy's feet dangled in the air. His mother's 250-pound boyfriend gripped the boy's throat and punched the child several times, authorities claim. The child was severely bruised and suffered a lacerated pancreas.

These young victims, who both lived through their ordeals, are two cases among hundreds that will be reported in Southeast Missouri this year. According to experts, cases of sexual and physical abuse among children are on the rise, and officials are fighting hard to stop it.

"Abuse takes place by people who know and have access to children," said Tammy Gwaltney, executive officer for the Southeast Missouri Network Against Sexual Violence. "It doesn't discriminate."

Beginning in 1997, the network, a not-for-profit organization based in Cape Girardeau, has seen the number of new child abuse cases reported to them each year rise from about 46 the first year to nearly 500 in a 10-county region. When the network began operating full time in 2000, it had 142 cases.

Whether the increase in reports is the result of more abuse occurring or of better reporting on the abuse remains unclear.

"We'll probably never really know that," Scott County Sheriff Rick Walter said.

Despite what the reason may be, authorities are handling more cases than ever before.

In Cape Girardeau County, the numbers of new cases increased from 123 in 2004 to 168 the next year, Gwaltney said. With 39 cases through March, Cape Girardeau County is on track to come close to matching last year's numbers.

One possibility of an increase in abuse is the emergence of the Internet in a more prominent role among children and offenders' lives.

"It's a whole new place we're getting into," Gwaltney said, calling children the "prime target" on the Internet.

Last month, several different law enforcement agencies joined together for a one-night program to teach parents the dangers of Internet predators.

"Technology creates new crimes," Jackson police Lt. Rodney Barnes said. "It's going to be a problem. That's why you've got to educate kids."

And education may be one of the reasons figures of abuse are going up. Everyone from children to parents, teachers and police officers are receiving training to learn how to detect and report signs of abuse.

If parents become more observant, many children could be protected, according to Barnes.

"People really have to be extremely cautious as to who you let your kid around," he said.

Gwaltney said there is not one particular sign people should look for in cases of possible child abuse, but a combination of changes in the child. Sudden changes in a child's behavior, eating habits or school grades could be signs of abuse, she said.

Walter suspected an increase of drug use could be related to more child abuse. The Scott County Sheriff's Department says children are almost always found at homes during drug searches.

"To me, that's kind of a form of abuse," Walter said of adults doing drugs in the presence of children.

Another challenge with fighting child abuse is breaking the cycle of acceptance, according to Walter. Occasionally when a person is abused as a child, he grows up and abuses his own children.

"It breaks your heart to know some people have lived this way and never reported it," he said.

Walter said that even in the times an abuser is turned in, the family member asks officers if what they are doing is the right thing.

"They don't want to get a family member in trouble, so maybe that's why they feel guilty," he said.

Whenever abuse is reported to various authorities, including police or child welfare, the Network Against Sexual Violence is contacted and given the case, Gwaltney said. Officials interview the alleged victim and conduct a forensic examination.

Interviews with children can be difficult, according to Gwaltney.

"The shame and guilt is just unbearable," she said of the child. Some children, especially boys, feel the need to downplay what abuse happened to them in an effort to maintain their masculinity, she said.

Even after the initial interview and assessment, the network continues on the with the case, to court trials if necessary, Gwaltney said. The network is also open to continued counseling for victims.

One way to help combat the problem is a proposed unified task force between the Cape Girardeau police, Jackson police and county sheriff's departments, Barnes said.

"Law enforcement in this area ... we've got to work together," he said. Such a task force is merely in the discussion stages, but eventually could unite Cape Girardeau and Jackson police departments and the county in responding to investigations of child abuse, Barnes said.

Walter said he hoped with more people being trained on spotting abuse and reporting it, the number of abuse cases would go down.

"With more eyes watching now ... the abusers, maybe they'll think twice before they do something," he said.

kmorrison@semissourian.com

335-6611 extension 127