The prime directive for police officers is to protect the innocent, and there are none so innocent as children. According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), there were 558,899 victims of child abuse and neglect across the United States in 2022.
In addition to the wounds to small bodies, children exposed to violence, crime, and abuse whether experienced directly or indirectly can lead to serious detrimental consequences lasting long into adulthood. Children who are exposed to violence are more likely to experience failure in school, depression, substance use, antisocial behavior, and dysfunctional relationships in adulthood. Child abuse victims are more susceptible to online abuse as well.
Child abuse is broadly defined as causing hurt to a child or teen by inflicting physical pain or injury, as well as making a young person feel worthless, having sexual contact with them, or failing to provide food, care, or shelter. More formally, federal law identifies child abuse as “a set of acts or any act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation, or an act or failure to act, which presents an imminent risk of serious harm.”
According to the HHS, “most victims of child abuse experienced neglect, accounting for 76% of all cases. Physical abuse was reported in 16% of cases, while sexual abuse was reported in 10.1% of cases. Additionally, 0.2% of cases involved sex trafficking. Girls were abused more often (8.7 per 1,000 girls in the population) than boys (7.5 per 1,000).”
There is no definitive profile of a person who perpetrates abuse on a child. It can happen to all types of children in all types of families. Rarely is abuse a single event, but occurs with regularity and tends to grow more severe over time.
While most parents fear that their child will be victimized by a stranger, most victims are abused by someone with legitimate access to the child. Most often, a parent, family member, caretaker, or someone close to the family is the perpetrator of child abuse. According to the HHS report, most individuals who committed child abuse in 2021 were the victim’s parents (76.8%).
In cases of predatory child sexual abuse, perpetrators may maneuver themselves into situations where they have access to a child. For this reason vetting and supervising child care workers, youth program volunteers, and other trusted persons in regular contact with children. Some predators will go so far as to get an apartment close to their target, establish a relationship with the parent of a targeted child, or hang around places where children gather.
The process of grooming, which establishes trust and access to a targeted child, can be methodically accomplished over time – even years – by a predator. Since the advent of the internet, the opportunity to get access to children and teens anonymously has exploded.
In cases of physical injury to a child law enforcement personnel often have difficulty determining if a child’s injury is accidental or deliberately inflicted. Questioning medical personnel, witnesses, and the persons reporting the injury is essential in order to compare the injury to the account of how it happened. False claims that the child hurt themselves or fell out of bed can often be disproved if the story behind the injury is inconsistent with the physical evidence, especially signs of repeated injury.
Police investigations are best done in partnership with social services agencies or other specialists. Trained interviewers specializing in questioning suspected victims often conduct the interviews in specially designed child-friendly rooms. Non-verbal children may reveal signs of abuse in art or play. Investigators must be especially careful to avoid suggesting, by their questions or subtle body language, what they want the child to say or reveal.
In the enthusiasm to prove abuse, it is vital to try to avoid wrongly accusing loving parents of being the perpetrators. Certain medical conditions, including sudden infant death, as well as truly accidental injuries that can occur with active kids even with the most watchful caregivers can look like abuse.
Police officers are an essential link in getting justice for children and protecting them from further harm. It is among the most difficult tasks they are called on to do.