News Release from: Clackamas Co. Sheriff's Office

Sheriff's Message:

Child abuse seems like an overwhelming problem -- but you can make a difference

Posted: April 20th, 2011 6:51 AM

By Craig Roberts
Clackamas County Sheriff

Child abuse seems like an overwhelming problem. According to the Oregon Department of Human Services, there were 11,090 confirmed victims of abuse during the most recent reporting year -- that's more than 30 each and every day, or one every 48 minutes. By some estimates, about one quarter of all children will be abused before they turn 18.

If you just stop and think about those numbers, and the terrible pain and the grief and the lasting physical and emotional scars behind each one of them, you can't help but feel overwhelmed. I do, and I've had the opportunity in my life to give more of my time and effort fighting this hidden epidemic than most people ever will.

During my career, I've worked as a child abuse and child homicide detective and served as a law enforcement liaison to a child abuse assessment center. I've established specialized teams to go after abusers and protect children. I've launched a national conference focused on child abuse that brings together more than 800 top experts and front-line investigators, physicians, social workers and prosecutors from all over the world every year.

Having done all that, if I can still feel overwhelmed, you might think that there is nothing you can do -- but you'd be wrong. You can do the same thing I do: you can make a difference in the life of one child, and you can support the work of people who can do even more.

Law enforcement cannot successfully tackle this problem on our own. According to Oregon DHS, police officers provide less than 20 percent of the total number of reports that they receive each year. Like doctors, teachers and certain other public employees, we are required by law to report suspected abuse, but we can't be everywhere and we can't see everything. We need your help.

If something that you see or hear makes you suspicious, get professional help right away. Don't try to figure it out for yourself. I've seen too many cases end in tragedy where someone -- a friend, a neighbor, a relative -- had good reason to be concerned, but didn't come forward until it was too late.

Better information, less trauma

Of course, reporting is only the first step. Once a child has been identified as a possible victim of abuse, they must be assessed to determine what happened and gather evidence against the alleged abuser.

In the past, this had been a daunting process. The victim had to tell their stories again and again: to police officers, social workers, medical personnel, attorneys, and so on. With each successive re-telling, the chances went up that the child would either recant or just stop talking.

To help people understand just how traumatic this process could be, whenever I went out to talk to a community group about child abuse, I'd call for a volunteer from the audience. Once I had that person up on their feet and everyone was looking at them, I'd ask them to describe, in detail, their most recent intimate encounter: "Where, exactly, did your partner touch you? What did it feel like? What did you do? What happened next?"

I made a lot of people squirm using that example, but that was pretty much the same thing we were asking these traumatized young children to do - over and over and over again.

Fortunately, things started to change about 25 years ago when CARES Northwest was established in Portland. It was the first organization of its kind in Oregon, and one of the first in the nation -- a child abuse assessment center. Since then, several more of have sprung up in our region: the Children's Center of Clackamas County, Juliette's House in McMinnville and Liberty House in Salem -- and there are others throughout the state.

These facilities bring together all of the services that an abused child needs. They get a head-to-toe physical examination from an especially trained doctor. Then, they talk to a forensic interviewer in a comfortable, safe space where they can tell their story.

The entire process is carefully documented, so that all of the results can be admitted as evidence in court. Police officers, prosecuting and defense attorneys, social workers and everyone else involved in the case is given access to the findings, so that the child only has to tell their story once. This approach ensures that we get the best possible evidence with the least amount of additional trauma for the victim.

You can join the fight against child abuse in your community simply by supporting your local child abuse assessment center. All of the centers in our region are non-profit organizations, and they rely on support and donations from the community to continue this crucial work.

You can make a difference

Like child abuse assessment centers, those of us who work in law enforcement need your support, as well. We need you to call if you have concerns, but we also need you to provide us with the resources to continue this fight.

In 2006, the voters of Clackamas County approved a public safety levy to strengthen our sheriff's office. The main focus of the levy was re-opening closed jail beds and putting more deputies on the road, but their support also allowed us to maintain our special units that focus on child abuse at full strength.

The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office is home to the Child Abuse Team and the Domestic Violence Enhanced Response Team, and is a leading member of the Interagency Child Exploitation Prevention Team -- a regional task force that targets Internet sex predators who prey on children.

Without the added support provided by the voters, we would have had to re-assign deputies away from these special teams to basic functions, like patrol.

Whether you're the sheriff or a private citizen, child abuse is too big a problem for you to take on all by yourself -- but that doesn't mean that it's overwhelming. If we all work together, we really can make a difference.

Craig Roberts was elected to his first term as sheriff of Clackamas County in 2004, and re-elected in 2008. Prior to becoming sheriff, he worked for the office as a child abuse and child homicide investigator. In that position, he saw the need for additional enforcement and education around this issue. To fill that need, he created a specialized Child Abuse Team and launched the Child Abuse & Family Violence Summit, a nationally recognized conference held each year in Portland, among other initiatives.