The number of reported cases of child abuse is increasing, and they may be getting more serious:
A father shakes his infant daughter from side to side so violently that the child requires surgery to relieve bleeding in her brain. She dies three months later.
A man acting as a caretaker for a toddler tells police he was playing the “body slam” game with the girl, who, when tossed onto a bed bounced off and hit her head on the floor. She died the next day.
A Rio Rancho man who had just smoked heroin holds the head of his girlfriend’s son under scalding water. The boy suffers disfiguring second-degree burns on his face and hands. The child’s mother tries to cover up her boyfriend’s involvement.
All of these incidents occurred just this year and, if current trends continue, the number of child abuse cases submitted to the District Attorney’s Office will reach an all-time high by year’s end, said DA Kari Brandenburg.
And it’s not just more incidents, said one child abuse expert. Many of the cases involve injuries of extreme severity.
The University of New Mexico Hospital is active in the battle against child abuse.
One program is the Child Abuse Response Team, or CART, led by a specially trained doctor who examines and treats child abuse victims, and provides evidence for law enforcement agencies.
Another is the Child Abuse Prevention Partnership that provides education and resources to children and families with the intention of staving off child abuse down the road.
Yet another UNM program, Para Los Niños, focuses exclusively on child sexual abuse.
CART was formed in 2004 “in recognition that children who come to the hospital with injuries possibly due to abuse need an objective and thorough medical evaluation,” said Dr. Leslie Strickler, one of only 265 board-certified child abuse pediatricians in the country and one of only two in New Mexico.
Strickler is called upon by other doctors, law enforcement agencies, and the Children, Youth and Families Department when they encounter a child who may have injuries from child abuse or children who may not be receiving required medical treatment.
The evaluation is done only in the setting of the UNM Hospital or a UNMH outpatient clinic, Strickler said. “A child may need X-rays or lab work or access to other specialists, such as an orthopedic surgeon or a neurosurgeon, and a hospital is the best place to get those things quickly.”
Other CART members include a forensic pediatrician, a part-time forensic dentist, and part-time outpatient, inpatient and Emergency Department social workers.
http://www.abqjournal.com/406355/news/child-abuse-may-reach-alltime-high.html
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