Kathleen Kane Advocates against Child Abuse
By Larry Miller
Philadelphia Children's Allience City leaders, representatives from law enforcement, and community members tour the new Philadelphia Children’s Alliance facilities, located at the Philadelphia Safety Collaborative in North Philadelphia, last month. — Photo from Ceisler Media & Issue Advocacy/Joseph Kaczmarek Posted: Thursday, April 9, 2015 12:10 pm Kathleen Kane advocates against child abuse Larry Miller Tribune Staff Writer phillytrib.com | 0 comments Experts have said child abuse is a crime — its very nature something no one wants to talk about. It affects every ethnicity and economic class, and is something that happens every day in Pennsylvania and across the country. April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month and Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane encourages all Pennsylvanians to do their part this month and throughout the year to make the commonwealth a safe and nurturing place for children. National Child Abuse Prevention Month is a nationwide campaign designed to acknowledge the importance of families and communities working together to prevent abuse and neglect, and to promote the social and emotional well-being of children. Kane said by providing parents, educators and community leaders with the skills and resources they need to properly raise and care for children, child abuse can be substantially decreased. “Child abuse occurs in every community, across all socioeconomic and cultural groups,” said Kane. “It is important to educate the public about the warning signs associated with abuse and provide information on ways to take action if abuse is suspected.” Kane said there are several warning signs of abuse, but she further cautioned that these signs alone do not always mean abuse is occurring. Those signs include: unexplained injuries; bruises or burns; wearing clothing inappropriate for the weather, perhaps to hide injuries; fearful of going home; avoiding physical contact with others; displaying aggressive or depressed behavior; and difficulty making or keeping friends. Other warning signs of possible abuse are: sudden weight gain or loss, trouble walking or sitting, frequent absences from school, poor hygiene and slowed physical or mental development. A 2013 annual child abuse report produced by the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare showed that in 2013, the state’s child abuse hotline, known as ChildLine, registered 26,944 reports of suspected abuse or neglect. “Those numbers reflect an increase of 280 reports from the previous year. The Commonwealth took in more reports of suspected child abuse in 2013 than any other year on record,” the report said. “Pennsylvania substantiated 13 percent or 3,425 reports of child abuse in 2013, the same rate as last year. There were 38 substantiated child fatalities in 2013, five more than the previous year.” Among those cases of child abuse that made headlines was that of former Penn State Assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, convicted in 2012 on 45 counts of child sexual abuse. Sandusky is pursuing a new appeal of his conviction. In Philadelphia, a jury convicted Leon Watson, 25, of sexually abusing five boys and a mentally disabled man. Watson was a former youth football coach with the Rhawnhurst Raiders and eventually created his own team, the Little Vicks. His victims were between the ages of 8 and 10. The Philadelphia Archdiocese sex abuse scandal made international headlines. In March, the state Supreme Court affirmed the conviction of two priests convicted in the case. Charles Engelhardt was convicted in 2014 of endangering the welfare of a child, corruption of a minor and indecent assault. He was sentenced to 6 to 12 years in prison but died of natural causes while the case was being appealed. On Thursday, the Pennsylvania Superior Court rejected the appeal and upheld the conviction. Chris Kirchner, executive director of the Philadelphia Children’s Alliance, said in many cases the abusers have multiple victims. “Our society often denies the scope of the problem, especially when it comes to sexual abuse of children,” she said.” The only way to stop child abuse is to report it. And reporting suspected abuse can be a major problem for people who either know or suspect a child is being abused because they’re in denial. Also people need to know that abusers are very skilled at deception and if the abuser is a family member it can be very difficult to report the abuse. It takes a lot of courage.” The Philadelphia Children’s Alliance was founded in 1989 and coordinates a multi-agency and interdisciplinary response to the problem. They work very closely with law enforcement to investigate cases of child abuse, promote the healing of the victims and bring the abusers to justice. Attorney General Kathleen Kane urges Pennsylvanians to call ChildLine at (800) 932-0313 if they believe abuse is occurring. ChildLine is Pennsylvania’s toll-free number for reporting suspected child abuse. All reports are confidential. Suspected child predators can be also be reported directly to the Office of Attorney General by calling the Child Predator Hotline at (800) 385-1044. Individuals who suspect an online predator or child sexual abuse can also send an anonymous tip to the office by texting PAKIDS + YOUR TIP to 847411. Contact: lmiller@phillytrib.com
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