Residents urged to report child abuse
Child welfare advocates urged residents to not ignore signs of child abuse and report suspected incidents to police or victim’s advocates.
“We all have to stand up and really stand by the children of our community,” Jacquie Fritts, executive director of the Crime Victims’ Center of Fayette County said during the annual “Refuse to Abuse” rally in the Fayette County Courthouse on Friday.
The rally is held in observance of Child Abuse Prevention Month, Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Victims Rights Month.
Fritts said everyone should report abuse and bullying incidents involving children and adult sexual assaults to police or Fayette County Children and Youth Services (CYS).
“If you see something that needs to be changed, stand up and be heard,” Fritts said.
CYS casework manager Gina D’Auria said she is proud of the county, but her office works with an ever-increasing number of child victims.
“I’m very proud of Fayette County. We’re really a good county with good services and good people,” D’Auria said. “Unfortunately, the number of kids that come through our office continues to increase.”
Joann Jankoski, a human development and family studies (HDFS) professor at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, urged residents to “fight for the rights of kids silenced due to abuse.”
She said the first reported case of child abuse was made in the mid-1800s when a women found a young girl chained to a bed. At that time, children were considered to be the property of their parents or guardians, Jankoski said.
Law enforcement wouldn’t intervene, so the woman reported what she found to the Humane Society, Jankoski said.
Describing Jankoski as a passionate teacher and advocate, Fritts presented her with the rally’s first ever community service award for victim advocacy.
A case of child abuse is reported every 10 seconds, said Kristen Miller, a Penn State student and a member of the HDFS Association.
“Let’s be part of the solution, not part of the problem,” Miller said.
She said the juvenile sexual assault case involving former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky nearly “crumbled” the university.
“Not enough was done to protect those children,” Miller said.
Successfully prosecuting a person charged with abusing a child bring a sense of justice to victims and their families, but the abuse lingers within child victims, said Fayette County District Attorney Jack Heneks Jr.
He commended CYS and the Crime Victims’ Center for working with young victims and their parents, who often don’t understand what is involved with an abuse trial.
“The hardest thing to explain is a not guilty verdict to a child,” Heneks said. “Those are not easy kinds of talks to have.”
However, he pledged to continue to use all community resources to bring justice to child abusers.
Fayette County commissioners Al Ambrosini and Vince Zapotosky pledged to support the district attorney’s office, CYS and the Crime Victims’ Center in the fight against child abuse.
“You’re the soldiers fighting the battle,” Zapotosky said.