By the numbers
Area child neglect cases, May 2015
Franklin County: 14
Henry County: 13
Wayne County: 12
Fayette County: 11
Rush County: 9
Union County: 5
Source: Indiana Department of Child Services
Child neglect is still a troubling and present issue in Fayette County, if one were to go by the county’s statistics for the first half of 2015.
The Indiana Department of Child Services released child neglect and abuse statistics for counties statewide in the month of May last week, which indicate that Fayette County is on pace to shatter its 2014 numbers for such cases.
DCS reported 11 substantiated cases of child neglect in Fayette County for both April and May, bringing the county’s total to 57 such cases as of May – only 20 less than the county’s 2014 mark of 77.
While those totals for April and May are a decrease from March’s figure of 19 substantiated cases of child neglect within the county, it still puts it on pace for a total of 137 such cases, almost double last year’s figures.
Child neglect, as defined by the state of Indiana, is when a “child’s physical or mental condition is seriously impaired or seriously endangered as a result of the parent, guardian, or custodian being unable, refusing, or neglecting to supply the child with necessary food, clothing, shelter, medical care, education, or supervision.” It also covers children whose conditions are impacted through parents or guardians manufacturing illegal drugs where the child resides.
According to Fayette Circuit Judge Beth Butsch – who handles the county’s child neglect and abuse cases – at an April ceremony marking Child Abuse Awareness Month, the majority of the cases she has seen come through the court recently have been due to situations involving illegal drugs, which correlates with the increase in drug use and arrests within the community.
Not only did the county see its numbers for child neglect stay on pace to eclipse 2014’s, the month of May also marked the first substantiated cases of child sexual abuse within the county for 2015, according to the DCS stats.
Four cases of child sexual abuse also were substantiated in Fayette County in May, the highest figure out of DCS Region 12 – which includes Franklin, Henry, Rush, Union and Wayne counties – for that month.
That total of substantiated child sexual abuse cases in May alone is also more than half the number of such cases Fayette County had in 2014 overall, which was six such cases.
Overall, the state had 1,973 substantiated cases of child neglect, 212 substantiated cases of physical abuse and 223 substantiated cases of child sexual abuse in May.
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