KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The 2022 Yearly Numbers from the Child Protection Center (CPC) paint a harrowing picture of child abuse in our area.
In that one year, the CPC served 839 kids out of Jackson, Cass and parts of Lafayette counties.
Breaking the numbers down by incidents, out of the over 800 cases, reports include:
- Sexual abuse: 459
- Physical abuse: 248
- Witness to violence: 33
- Witness to domestic violence: 93
- Abandonment: 3
- Drug endangerment: 20
- Child sexual abuse material: 27
- Witness to child abuse: 122
- Child endangerment: 15
- Witness to homicide: 27
- Kidnapping: 9
- Other referral: 5
- Neglect: 8
- Strangulation: 29
- Emotional abuse: 6
- Recantation: 4
- Sex Trafficking: 9
- Teen dating violence: 4
Randi Spruill is the Director of Forensic Interviewing Services at the CPC. Her job is to interview the victims to get the facts that could be used in court proceedings.
Looking at the numbers, one that catches her attention is strangulation, and the close to 30 cases of it.
"Strangulation could literally mean life or death, so that is a really impactful number when we see those numbers continue to climb year after year," Spruill said.
What's scarier is the numbers they've seen this year in January, February and March. Spruill said if they continue going up on the trend they are right now, the CPC could see 1,000 kids.
"Great in the sense that we are happy to provide the service, we are happy to make sure that kids feel heard, feel supported," Spruill said. "But, in a community wide-level, that’s really scary that that’s a 20% increase in one year."
Spruill said inflation may be one of the reasons why we're seeing so many calls right now.
"Financial stressors are really real for people," Spruill said. "I think that kind of tension just builds within households and sometimes people don’t know how to manage it."
Another issue is accessibility to weapons.
"Putting a gun on the top shelf of a closet, doesn’t cut it. Putting a gun under your pillow, doesn’t cut it. Kids are smart and kids are curious," Spruill said.
Compared to other cities, however, Kansas City is showing low numbers.
"One in 10 children are abused by their 18th birthday, so if you consider the population of Kansas City, this number is actually really low comparatively," Spruill said. "That means, at least statistically, that there are a lot of children out there who are not making it here."
Spruill also discussed child abuse and big events, like the NFL Draft. She said in the past during events of that caliber, like the Super Bowl or World Series Parades, the CPC has seen more calls due to incidents involving alcohol and less child supervision.
"I don’t hope for that by any means, but if the pattern continues I anticipate that could happen," Spruill said.
The CPC will host it's annual Cook for Courage on May 31, emceed by KSHB 41 Anchor Lindsay Shively. Learn more about the event here.
