Monday, Feb. 27, 2006 | 7:37 a.m.
Child abuse cases in Clark County have nearly tripled over the last three years, an increase blamed on parental drug use and a lack of social services to prevent abuse.
Last year there were 239 criminal child abuse cases filed, up from the 82 filed in 2003, according to District Court statistics.
And the rise shows no signs of slowing anytime soon.
Theresa Lowry, the head of the district attorneys office juvenile division, said there was a 30 percent increase in child abuse cases in January as compared to the same month last year.
Methamphetamine is at the heart of so many of the neglect and abuse cases that come across our desks every day, Lowry said. The drug is an absolute scourge. We have cases where parents have no food for their children, the house is a mess and they have no job and we ask Why is that? and the answer more often than not is meth.
Lowry said she believes population growth and having more police on the street are contributing factors to the increase, but Susan Klein-Rothschild, director of the Clark County Department of Family Services, said growth doesnt explain it.
Something else is happening and in my mind its drug abuse, Klein-Rothschild said.
She said recent figures compiled by the district attorneys office indicate that out of the 1,210 dependency cases filed last year, in which a judge was asked to determine where a child should live because of an issue such as abuse, more than 25 percent were brought forward because the child tested positive for drugs at birth.
Klein-Rothschild said the child abuse problems wont be curbed until theres a determined effort to invest in substance abuse treatment, mental health, low-income housing and domestic violence programs.
If people dont have a way to meet their basic needs, taking care of their children is compromised, she said. If we dont agree to pay for the help these people need now, we will be paying for them eventually by way of the criminal justice system.
Thats a sentiment shared throughout the criminal justice system both Lowry and her counterpart at the Public defenders office, Susan roske, agreed.
What is it going to take to make people understand how important these services are? roske asked. Is it that as a community we dont feel we have an obligation to pay for the services for those who are in trouble and cant afford them?
The system, Family Court Judge Gerald Hardcastle said, is ... strapped and children will continue to be put at risk if we dont address the needs of the Family Court system and needs for more social services.
In part its just the reality that this town is growing so fast and people are moving here with social problems, Hardcastle said.
Tom Carroll, chief deputy of the district Attorneys special victims unit, said the increase in abuse cases is much more alarming given the rise of cases charged as murder by child abuse.
Carroll said there were three cases of murder by child abuse prosecuted in 2004 and five last year. Last month there were four.
I dont know what the rhyme or reason is behind it, Carroll said of the increase. Child abuse and deaths by child abuse have always happened, but often gone unreported.
Maybe because of the attention being given by the media to these cases people are more apt to go to the authorities. Im not sure, because were too busy with cases to take a break and think about it.
Steve Hiltz, directing attorney at The Childrens Advocacy Project, which provides legal assistance for about a third of the children in the legal system, called the increase surprising and said its a positive sign that justice is being achieved.
I think thats a good thing, Hiltz said. I have always been critical because they didnt file enough cases. It means that in the past they maybe didnt have the resources or simply werent doing their job.
This is a very positive development, and this is coming from someone who doesnt usually have too many good things to say about how child abuse cases are prosecuted.
Matt Pordum can be reached at 474-7406 or at pordum@ lasvegassun.com.
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