The number of registered sex offenders of children in the United States is measured in the hundreds of thousands. They, like their victims, reside in every community.

While every instance of an adult having sex with a child is a criminal act, there are degrees of severity of these assaults, mainly related to the violence involved.

Every jurisdiction in the country has their own distinct set of laws, definitions and penalties attached to convicted sex offenders, and they can vary quite a bit, state to state.

Generally there are three categories of convictions .. Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 Sex Offenders. Prison terms, probation time and the requirement to appearance on a list of Registered Sex Offender increase accordingly.

However the majority of those convicted will eventually complete serving their prison terms and will be released back into nearly every neighborhood in the general community. They live among us in virtually every locale.

Because of this, so-called "Megan's Laws" have sprung up across the country. One of the main functions is to show the addresses of sex offenders that live among us, often using graphical symbols on MapQuest-style web pages.

Unfortunately many complain about the inaccuracy of such tools noting how easy it is for many registered sex offenders to skip out on the requirement to stay current with law enforcement. A lot simply move to another jurisdiction.

The National Sex Offender Public Registry (NSOPR) was first established in 2005. It is the only U.S. government website that links public state, territorial, and tribal sex offender registries from one national search site.

Parents, employers, and other concerned residents can also utilize each state's separate website search tool to identify location information on sex offenders residing and working in their own neighborhoods.

Please see:
www.NAASCA.org/2011-Resources/010111-Resources-4-FindOffenders.htm

Children must be taught about Prevention from the earliest age. They should learn the correct anatomical names for their body parts, that they have a right to body privacy, that there's a difference between "secrets" and keeping a surprise. They should be taught, at age appropriate stages, about bringing any uncomfortable feelings of any boundary violations to a trusted adult .. and if they are not happy with the response they get they should be taught to keep telling other adults until they get help that makes them conformable again.

Then, too, adults must find ways to protect young sexual abuse victims.

Parents, teachers, neighbors, coaches, and youth group leaders should learn the signs that a child may be a sexual abuse victim. Youths may seem distracted, angry, unhappy, withdrawn, or may to suffer from nightmares or other signs that something unusual is going on.

Young children may regress to earlier behaviors such as bed-wetting or thumb sucking, or they may mimic adult sexual behavior when playing with toys.

Teens may engage in self-injury, such as cutting or burning, begin drug or alcohol abuse, become sexually promiscuous, run away from home, or become depressed or anxious.

Adults can also look for signs that youth are trying to disclose the abuse.

Young people may disclose bits of information, not always in sequence, that suggest sexual abuse. They may say, for example, that a specific person makes them uncomfortable, without saying why. They may mention a “friend “who is being abused but fears telling anyone.

If the adult responds supportively, youths may start to share more about what is bothering them. Adults should listen attentively, affirm what the youth is saying, and involve a victim advocate to connect the youth with counseling and help with reporting the abuse.

Human trafficking victims have been identified in cities, suburbs, and rural areas in all 50 states and in Washington, D.C. Recent estimates suggest human trafficking is a $32 billion a year enterprise worldwide, second only to drug smuggling. The Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimates some 100,000 victims a year are turned out as child prostitutes, and the average age for these kids is 13 years old. They are forced to provide commercial sex against their will.

Some victims are hidden behind locked doors in brothels. In other cases, victims are in plain view and may interact with community members, but the widespread lack of awareness and understanding of trafficking leads to low levels of victim identification by the people who most often encounter them. For example, women and girls in sex trafficking situations, especially U.S. citizens, are often misidentified as "willing" participants in the sex trade who make a free choice each day to be there.  

While anyone can become a victim of trafficking, certain populations are especially vulnerable. These may include runaway and homeless youth, victims of previous trauma and abuse and individuals fleeing family conflict.

Runaways and at-risk youth are targeted by pimps and traffickers for exploitation in the commercial sex industry or different labor or services industries. Pimps and sex traffickers are skilled at manipulating child victims and maintaining control through a combination of deception, lies, feigned affection, threats, and violence.

The needs of survivors of trafficking are among the most complex of crime victims, often requiring a multidisciplinary approach to address severe trauma recovery and medical needs, immigration and other legal issues, safety concerns, shelter and other basic daily needs, and financial hardship. 

For more information about the services available to victims of human trafficking, including comprehensive service referrals in the U.S. we suggest you go to the Polaris Project.

Please see:
www.PolarisProject.org/resources/referrals

The Church's role in the community war against the evil of abuse is to learn what we can, deal with the problem as it exists, and share our experiences with others who are equally motivated.

That's a little of what appears on the Mormon (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) web site says under Child Abuse.

Here's a little more:

The abuse of a child awakens in us an intensity and breadth of emotion that is beyond adequate expression. Perhaps this crime moves us so personally because we remember what it was like to hold our own children for the first time — the overwhelming feeling of love and the deepest parental instinct to nourish, teach and protect. It is shocking, almost inconceivable, that someone would hurt a child. It is the ultimate form of betrayal.

Society is uniting, rising up and rooting out child abuse. Over and over again, we see entire communities mobilize to search for children feared kidnapped and abused. It is national news when a single child is in danger.

But child abuse was not always the subject of national media reports. This evil lurked in the shadows, mostly unseen, almost always unmentionable. Yet even before the issue first came to the forefront in the United States, Gordon B. Hinckley, former president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, publicly denounced child abuse as a terrible evil. In the early 1980s, he captured our thoughts and feelings when he said in a worldwide conference broadcast: "I am glad that there is a growing public awareness of this insidious evil. The exploitation of children . . . for the satisfaction of sadistic desires is sin of the darkest hue."

The following list of Myths & Facts is adapted from a presentation at the 5th International Conference on Incest and Related Problems, Biel, Switzerland, August 14, 1991.

For any male who has been sexually abused, becoming free of these myths is an essential part of the recovery process.

Myth #1 - Boys and men can't be victims.

Myth #2 - Most sexual abuse of boys is perpetrated by homosexual males.

Myth #3 - If a boy experiences sexual arousal or orgasm from abuse, this means he was a willing participant or enjoyed it.

Myth #4 - Boys are less traumatized by the abuse experience than girls.

Myth #5 - Boys abused by males are or will become homosexual.

Myth #6 - The "Vampire Syndrome" - that is, boys who are sexually abused, like the victims of Count Dracula, go on to "bite" or sexually abuse others.

Myth #7 - If the perpetrator is female, the boy or adolescent should consider himself fortunate to have been initiated into heterosexual activity.

Believing these myths is dangerous and damaging. So long as sexually abused males believe these myths they reinforce the power of another devastating myth that all abused children struggle with: that it was their fault.

It is never the fault of the child in a sexual situation - though perpetrators can be quite skilled at getting their victims to believe these myths and take on responsibility that is always and only their own.

Please see:
Male Sexual Victimization Myths & Facts
(from MaleSurvivor.org)

If you are not exactly sure what sexual abuse is, you're not alone. All sexual touching between an adult and a child is sexual abuse. Sexual touching between children can also be sexual abuse when there is a significant age difference (often defined as 3 or more years) between the children or if the children are very different developmentally or size-wise. Sexual abuse does not have to involve penetration, force, pain, or even touching. If an adult engages in any sexual behavior (looking, showing, or touching) with a child to meet the adult's sexual needs or interest, it is sexual abuse.

Most often child sexual abuse is a gradual process and not a single event. By learning the early warning signs and how to effectively step in and speak up, sexual abuse can be stopped before a child is harmed. Adults must take the primary responsibility for preventing child sexual abuse by addressing any concerning or questionable behavior which may pose a risk to a child's safety.

You cannot pick out a sex offender in a crowd. People who may sexually abuse children are fathers, mothers, step-parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins. They are neighbors, babysitters, religious leaders, teachers, and coaches. They come from all classes, racial and religious backgrounds and may be homosexual or heterosexual. Most of those we know about who sexually abuse children are men, but some are women.

Some people who abuse children have adult sexual relationships and are not solely, or even mainly, sexually interested in children. More than a third of those who engage in sexual activity with children are under the age of 18 themselves.  In many of these instances, the abusive child may not understand that his or her sexual actions toward another child are harmful.

It's important to remember that many terms used to describe people who sexually abuse children, like "pedophile" or "sexual predators," are often misused according to their clinical or legal definition. And, media stereotypes of "child predators" and "monsters" may actually make it more difficult for us to recognize or acknowledge inappropriate behaviors in those people we know.

Please see: Stop It Now!
http://www.stopitnow.org

And as we all know, these are only some of the dangers that our kids face while surfing the Internet. How can we simultaneously protect them from these threats and enable them to take advantage of the positive things the web has to offer?

In addition to investigating online crimes targeting children, the FBI works to educate kids and their parents about the Internet, sometimes sending cyber agents to visit schools as well as posting useful resources on their public website. They also offer the "Safe Online Surfing" program to schools to help students understand how to recognize, report, and avoid online dangers.

By October 2010, the Cyber Division at FBI Headquarters—which manages the "Innocent Images National Initiative", focused on online child predators—took the SOS program under its wing and made it a national one. Today, more than 90,000 children in 41 states have completed it.

At each grade level, third through eighth, students begin by taking pre-quizzes to test their overall knowledge. Then, a scavenger hunt takes them to pre-screened websites where they get Internet safety and cyber citizenship information. And finally, they take timed post-quizzes to demonstrate what they've learned.

Topics covered in the program run the cyber gamut: depending on the age of the students, they might learn about password security, cyberbullying, virus protection, copyright issues, online predators, e-mail, chat rooms, social networking sites, when to talk to parents or teachers about a threat, and appropriate uses of cell phones and gaming devices.

Please see:
FBI's Safe Online Surfing website

• An estimated 686,000 children were victims of abuse and neglect ( unique instances ).
• 51 states reported approximately 3.8 million children received preventative services from Child Protective Services agencies in the United States.
• Children younger than one year had the highest rate of victimization of 21.9 per 1,000 children in the national population of the same age.
• Of the children who experienced maltreatment or abuse, over 75% suffered neglect; more than 15% suffered physical abuse; and just under 10% suffered sexual abuse.
• Approximately 80% of reported child fatalities as a result of abuse and neglect were caused by one or more of the child victim's parents.

• Among the over 294,000 children served by Children's Advocacy Centers around the country in 2013, some startling statistics include:
  • 113,487 children were ages 0 to 6 years105,926 children were ages 7 to 12 years
  • 74,137 children were ages 13 to 18 years
  • 202,265 children reported sexual abuse
  • 55,246 children reported physical abuse
  • 200,225 children participated in on-site forensic interviewing at a Children's Advocacy Center
• Among the over 231,000 alleged offenders investigated for instances of child abuse in 2013, some startling statistics include:
  • 149,661 were 18+ years old
  • 26,253 were ages 13 to 17 years
  • 19,762 were under age 13 years
  • 88,226 were a parent or step-parent
  • 126,552 were related or known to the child
  • 22,672 were unrelated people the victim knew 

• A report of child abuse is made every ten seconds
• More than four children die every day as a result of child abuse.
• It is estimated that between 50-60% of child fatalities due to maltreatment are not recorded as such on death certificates.
• Approximately 70% of children that die from abuse are under the age of 4.
• More than 90% of juvenile sexual abuse victims know their perpetrator in some way.
• Child abuse occurs at every socioeconomic level, across ethnic and cultural lines, within all religions and at all levels of education.
• About 30% of abused and neglected children will later abuse their own children, continuing the horrible cycle of abuse.
• In at least one study, about 80% of 21 year olds that were abused as children met criteria for at least one psychological disorder.
• The estimated annual cost of child abuse and neglect in the United States for 2008 is $124 billion.

The emotional upheavals suffered by adults who were abused as children continue to wreak havoc on jobs and schooling. They lead to substance abuse. They devastate marriages. Thus, the innocent victims of child abuse continue to suffer as adults.

Perhaps the most tragic effect of child abuse is that adults who were abused as children, either physically, emotionally, or sexually, have a higher than expected risk of becoming abusers themselves. Thus, the cycle of abuse and suffering perpetuates itself.

Luckily there is plenty of capacity in the fully developed adult brain for repairs to occur during a diligent recovery. The brain can, in a word, heal.

We as a society must pursue every means to end the social cancer that reaches deep into the brains of children and across generations.

Please see:
The Bomb in the Brain
(be sure to watch video #3 - The Effects of Child Abuse)

In many of the case studies, offenders groomed victims by offering rewards or privilege and the report highlights how, particularly in religious settings, victims and those around them are "often in awe of offenders."

Victims in some cases were made to feel indebted to their abusers, making them feel that they were somehow complicit, experts found.

The report warned that management structures can discourage junior staff from reporting suspicions, and can also allow offenders to gain the trust of their victims and those who should be protecting them.

The report said in some cases, protecting the organization's reputation had taken precedence over reporting abuse, and workers' loyalty to the institution also stopped them from reporting concerns.

The NCA report outlines eight key recommendations for institutions. They include putting children's interests first; creating a safe environment for reporting; effectively implementing and monitoring safeguarding policies; improving protection through safer recruitment; and releasing alleged offenders' identities.

Please see: www.NationalCrimeAgency.gov.uk

Child Abuse lives ..
...... in every community
...... on both sides of the track

Child abuse doesn't discriminate. It effects kids from every walk of life. Children in well-to-do neighborhoods, middle class communities and those who grow up in poor areas are equally susceptible to child abuse and trauma. Boys and girls of every ethnic background, skin color and religious belief are victimized, as are kids who come from families with either well educated or illiterate parents.

Children from a few specific communities are statistically even more likely to experience abuse and trauma. These include kids in foster care systems, Indigenous American groups, those who have a handicap or a disability, and some from very deprived inner-city and rural neighborhoods (especially those where there are an unusual number of single parent families).

At NAASCA we recognize four major types of child abuse: physical abuse, neglect or maltreatment, sexual assault, and emotional trauma.

Physical abuse is non accidental physical injury as a result of punching, beating, kicking, biting, shaking, throwing, stabbing, choking, hitting, burning, or otherwise harming a child, that is inflicted by a parent, caregiver, or other person who has responsibility for the child.

Neglect is the failure of a parent, guardian, or other caregiver to provide for a child’s basic needs. Neglect may be physical, medical, educational or emotional.

Sexual abuse includes activities by a parent or caregiver such as fondling a child’s genitals, penetration, incest, rape, sodomy, indecent exposure, and exploitation through prostitution or the production of pornographic materials.

Emotional trauma derives from a pattern of behavior that impairs the child's emotional development or sense of self worth. This may include constant criticism, threats, or rejection, as well as withholding love, support, or guidance.

Child abuse effects children from both sides of the track.

Please see: www.ChildWelfare.gov

There are very few reliable statistics about how often incest occurs. It's difficult to know how many people are affected by incest because many incest situations never get reported. There are many reasons that the victim might not report the abuse.

The victim may be told that what is happening is normal or happens in every family, and doesn't realize that it is a form of abuse. The youngster may not know that help is available or who they can talk to. Children may be afraid of what will happen if they tell someone, and may also be concerned about how many people will react when they hear about the abuse.

Incest is especially damaging because it disrupts the child's primary support system, the family.

When the abuser is someone in the family, the family may not be able to provide support or a sense of safety. Since the children (especially younger children) often have limited resources outside the family, it can be very hard for them to recover from incest.

Incest can damage a child's ability to trust, since the people who were supposed to protect and care for them have abused them. Survivors of incest sometimes have difficulty developing trusting relationships

It can also be very damaging for a child if a non-abusing parent is aware of the abuse and chooses—for whatever reason—not to take action to stop it.

Please see: Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network
RAINN: Child Sexual Abuse and Incest

Teens are posting a tremendous amount of information on their online profiles, so it is vitally important that teens use strict privacy settings and are savvy about the individuals they allow to view their social networking profile.  

Since kids are often trying to catch the attention of and gain approval from their peers, some teens tend to post content to appear popular or to gain a response from others in their online community.

Teens jockey for status, post risqué pictures, brag about the previous weekend's adventures, and can easily use this digital space to humiliate others or post inappropriate content.

No information is truly private in the online world; an online “friend” can forward any information posted on your child's site in a moment.

Please see: www.InternetSafety101.org