Craighead County leads NEA in child abuse, neglect cases

JONESBORO - During the past year, Northeast Arkansas has seen an increase in the number of child abuses cases, with Craighead County leading the statistics.

Officials said opioids and meth are the trigger.

According to statistics provided by the Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children Division, the number of child abuse investigations with true findings decreased slightly across the state in 2016, with 2,117 cases investigated - a 1 percent decrease from 2015 when 2,152 cases were investigated.

Lea Ann Stidham, supervisor for Area Four for the CACD, said reports of child abuse were up in Northeast Arkansas.

"Our area is the 2nd Judicial District, plus Cross County," Stidham said. "In 2016, we had 752 reports of child abuse. We had an increase of 40 from 2015. What I want to believe is that we have really good reporters in this area, and we are just catching more people. At least that helps me sleep at night."

Stidham said NEA leads in another unfavorable statistic.

"Around 80 percent of the child abuse cases we receive are sexual assault cases," Stidham said. "The state average is around 70 percent. The other 20 percent of cases are extreme physical abuse. I don't know why the numbers are higher here, but they are. If there was a scientific method to it, we would have solved these problems already."

Northeast Arkansas' fastest growing county is also dealing with a rapid increase in child abuse cases.

"Craighead County is killing us with reports," Stidham said. "We have two people working in Craighead County now, and we could use a third."

According to CACD statistics, Craighead County had 86 child abuse investigations with true findings in 2016, which is a 13 percent increase from 2015 when there were 76 cases.

Jeremy Biggs, executive director for Court Appointed Special Advocates, said the program has a small correlation in child abuse statistics, but the numbers do show an increase in foster care children in Craighead County.

"Craighead County has taken over the last 18 months," Biggs said of foster children cases.

Currently, there are 197 children in the foster system in Craighead County, Biggs said.

"Greene County used to be the leader in foster cases, and they have 186 kids in the foster system," Biggs said. "We do work closely with CADC and DHS during issues of child abuse."

Biggs said the increase in population is probably a factor, but the underlying issue is drugs.

"The No. 1 cause is addiction to drugs or alcohol in the house," Biggs said. "Right now, meth and opioids are the leaders in Craighead County."

Stidham agreed.

"We have a lot more reports involving meth these days," Stidham said.

Biggs said most reports of child abuse have their beginning in drug abuse.

"Let's say mom and dad are using drugs," Biggs said. "There will probably be an increased chance they are letting sexual predators into their homes. They are probably not taking their child to school as often, and they are hanging out with unsavory people longer. The school will notice, and an investigation will happen, and that is when abuse is found."

Stidham said neglect is the No. 1 allegation in the state.

"The child will have a skull fracture from something the ex-boyfriend did, and the mother will be aware of it and do nothing," Stidham said. "That is when the mother is charged with neglect. It's frustrating to deal with a person who doesn't protect their child."

Stidham said child abuse investigations can be disheartening.

"The turnover rate is high," Stidham said. "It's hard to deal with this kind of stuff all day and go home to our children. We just have to keep each other going and be vigilant when one of us gets down. Our goal is to make sure these kids are safe."