DA: Child abuse cases worsening

May 20--MERCER -- Although the state Department of Human Service's annual report shows Mercer County had fewer child abuse reports in 2016 than the year before, local officials said the statistic is misleading.

Kathryn Gabriel, administrator of Mercer County Children and Youth Services, said the report looks at numbers on a calendar-year basis, while her agency compiles them according to the budget fiscal year, July 1 through June 30.

"What we're seeing is not that they're down," she said.

Mercer County District Attorney Miles K. Karson Jr. added that the cases that make it to criminal prosecution seem to be getting more severe.

"I think the cases seem to be worse to me as well and they are pulling on resources more -- police resources, CYS resources," Karson said. "When you're in law enforcement, you're going to put your time and energy into the more serious crimes. That's how it goes."

The DHS report says Mercer County investigated 459 child abuse reports in 2016, down from 499 in 2015. The number for many years before that were in the 200s, but officials said changes in the law that increased the types of people who had to report crimes greatly boosted the numbers.

The number of founded cases -- reports in which officials determined abuse occurred -- stood at 64, down from 74.

Gabriel said her agency wants to dig into the numbers and try to get a breakdown into the types of abuse cases, such as physical abuse, sexual abuse and neglect that rises to the level of abuse.

One thing is clear, Gabriel said: "Drug abuse is absolutely one of our main factors in the majority of cases we're seeing."

Drug abuse also is contributing to the increased severity of child abuse cases, Karson said.

From the law enforcement end, Karson has made county detectives available to police departments to help investigate these cases, and is assigning specific prosecutors to handle more of certain types of crimes, including child abuse.

"This office is heading in this direction because I need people who have more familiarity with the law in a particular area," Karson said. These prosecutors also are developing techniques to deal with victims, he said.

"Victims are unique," Karson said. "Children are unique. Victims of domestic violence are unique."

At CYS, officials are examining the resources they have available and constantly work to cement relations with partners, such as the DA's office, Mercer County Behavioral Health Commission and police departments, and add more partners, Gabriel said.

An increase in reports is not necessarily bad because it reflects an awareness of abuse and neglect in society and the importance of reporting it, Gabriel said.

Child abuse is a topic that gets people's attention, Karson said.

"When we are heading into cases where children are victims, we all have an emotional reaction to this," he said. "We're talking about the people in our community who are the most susceptible and vulnerable, along with elderly people."

An apparent anomaly in the report specific to Mercer County is the number of investigations handled by the regional office of DHS. The office investigated 97 cases in 2016 in Mercer, scores more than the cases the state handled in any other western county other than Allegheny.

Gabriel said the state investigates any case where abuse is alleged to have occurred at a service provider CYS has a contract with.

"We can't do that investigation," she said. "The regional office has to do that investigation."

Rachel Kostelac, DHS press secretary, said: "Although we cannot speculate on all of the exact contributing factors to trigger investigations in Mercer County, George Junior Republic, a larger congregate care provider, is located in Mercer County."

George Junior is a residential treatment center in Pine Township for boys, many of whom are sent there by judges because of criminal offenses.

"The regional office investigates reports called in from George Junior Republic because Mercer County Children and Youth Services has a contract with the provider," Kostelac said. "Due to this, Mercer could see a higher number in investigations than other surrounding counties that do not have contracts with providers."

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