Child Abuse is when a parent or caregiver causes injury, death, emotional harm, or risk of serious harm to a child. There are many forms of child abuse: neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, exploitation, and emotional abuse, or a failure to act that may present an imminent danger to a child.
Child Sexual Abuse is any act or conduct of a sexual nature committed upon a child under the age of 18. The act or conduct can be committed by an adult who is significantly older than the child or when another minor exerts power over the child. Children and their families are impacted by child sexual abuse across different cultures, ethnicities, economic class, etc.
These acts can include:
- No physical contact, such as sexual exploitation (exposing genitalia to a child) and exposing children to pornography or soliciting/enticing a child to produce photos of themselves.
Most children do not tell an adult about sexual abuse for a variety of reasons:
- Fear
- Threats by the abuser
- Conflicted feelings about the abuse itself
- The assumption that no one will believe their account and side with the abuser instead
Despite the popular belief, most children who are sexually abused will not go on to abuse others.
Child sexual abuse cases can be reported to law enforcement by:
- A child's parent, teacher, doctor, counselor, another interested adult, or by the child.
- Certain professionals are mandated reporters, such as teachers, counselors, medical professionals, and advocates.
Children in Cook County who have reported abuse will be referred by law enforcement to one of the six Children Advocacy Centers (CACs) for a recorded forensic interview; thus reducing the number of times a child must re-tell their story. The CACs offer a variety of services; including counseling, advocacy, mental health services, and prevention education.
How to help prevent child sexual abuse?
More than 85 percent of child sexual abuse cases involve someone the child already knows.
- Understand the warning signs and the tactics used by predators. People who abuse children often go out of their way to gain the trust of the child and their family.
- Have open conversations with the children in your life about bodies, sex, consent, inappropriate photography/videos, and boundaries. Tips for talking to kids about sexual abuse are available at The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN). There may be physical signs of sexual abuse, such as the child having a sexually transmitted infection, but more common are behavioral signs. Sudden changes in behavior, withdrawal, inappropriate knowledge of sexual conduct for their age, and depression may be signs of sexual abuse.
Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office (CCSAO) is a member of the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, a national network of 61 coordinated task forces representing over 4,500 federal, state, and local law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies. The Cook County ICAC Task Force works to increase the number of both proactive and reactive investigations, increase the number of forensic examinations, increase the number of referrals received from other ICAC Task Forces and federal partners, increase the capabilities of investigations of technology-facilitated crimes against children, and prevent these types of offenses.
Erin’s Law
Erin’s Law requires all public schools to implement a prevention-oriented child sexual abuse program.