Local group aims at stopping child abuse
A concerned and rapt crowd gathered at the Warren County Administration building Tuesday night for the Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Town Hall Meeting, held as part of the ‘Not One More’ campaign against child abuse spearheaded by the local Child Advocacy Center and District Attorney Lisa Zavogiannis.
Not One More organizers worked through the month of April, designated National Child Abuse Prevention Month, in an effort to increase awareness of child abuse of all types ‘ neglect, emotional, physical or sexual ‘ in Warren County.
One of the most effective aspects of the program was the 325 colorful balloons displayed in the commission courtroom representing the number of abused children in Warren County last year, along with a photo of Cheyenne Delp, a victim who lost her life due to severe child abuse.
A number of local officials and individuals involved in child welfare appeared at the event to talk about child abuse and its devastating results.
Panel members included:
‘ Lisa Zavogiannis ‘ District Attorney General, 31st Judicial District
‘ Larry G. Ross ‘ General Sessions/ Juvenile Judge
‘ Jackie Matheny ‘ Sheriff of Warren County
‘ Charlie Sewell ‘ Chief of Police, McMinnville
‘ Dr. John Purvis ‘ Pioneer Pediatrics, Riverpark Hospital
‘ Dee Dee Vines ‘ Mental Health Counselor, Healing Hearts
‘ Candice Wilmore ‘ Child Psychologist, Hickory Creek School
‘ Peggy Bratcher ‘ Team Leader, Department of Children Services
Posing questions to the panel were:
‘ Laura Miner ‘ Assistant Technology and Rehabilitation Services Coordinator for the Warren County School System
‘ Bill Zechman ‘ Businessman, State Farm Insurance,
‘ Patty Ray ‘ Upper Cumberland Regional Coordinator, Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth
Moderating the event was Randall Gilliam, Assistant District Attorney General, 31st Judicial District. Gilliam began the discussion with some local statistics.
‘There was a combined total of over 900 allegations of child abuse in Warren and Van Buren Counties last year,’ Gilliam said. ‘On average, a third of these types of allegations are substantiated.’
The numbers nationally are even more sobering. In 2005, the most recent year for which the U.S. government has figures, 12.1 of every 1,000 American children, almost 900,000 in all, suffered abuse by adults. Parents are the abusers almost 80 percent of the time.
Zavogiannis explained the goal of the program.
‘The name of the forum tonight is ‘Not One More,’ Zavogiannis said. ‘Which means simply that ‘ not one more ‘ and that’s the reason each person sitting on this panel is here tonight. We want to do everything we can to make sure that not one more child suffers abuse.’
The meeting went on to discuss a number of important subjects, among them how to recognize child abuse, and the legal, as well as moral, obligation of the public to report suspected cases of abuse.
During the question answer session, panel members, like General Sessions Judge Larry Ross, pointed out misconceptions about child abuse, one being that strangers commit the majority of child abuse offenses, something Ross says hasn’t been the case in his court.
‘I can only think of one stranger that actually kidnapped and raped a child,’ Ross said. ‘There may be more, but I can only think of one, and you might remember it. It was a child kidnapped from the Warren County Fairgrounds.’
Ross said the vast majority of the cases involve someone the child or family knows, and in many cases, trusts.
‘Here’s the others that I remember personally working on and prosecuting,’ Ross said. ‘A grandfather, a father, a mother, stepmothers, stepfathers, teacher, preacher, youth leader, brother, sister, uncle, a coach. These are the things we have to look for. It’s not going to be this guy in black sneaking around the playground.’
Zavogiannis said it’s important to consider the devastation child abuse can cause and just how many of the community’s most vulnerable citizens are affected.
‘Each of the 325 balloons you see in here tonight represent the face of a child in Warren County,’ Zavogiannis said. ‘Also we have a picture over there of a little child, a child abuse case that we had here in Warren County. This is Cheyenne. Cheyenne was 6-years-old, and due to child abuse, Cheyenne is no longer with us. But I have Cheyenne’s picture here so that we remember that we do not want another Cheyenne Delp to ever take place in this county again.’
The Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Town Hall Meeting was recorded on both audio and video. The audio portion will be broadcast on WCPI 91.3 on Monday, May 5, at 9:03 a.m. A video presentation by BLTV Channel 6 will also be presented with dates and times to be announced.