Sex abuse creates lifelong trauma for child victims

This is the second installment in an ongoing series about sex crimes in Lincoln County.

Child sexual abuse is an epidemic in America, with disastrous short- and long-term consequences for the children victimized. 

“Child sex abuse is the most prevalent health problem children face, with the most serious array of consequences,” said Cindy McElhinney, director of programs for the Darkness to Light Foundation. “The physical and mental problems suffered by children can last into adulthood.”

The emotional and psychological impacts of childhood sexual abuse include post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, sexual promiscuity and teen pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse, self-harm and mutilation and suicide. Victims of abuse often withdraw emotionally and have difficulty forming emotional bonds and trusting relationships with authority figures and other adults. These difficulties manifest themselves in self-destructive behavior that mimics coping mechanisms, such as drug and alcohol abuse, overeating, hypersexualized behavior and self-cutting – mechanisms used to cover the emotional pain of the trauma they’ve endured.

The emotional trauma associated with abuse runs deep for the child victims, leading many to repress the memories of what they have endured, never reporting the crimes to adults or other authority figures. Statistically, McElhinney estimated that only 38 percent of child sex abuse victims ever come forward with their stories.

According to data obtained from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, 55 cases of sexual abuse with minor victims under the age of 16 have been reported in Lincoln County since Jan. 1, 2010, representing slightly more than 23 percent of the total sex crimes reported. Those numbers, however, represent only the cases reported to authorities. Based upon McElhinney’s estimate, if 55 cases were reported, another 90 victims of child sexual abuse in Lincoln County could potentially have not come forward during the same five-year span.

Child victims of sexual abuse struggle with a number of obstacles to reporting the crimes committed against them. Statistically, 90 percent of child victims are abused by a person they know, a person in a position of trust. Those relationships create natural barriers to disclosure by child victims.

Abusers also use a variety of mechanisms to keep their victims silent, McElhinney said. The abusers use emotional manipulation tactics, guilt and even threats to prevent victims from reporting the crimes committed against them.

McElhinney said the trauma on children is exacerbated when children come forward but people in authority fail to act.

“It’s the worst violation of trust to be sexually abused,” McElhinney said. “And then to not be believed when they report it, because that’s what the abusers tell them, they won’t be believed, it reinforces that trauma and magnifies it. When a child discloses abuse, it’s the most critical moment in a child’s life, because they’re going to find out if adults are going to stand up for them or if they’re going to be sacrificed.”

McElhinney said the solution to the problem is awareness and education. Overcoming the myths surrounding sexual abuse is critical to overcoming the problem.

One such myth, she said, is the mistaken belief that children frequently make false reports about sexual abuse. She said statistically, just four percent to eight percent of all child sex abuse claims are false, and those are generally screened out during the investigation process.

In one case uncovered by The Western News, an out-of-area child services agency conducted forensic interviews with two minor victims following reports of suspected sexual abuse. The agency issued a report substantiating two claims of fondling by an adult, but charges have not yet been filed in Lincoln County, where the alleged crimes occurred. Lincoln County Sheriff Roby Bowe previously confirmed he disregarded the complaint believing it to be the product of a bitter divorce and custody proceeding. He did not respond to a message left for comment prior to press time. The victims’ mother, citing a court order, declined to comment as well.

McElhinney acknowledged the difficulty of child sex assault cases, but also reiterated the low frequency of false reports, especially once those reports have been screened by experts. 

“These are the most difficult kinds of cases,” she said. “Unfortunately, there are many who think the mom is making up stories, but false reports by children are very rare. When the children report and go through forensic interviews, the likelihood of false reports is very, very low.”

McElhinney said in such cases it is important to trust the experts, the investigators trained to conduct the forensic interviews and ascertain the truth of the report. She compared it to finding an unattended bag in an airport.

“You don’t just start rummaging though it,” she said. “Nor do you ignore it. If you see something, you say something. You let the experts come in and decide if it’s a bomb and then you let them take care of it. It’s what they’re trained to do.”

McElhinney and the Darkness to Light Foundation focus on awareness and prevention. The key to ending the epidemic of child sexual abuse, she said, is having an educated and aware adult population.

“It’s all about surrounding kids with aware and educated adults, because it’s our responsibility to protect children, and is the worst kind of tragedy when the system fails to do so,” she said.

The next installment of this series will examine various prevention strategies and the means employed by local schools and school districts to protect children from sexual predators.