MEMPHIS, Tenn. — First responders say the child abuse cases they’re seeing right now in Memphis are more severe than usual, and they believe it has to do with COVID.
Since March, when COVID started spreading across Memphis and shelter in place orders went into effect, child abuse reports drastically dropped.
“That, unfortunately, does not mean the kids weren’t being abused,” said Virginia Stallworth, executive director of the Memphis Child Advocacy Center.
She says not all kids are safer at home.
Stallworth and other child advocates say kids have been cut off from in-person interactions with teachers, counselors and coaches. That made the nation’s system of detecting abuse almost powerless, because it’s heavily dependent on those professionals alerting authorities.
Jessica Smith said she can’t grasp what happened one early morning in June at the Eden at Watersedge Apartments off South Mendenhall, where a six-month-old baby was found unresponsive. Doctors were unable to save him.
“I knew the baby was gone when I seen the baby’s hands, fingers. They were purple,” she said.
Smith’s brother, Allen Smith, was staying at the apartment when police say he strangled the baby when he wouldn’t go back to sleep. He’s now facing murder and aggravated child abuse charges.
“I can’t it in my head that my brother did that,” Jessica Smith said.
Police responded to that tragedy, but believe there’s more they don’t know about.
The Memphis Police Department reports that from March 13 through July, there were 38 child abuse cases. The same time last year, there were 81.
The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services also reported that, during peak stay-at-home orders, child abuse reports dropped 27 percent statewide, with the biggest decrease in March and April.
(Click slides for data. Story continues below.)
“We know the reporting is down, but that makes sense because a lot of reports that come in from teachers,” said Dr. Karen Lakin, LeBonheur Cares Team Medical Director.
What’s even worse, she said, is that injuries are going undetected and many victims are not getting medical attention until it’s dire.
“What we’ve actually seen, and this is just anecdotally, from this year compared to last year is the severity of injuries. We have had, unfortunately, we’ve had more fatalities,” she said.
In mid-May, the number of child abuse and neglect referrals started rising, according to state data.
A chart from the Shelby County Child Protective Investigation Team shows a similar trend. Severe and sexual child abuse referrals started to increase in May.
That coincides with phase two of the reopening, Stallworth said. Kids were out in the community more and adults were seeing them.
But concern remains, especially since a majority of children aren’t going back to the classroom.
“Obviously (the) fear is that teachers are going to see things online that are concerning and we are going to have a huge increase of reports,” Lakin said.
It’s an increase that Lakin says could impact resources and add more strain in an already tense time.
“It’s tough. We rely on each other. We have a therapy dog in training right now. Both for our staff and our patients,” Lakin said. ‘We’re just trying to, you know, help each other and do the best we can for the kids.”
Stallworth said now more than ever, the community needs to speak up and report suspicious activity.
“We need all adults to step up and help keep kids safe,” she said.
Tennessee law requires everyone to report any suspicions of child neglect or abuse. You can do that by calling the state’s hotline at 877-237-0004 or go online to the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services.
Training from Memphis Child Advocacy Center
Advice for parents during COVID
