PowerPoint Presentation project for CIT 105

1. Kentucky Child Abuse Fatality Epidemic
Shonda Sheppard

2. A Review of the Problem
In a six-month review of the problem, it was found that:
• Child-protection officials, day-care workers, and
parents, friends and relatives missed signs of abuse
such as suspicious bruising and evidence of previous
injury, or were hesitant to act.
• While reports of abuse have soared, the rate at which
social workers substantiated child abuse and neglect
has declined.

3. Justifications
Social workers say that they don't have
time to fully investigate cases or to follow
up with families.

4. State Level Self-Preservation
Secrecy within the child-protection system
protects it from scrutiny rather than
protecting children, many judges and
critics believe.

5. Investigations
Since 2000, Kentucky Child Protective
Services officials have investigated reports
of problems in cases of 149 of the 267
Kentucky children who subsequently died
from abuse or neglect.

6. Kentucky Child Abuse Fatalities

7. One Recent 12-Month Period
41 children died — the highest rate of any
state, according to a recent report by the
Every Child Matters Education Fund, a
Washington child-advocacy group.

8. Kentucky CPS Debacle
Nearly 270 Kentucky children died of
abuse or neglect during the past decade —
more than half of them in cases where
state officials already knew of or
suspected problems.

9. Tragedies

10. Katelynn Stinnett, 2
Lexington, Kentucky
Brian Crabtree pled guilty
on Monday, September
19, 2011 in Fayette Circuit
Court to murder, firstdegree rape, first-degree
sodomy and two counts of
sexual abuse in the slaying
of 2-year-old Katelynn
Stinnett.
He will spend the rest of his
life in prison without the
possibility of parole.

11. Gaige Pyles, 7 months
Kenton
County, Kentucky
Gaige died from brain
injuries that resulted from a
shaking, according to a
police report.
His father, Matthew Pyles
was convicted of seconddegree manslaughter and
was given a 10-year prison
sentence. However, he was
released after serving fewer
than four years for Gaige's
death.

12. Stephen Troy, 23
months
Laurel
County, Kentucky
An autopsy revealed bruises
on the child's lower
back, abdomen and the top
of his head, along with
fractures in his legs.
Amanda Johnson, Stephen
Troy's mother, was
convicted in that case, but
the Kentucky Supreme
Court overturned the
mother's abuse conviction
and ordered a new trial.

13. Antoine Dixon Jr. 17
months
Louisville, Kentucky
The Jefferson County
Coroner's Office says
Antoine Dixon Jr. died of
blunt force trauma to
multiple parts of his body.
No one has been charged at
this time.

14. Robert Ross Jr., 3
months
Covington, Kentucky
After the battering that killed
him, an autopsy revealed
previous bruises and healing
broken bones, indicating that he
“was subjected to child abuse
throughout his short life,''
according to records from the
murder case against
Aaron Allen, who was convicted
of Robert's death Nov. 5 after a
three-day trial in Kenton
Circuit Court. Allen was
sentenced last week to 30 years
in prison.

15. Kayden Branham 20
months
Monticello, Kentucky
Twenty-month-old Kayden
Branham died from burns and
internal injuries after drinking
Liquid Fire from a cup at the
dilapidated mobile home his
mother and father allegedly
used as a meth lab.
The 20-month-old boy and his
14-year-old mother, Alisha
Branham, had been placed
under the supervision of the
state system for abused and
neglected children before
Kayden's death.

16. Amy Dye, 9
Elkton, Kentucky
State police found Amy Dye’s
lifeless body Feb. 5, 2011, near
Dogwood Lane, between
Trenton and Guthrie, on a farm
a few hundred yards past the
road’s dead end.
With signs of blunt force trauma
to the head, it was evident she
was beaten to death.
A Todd County grand jury
indicted 17-year-old Garrett
Thomas Dye late Friday
morning in the death of 9-yearold Amy Dye.

17. Under Scrutiny

18. Perpetrators
Perpetrators of child abuse or neglect are
most often the child’s own parents.
The largest remaining category of
perpetrators were the unmarried partner
of a child’s parent.

19. Reasoning
Child maltreatment occurs across socioeconomic, religious, cultural, racial, and
ethnic groups.

20. Risk Factors
Risk factors associated with child
maltreatment can be grouped in four
domains:




Parent or caregiver factors
Family factors
Child factors
Environmental factors

21. Kentucky Child Abuse Statistics

22. The System
21 cases involved 10 or more notices.
State officials had received two or more reports of
suspected mistreatment in 60 percent of the 304 cases in
which a child died or suffered life-threatening injuries
during the past 10 years.
In 21 of those cases, there were 10 or more reports of
suspected mistreatment.

23. The Death Toll
Continues
Karlie Renee Mellick, infant, passed
away Thursday, June 11, 2009 at
Kosair Children's Hospital. She was
preceded in death by her greatgranny, Marva Salls. She is survived
by her mother, Kara Renee Mellick;
grandparents, Allison and Buck and
Marvin; great grandparents, Bill
Mellick Sr., Marvin "Bill" and
Bertha Stone, and Keith Salls;
uncle, Brad (Stephanie);
aunts, Brittany and Chelsea; and her
cousin, Kaden. Visitation will be 10
a.m.-8 p.m. Monday, June 15, 2009
at Owen Funeral Home, 5317 Dixie
Highway. Funeral and burial will be
private. Expressions of sympathy
may be made to the family in care of
the funeral home.

24. Warning Signs
Just days before 9-month-old Karlie Mellick
was fatally battered at her home, her
mother, Kara Mellick, four day-care workers
and a physician all noticed the infant's bruises.

25. No Report
Yet no one reported the marks, even on
her face and ear, which experts say are a
key warning sign of abuse.

26. June 11
Karlie died. She had suffered a
severe head injury, a broken arm and
leg and fractured ribs.

27. Mother’s Boyfriend Convicted
Matthew Vaughn pleaded guilty to
manslaughter charges in the death of
Karlie Mellick.
Vaughn was sentenced to 17 years.

29. Future Outlook
American children are the helpless victims of a society
being ripped apart by
drugs, poverty, homelessness, unemployment, violence
and a pervasive sense of hopelessness.
The dozen men and women, all of them involved in child
welfare issues, quickly reached that bleak consensus
Monday as they testified before members of Congress
meeting in the federal courts building in Chicago.

30. A Child’s Safety is an
Adult’s Responsibility
Kentucky law explicitly states that anyone
who suspects or has reasonable cause to
believe that a child is experiencing abuse
or neglect has a duty to report it. If ever in
doubt about making a report, please call
the Cabinet for Health and Family
Services. Children throughout our
community are counting on you to speak
up for them.
To report abuse or neglect in
Kentucky, call 1-800-752-6200.
For reports outside the state of
Kentucky, call 1-800-422-4453.
If a child is in need of immediate help, dial
911.