All-Time County High in May : Child-Abuse Reports Continue Steady Rise

Reports of child abuse in Orange County have climbed steadily since the start of 1988 and reached an all-time monthly high in May, officials said Monday.

In May, there were 1,912 reports of child abuse in the county, while in June the number fell back to 1,671. But authorities believe that the recent rise is largely a result of greater public awareness of the problem.

“I don’t think more people are abusing their children, we’re just more aware of the abuse that occurs,” said Robert Malmberg, director of the Orange County Child Abuse Registry.

“May and October are consistently high peaks for us.”

May Is a Big Month

Helen Grohman-Collins, a senior social worker added: “May is a real strong month because schools are real sensitive to the fact that the kids may not get the same supervision over the summer.”

The total number of child-abuse reports in 1988 zoomed to 18,844 after the number hovered slightly above 15,000 between 1985 and 1987. The figures for 1989 are keeping pace with 1988.

While the numbers are up, social workers say they believe that they are finding out about child abuse earlier than before. “We are usually intervening at an earlier level, getting at the first or second incident instead of when it’s an on-going pattern,” Grohman-Collins said.

“Many parents don’t intend to abuse their children,” she said. “Many were victims themselves.”

Malmberg added: “Parents often repeat the type of corporal punishment they received, whether it’s belts or electric cords or ironing apparatus or cigarette burns.”

He said that in 1988, physical abuse accounted for about 39% of child-abuse reports in the county, sexual abuse another 25%, emotional abuse 4%, neglect 29%, and 3% unspecified. Of the 18,844 reports, 150 turned out to be unfounded--either false or the injuries accidental, Malmberg said.

‘Shaken Infant Syndrome’

In discussing child-abuse problems in Orange County, Malmberg pointed out “shaken infant syndrome,” which he described as a type of physical abuse that is not widely recognized but which can cause serious harm. It occurs when infants and young children are violently shaken back and forth, often by frustrated parents.

“Shaken infant syndrome . . . is like a major whiplash,” Malmberg said, and can result in blindness, brain damage and even death. He cited the case of a 7-month-old child left in the care of his father while his mother was at the doctor’s.

When she returned, the child was listless, lying in the playpen awake and eyes open but unresponsive to his mother’s voice. At the hospital, the baby was diagnosed as having suffered detached retinas and a brain hemorrhage. Later, it was discovered that his father had shaken the baby in an effort to make the infant stop crying.

In sexual abuse, up to 70% of the cases are prompted “by some form of substance abuse which takes away inhibitions,” Malmberg said.

Many child-abuse incidents are one-time episodes involving adolescents and frustrated parents, Grohman-Collins noted.