Countywide : Protect Children More, Speaker at Vigil Urges

Tougher legislation to protect the safety of children is being urged by the Adam Walsh Center, one of the organizers of a candlelight vigil Sunday that commemorated victims of violent crimes.

The annual ceremony at a Brea cemetery also was conducted by the Parents of Murdered Children and Mothers Against Drunk Drivers advocacy groups.

“The No. 1 crime in our country today is crime against our children,” said Peter Caruso, spokesman for the Orange-based Adam Walsh Center, a branch of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

“We in society are kind of ashamed of it; we sweep it under a rug or into a back closet,” according to Caruso, who pointed out that California has more reported cases of child abuse than any other state in the nation.

Most of the crimes, he said, involve physical abuse, sexual abuse or general neglect.

The U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect recently concluded a 2 1/2-year study that found the level of violence against young children had reached epidemic proportions, claiming the lives of 2,000 children a year and seriously injuring more than 140,000 others.

Caruso said the horrific images of children killed in the Oklahoma City terrorist bombing “bring to light” the tragedy of crimes against the young.

“We feel sadness and pain and hurt about this devastation,” Caruso said. “We should also start feeling anger about those people who can pass laws to protect the children.

“We need to challenge legislators,” Caruso said. “What are you doing about child abuse? It’s something we’ve got to step forward and do. We’ve got to wake up the nation.”