HONOLULU (KITV4) - The Friends of Children's Justice Center of Oahu and the State Judiciary's Children's Justice Centers released that the statewide total of child abuse cases jumped to 2,060 from 1,669 in 2020.
2021’s numbers also reflect that sexual abuse remains the highest form of abuse however cases involving domestic violence have also gone up.
“it’s overwhelming for my detectives. Unfortunately, these cases are nonstop. We have arrests at least twice a week and cases come every other day,” said Lieutenant Vince Legaspi, Honolulu Police Department Sex Crimes Unit.
The Oahu Girl Scouts Troop presented 773 brand new slippers at the conference. They used their proceeds from cookies sales to purchase and donate those shoes to abused children. The number, 773, represents how many children the Friends of Children’s Justice Center helped last year.
Statewide Director of Children’s Justice Centers of Hawaii, Jasmine Mau-Mukai, believes the increase of reported cases is due to schools reopening after the lockdown. She says children returning to in-person classes allows teachers and other staff to identify abuse.
“We get a large numbers of reports from teachers and counselors at school. They are a critical partner for us to be able to report child abuse and get a police report started,” said Mau-Mukai.
The organization provides a large range of items to the children during their healing process such as laptops, beds, groceries and clothing.
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