Law

Child Advocates Say N.C. Abuse Rates On The Rise

WUNC | By Gurnal Scott

Published December 28, 2012 at 6:12 PM EST

State children's advocates say statistics are showing a rise in reports of child abuse cases.

Organizations that track these cases say results can be deadly if left uninvestigated. President of Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina Rosie Allen Ryan said at one point there were 125 thousand reported cases annually in the state.

Rosie Allen Ryan: "And then this past set of data that we have shows an increase up to 129-thousand."

Authorities verify only one in four of those cases. At the same time many incidents go unreported. Spokeswoman Maureen McKeon say that's why people must report any suspicions to D-S-S.

Maureen McKeon: "Because they do have people trained to talk to the family and to elicit that information. And if you have a reasonable suspicion you're never going to get in trouble for referring a family."

McKeon says kids who are withdrawn, bruised or fear parents or caretakers are possibly being abused.

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Law Child Abuse

Gurnal Scott

Gurnal Scott joined North Carolina Public Radio in March 2012 after several stops in radio and television. After graduating from the College of Charleston in his South Carolina hometown, he began his career in radio there. He started as a sports reporter at News/Talk Radio WTMA and won five Sportscaster of the Year awards. In 1997, Gurnal moved on to television as general assignment reporter and weekend anchor for WCSC-TV in Charleston. He anchored the market's top-rated weekend newscasts until leaving Charleston for Memphis, TN in 2002. Gurnal worked at WPTY-TV for two years before returning to his roots in radio. He joined the staff of Memphis' NewsRadio 600 WREC in 2004 eventually rising to News Director. In 2006, Raleigh news radio station WPTF came calling and he became the station's chief correspondent. Gurnal’s reporting has been honored by the South Carolina Broadcasters Association, the North Carolina Associated Press, and the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas.

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