UNITED STATES
Fox News
By Jerome Elam, Michael Reagan
Published April 29, 2014
Editor’s note: April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month.
The well-groomed neighborhood was lined with a green umbrella of trees that swayed in the warm winds of summer as the last remnants of a long, hard winter faded.
The white house on the corner had seen better days and the front lawn was dotted with bare patches where neglect had invited an invasion of pests.
Opening the front door the morning light illuminates an array of toys and wrapping paper strewn about a well-furnished family room. Just ahead above the dining room table a birthday banner hovered over a half eaten cake and scattered cups and plates. As the quiet of the scene establishes its reign down the hallway covered in brown carpet the muffled cries of a young child could be heard.
The CDC estimates that 1 in 4 girls and1 in 6 boys are sexually abused before the age of 18.
As the door opened to the back bedroom door a man emerged securing a belt around the faded jeans he wore.
A seven-year-old boy emerges his underwear still clinging to his small ankles. The scars and bruises that consume his small body are a roadmap of his vandalized innocence and the suffering he has so horrifically endured.
Tear-stained cheeks and cries that resonate within the tiny soul that has suffered so much soon fill the empty hallway.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.