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Child Abuse Prevention Services works to end sex abuse against children

While sex crimes against children sometimes dominate news cycles, victims can be found in every community at any time.

At Child Abuse Prevention Services, 811 E. Main St., Sexual Abuse Prevention Educator Lori Frederick works to educate children on how to identify sexual abuse and know how to report it.

She does presentations in the public schools (and some private) in Marshall and Tama counties for students preschool through second grade, making around four visits to each classroom. In the 2018-19 school year, she visited 162 classrooms, conducted 670 sessions and reached 2,890 youth.

Using the Care for Kids curriculum, Frederick tries to empower children to understand their private parts should not be touched without consent, and bad secrets shouldn’t be kept.

“It’s teaching kids their bodies are theirs and they’re the boss,” Frederick said.

Because the time in which she enters the classrooms is usually during guidance counselor time, those counselors often sit in on the sessions.

“It’s nice to have them there because they’re watching kids’ facial expressions and demeanor about the subject,” Frederick said.

Esmeralda Monroy, who oversees several of CAPS’s programs, said she’s amazed at how well the children retain the information Frederick provides them.

“They repeat things back and remember her from year to year when she comes into the classroom,” Monroy said.

Frederick said on occasion, some children reveal information about being sexually abused to her or to teachers during or following her talks.

“I’ve had kids disclose in the classroom and afterwards to a teacher,” Frederick said. “Sometimes I’ll catch something on the news and know that was the situation (I learned about). I would say I get around 3-5 disclosures each year.”

Frederick said she talks with younger students about how to care for babies and that being nurturing is a good trait to possess.

“Kids that are more empathetic are less likely to abuse others, so that is a component of what I teach,” she said. “Unfortunately, there’s child on child abuse.”

Ultimately, it’s the duty of adults to keep children safe against all forms of abuse.

“We can empower children by talking to them and teaching them about how to keep their bodies safe, but we cannot expect children to protect themselves from sex abuse. Most adults cannot protect themselves from it, so how can a child?” she said.

Some signs of child sex abuse include: a child who has been potty-trained starts wetting the bed at night, avoiding certain adults or changes in personality and becoming withdrawn.

Monroy noted that children having knowledge of sexual acts and concepts that are not age-appropriate can be a sign they’ve either witnessed these things, or been preyed upon themselves.

Child sex abuse can impact a victim’s mental health for years. Victims are more likely than non-victims to experience the following mental health issues: about four times more likely to develop symptoms of drug abuse; about four times more likely to experience PTSD as adults; about three times more likely to experience a major depressive episode as adults, according to RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network).

Frederick teaches the Stewards of Children program to adults, which she presents for service groups, clubs and others interested in learning more about how to safeguard youth from sexual exploitation. It is a free training session.

“We know child sexual abuse occurs in all demographics, religions and socio-economic statuses, and that’s why it’s important that people know what we do and the numbers we reach,” Monroy said.

For more information, CAPS may be reached at 641-752-1730.

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