Kids Day at City Hall Recap

The City Attorney's Office Child Abuse Policy Division, partnered with the Office of Councilmember José Huizar, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), Prevent Child Abuse America, ICAN, Los Angeles Community Child Abuse Councils, I-SAFE, First 5 LA, Jarritos Kids and Los Angeles Universal Preschool to introduce the first “Kids Day at City Hall” event in Los Angeles. The event was last Wednesday, April 22.

More than 200 students from Los Angeles area middle schools as well as from First 5 LA and LA Universal Preschools participated in the event on the City Hall lawn. Activities included fingerprinting of each child, safety awareness games, a visit from the Los Angeles Fire Department and McGruff the Crime Dog.

Representatives from iSafe demonstrated the safe use of the Internet and First 5 had activities to teach the children healthy eating habits. Students were able to explore the Safe City exhibit and were treated to lunch and games throughout the day.

Kids Day at City Hall!

April is "The Month of the Child" in Los Angeles and to celebrate this declaration, the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office Child Abuse Policy Division has partnered with the Office of Councilmember José Huizar, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), Prevent Child Abuse America, ICAN, Los Angeles Community Child Abuse Councils, I-SAFE, First 5 LA, Jarritos Kids and Los Angeles Universal Preschool to introduce the first “Kids Day at City Hall” event in Los Angeles. 

The goal of this event is to provide age appropriate and fun-filled activities that promote safety and awareness for children.  We expect elementary-aged students from Council Districts 9, 14 and 7.  Students will learn how to be safe in their home, community and online. 

Kid’s Day at City Hall will be held on:

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Los Angeles City Hall (South Lawn)

200 N. Spring St. Los Angeles, 90012

We look forward to seeing everyone on April 22 for “Kids Day at City Hall!”

Reporting Child Abuse

FOX 11 recently did an exclusive story profiling the bravery of two 17-year olds who reported witnessing the abuse and molestation of an 11-year old victim – who also reported the crimes. The witnesses and victim all courageously testified in court, helping prosecutors from the City Attorney’s Office secure a conviction on multiple counts of child molestation.

The Defendant was sentenced to 48 months of probation and 60 days in the County jail. He must also enroll in 25 sessions of counseling for compulsive sexual behavior, register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, pay a $300 fine, and stay away from the location of arrest. A protective order was issued for the victim.

The Defendant lived at the same apartment complex as the victim in the South LA area. He was known to offer the neighborhood kids candy, chips and soda, and as the only tenant with cable TV, often attracted children to his apartment who wanted to watch television.

On August 22, 2008, the victim was walking by the Defendant's apartment when she was lured inside with candy. The Defendant grabbed the victim by the arm, sat her on his lap, and molested her until she broke free.

Two female witnesses who also live in the building saw the molestation through the apartment window and notified their older sister, their parents and the apartment manager. They subsequently spoke with the victim and encouraged her to tell her parents who then notified the police.

It is well established that child abuse greatly increases the likelihood of adult criminal behavior. Abuse and neglect often leave our children with long-term emotional, psychological, and physical damage. These kids join gangs, turn to drugs and alcohol, and then, more often than not, abuse their own kids when they become parents.

In Los Angeles County, the number of child abuse reports has soared to more than 160,000 annually.

• Children who experience abuse and neglect are 59% more likely to be arrested as a juvenile.

• Childhood abuse and neglect increase the likelihood of adult criminal behavior by 28% and violent crime by 30%.

• More than 68% of adult male felons were victims of child abuse and neglect before the age of 12, with 64.5% experiencing physical abuse.

To report any suspected molestation or child abuse, please call LA County DCFS Child Abuse Hotline, toll free within California: (800) 540-4000.

Child Abuse Summit

This past Thursday, in partnership with the Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese, the City Attorney’s Office hosted a Child Abuse Summit, focused on bringing together members of the religious community and professionals with a role in protecting children and sharing best practices for reducing the incidents and effects of child abuse.




More than 180 attendees representing a diverse group of religions attended the summit, which was held at the headquarters of the California Endowment, in Downtown Los Angeles.




The summit was the third in a series of events hosted by the City Attorney’s office that focus on child abuse recognition, identification, classification, reporting and investigation. Our thanks to the members of the City Attorney’s Child Abuse Prosecution and Policy Unit for bringing these summits together, other members of the City Attorney’s Office involved in the planning, our steadfast partners, and members of the community for their attendance at this important educational event.

Internet Safety Awareness Campaign

The City Attorney Office announced earlier today with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and the Salesian Boys and Girls Club, the kick off the City of Los Angeles’ Child Abuse and Internet Safety Awareness PSA Campaign. The campaign is designed to raise awareness, prevent child sexual exploitation, and promote Internet safety.

In Los Angeles County alone, the number of child abuse reports has soared to more than 160,000 annually. Studies show that children who experience abuse and neglect are 59% more likely to be arrested as a juvenile, and childhood abuse and neglect increase the likelihood of adult criminal behavior by 28% and violent crime by 30%. More than 68% of adult male felons were victims of child abuse and neglect before the age of 12, with 64.5% experiencing physical abuse.

Research indicates that 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 10 boys will be sexually victimized before they reach adulthood. Also, according to the latest online victimization research, about 1 in 7 youth online (10 to 17 years-old) received a sexual solicitation or approach over the Internet.

The new PSA campaign hopes to combat these often unrecognized and underreported issues, by increasing the visibility of available resources. The City Attorney’s Office will begin distributing five posters created by NCMEC and city prosecutors will distribute these poster-size flyers to various community organizations, libraries, community centers and schools so that they can be seen by parents and members of the community throughout LA County.

Through this campaign, the City Attorney’s Office hopes to convey three main messages:

• Child sexual exploitation is a major problem.
• If you suspect child abuse or child sexual exploitation, report it to law enforcement.
• After you have reported the exploitation to law enforcement, it is very important to notify the NCMEC.

The NCMEC encourages the public to access prevention information and report these crimes against children through NCMEC's Hotline (1-800-843-5678) or online at www.cybertipline.com.

You can also visit the City Attorney's Child Abuse Policy Division for information and updates on the work of the City Attorney's Office on behalf of children.

Child Abuse Policy Division Update

The City Attorney's Director of Child Abuse Policy has been invited to join the UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) review team as a permanent member.

The SCAN team, created by statute in the California Penal Code, is a multi-disciplinary panel of experts established by a hospital and consisting of health care professionals and representatives of law enforcement and child protective services. Essentially, the team is composed of community members actively engaged in the proper identification and documentation of child abuse cases. The team meets weekly at the hospital to review the child abuse and neglect cases processed by any of the UCLA hospitals during the proceeding week.

The UCLA team is led by UCLA Pediatric Medical Director and Professor Claudia Wang, MD and is made up of representatives from the UCLA Clinical Social Work department, pediatric nurses and doctors, Child Life development staff, Los Angeles County Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS), UCLA emergency room staff, University Police, LAPD and consulting physicians from Children's Hospital of Los Angeles and Orange County.

The SCAN team serves as a systematic way of examining the strengths and weaknesses of the hospital response to child abuse and neglect cases and drives policy, protocol and research agendas. In addition, the purpose of personnel disclosing child abuse reports to SCAN teams is to prevent child abusers from attempting to hide the pattern of abuse by taking a child to different hospitals for treatment.

In addition, the City Attorney's Child Abuse Policy Division has created and distributed child abuse screening cards for medical and health care personnel to use when child abuse and neglect cases present in a medical setting.

The 4 x 7 laminated cards were distributed to attendees of the City Attorney's Health Care Summit in May and have been given to pediatric doctors and nurses during training at the Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA as well as the UCLA Emergency Room staff to aid in the identification and screening of child abuse and neglect cases.