Assemblyman
Marcos A. Crespo, member of the Assembly Standing Committee on Cities, released the following statement on the successful manhunt and
capture of the Soundview child rapist.
“The
terrible news that a child, once again, had been a victim of a
horrendous crime stunned New York City when it was reported. The crime
involved the rape of the seven-year old child in Soundview, Bronx.
The
depraved perpetrator of this case of child sexual abuse fled from New
York and a diligent manhunt by law enforcement agencies has led to his
capture in New Orleans, Louisiana. I commend the New York City Police
Department and other law enforcement agencies involved in finding this
child abuser and bringing him to justice.
It
is my hope that our court system will use its full authority and
sentence this derived individual to the maximum sentence allowed by law.
Unfortunately,
cases of child abuse are too common in our nation, our State and our
city. According to groups working to prevent child abuse and neglect,
from 1990 to 2010, substantiated cases of sexual abuse dropped from 23
per 10,000 children under 18 to 8.6 per 10,000 sexual abuses by an adult
who was not a family member from 1992 to 2010. The majority of sexual
abuse cases involve family members or acquaintances rather than
strangers, studies have found.
I
am thankful that to the hard work of our law enforcement agencies
because their diligent work will send a clear message that if a crime
against a child is committed, law enforcement will find you and bring
you to justice.
Child
abuse and neglect is an issue that needs more attention because the
incidents of abuse show our children are being victimized in their own
homes.
In
New York State in 2010, 114 children died as a result of abuse or
neglect, a fatality rate of 2.58 per 100,000 children, according to
Child Maltreatment 2010. This is a 4.4 percent increase from 109
fatalities that occurred in 2009.
In
2010, child sexual abuse comprised 3.5% of the 79,668 cases of
substantiated investigations into child abuse and neglect in New York
State.
Child
neglect continues to comprise the largest portion of cases of child
maltreatment. According to the federal report Child Maltreatment 2010,
figures for the country and for New York State are as follows:
United States
|
New York State
| |
Neglect
|
78.3%
|
66.6%
|
Physical Abuse
|
17.6%
|
11.4%
|
Sexual Abuse
|
9.2%
|
3.5%
|
Psychological Maltreatment
|
8.1%
|
.9%
|
Medical Neglect
|
2.4%
|
5.7%
|
Other
|
10.3%
|
32.0%
|
In
2010, according to the NYS Central Register of Child Abuse and
Maltreatment (the Child Abuse Reporting Hotline) — 170,224 reports of
suspected child abuse or neglect, involving 223,340 children were
received.”
