Miles for Smiles, a local group dedicated to eliminating child abuse, is raising some alarming statistics when it comes to crimes against children and young people in the province.
October is National Child Abuse Prevention Month and Miles for Smiles member and former RNC inspector Connie Pike says they’ve been tallying cases in provincial courts related to child abuse.
The numbers for October month alone, she says, are disturbing.
She says there are 301 charges involving 55 offenders before the ten courts in the province this month. “What’s most disturbing,” says Pike, “is that we know only 10 per cent of cases are ever reported, and only a small number of that 10 per cent ever make it to court.”
She says the number of online crimes, involving things like sextortion and luring, has gone up “exponentially” and that the range of charges currently before the courts is also jarring.
They include sexual interference, sexual assault, luring children, distribution and possession of child porn, supplying cannabis to a minor, failure to provide the necessity of life and forcible confinement.
October is National #ChildAbusePreventionMonth. Meanwhile, the Newfoundland & Labrador provincial court dockets show 301 charges of crimes against children. Body Safety Education would prevent many of these crimes. https://t.co/oZ7zbhj7PV @miles4smilesNL pic.twitter.com/cEzJUoqSb7
— Bev Moore Davis (@BevMooreDavis) October 6, 2023
