Amberly’s Place: Sex abuse cases up more than 60%

Pinwheels are painting Yuma County as child sex abuse cases have increased in Yuma County.

During Child Abuse Prevention Month , Amberly’s Place reported a 63 percent increase in sex abuse between the months of January and February.

Last year from January through March, there were only 35 reported cases of child sex abuse in Yuma County, but during the same window this year, there’s been an increase of 57 cases reported.

Diane Umphress explained these types of cases are about power and control and offered why the numbers of reports may have gone up.

“There’s a lot more awareness as to child abuse. we go into the schools and talk to the teachers about the four questions to ask if you suspect there is abuse. We’re doing that a lot in the community,” said Umphress.

She explained it’s still hard to track why this is going up and there are many more cases that go unreported. In fact, Umphress said only one in 10 is reported.

Amberly’s Place explained pinwheels are lined in the shaped of the number 602 to illustrate the number of child abuse cases in Yuma County last year.