Press release from Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office:
April is Sexual Assault Awareness and National Child Abuse Prevention Month. The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office would like to recognize the work of our Special Investigation Unit (SIU). The SIU Team is comprised of seven sworn Deputies and a Detective Sergeant Supervisor solely focused on investigating Child Abuse, Elder Abuse, Domestic Violence, and Sexual Assault.
“Our SIU Detectives are highly trained and dedicated law enforcement professionals,” says Detective Lt. Angie Tullis of the Criminal Investigations Division. “By working closely with staff at the Buncombe County Family Justice Center, our SIU team works every day to protect the most vulnerable of Buncombe County citizens from sexual assault, domestic violence, and abuse against children.”
In the last three weeks alone, SIU Detectives at the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office have filed numerous criminal charges related to child abuse. Those charges include: Child Abuse, Soliciting Child by Computer, 1st Degree Sexual Exploitation of Minor, 2nd Degree Sexual Exploitation of Minor, Assault on Child Under 12 and Sex Offender Failure to Change Address among other charges.
The charges over the past three weeks are:
Week of March 19:
Assault with Deadly Weapon Inflicting Serious Injury (1)
Child Abuse (1)
Soliciting Child by Computer (1)
1st Degree Sexual Exploitation of Minor (2)
2nd Degree Sexual Exploitation of Minor (2)
3rd Degree Sexual Exploitation of Minor (3)
Dissemination of Obscenity (1)
Assault Inflicting Serious Injury (1)
Assault on Female (1)
Assault by Strangulation (1)
Assault on Child Under 12 (1)Week of March 26:
Child Abuse (1)
Assault with Deadly Weapon (4)
Going Armed to the Terror of Public (1)
Damage to Property (1)
Violation of Domestic Violence Protective Order (1)
Sex Offender Failure to Change Address (1)Week of April 2:
Domestic Violence Protective Order Violation (24)
Cyber Stalking (1)
2nd Degree Kidnapping (1)
Assault by Strangulation (1)
(Felony) Possession of Firearm while under DVPO (1)
Assault on Female (1)
1st Degree of Burglary (1)
Armed Robbery (1)
Failure to Change Address – Sex Offender (2)
Failure to Notify Online Identifiers – Sex Offender (1)
Failure to Register as a Sex Offender(1)The Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Unit is honored to partner with the Family Justice Center, Helpmate, Our Voice, Buncombe County Department of Health and Human Services, Pisgah Legal Services and the Buncombe County District Attorney’s Office to provide prevention education and tools within our community to help keep our children and community safe.
In this world, every day of the year should be Sexual Assault Awareness and National Child Abuse Prevention Month.
Trauma from unchecked child abuse/neglect typically results in the helpless child’s brain improperly developing. If allowed to continue for a prolonged period, it acts as his/her starting point into an adolescence and (in particular) an adulthood in which its brain uncontrollably releases potentially damaging levels of inflammation-promoting stress hormones and chemicals, even in non-stressful daily routines. In short, it can make every day an emotional/psychological ordeal, unless the mental turmoil is doused with some form of self-medicating.
Meanwhile, general society perceives thus treats human procreative rights as though we’ll somehow, in blind anticipation, be innately inclined to sufficiently understand and appropriately nurture our children’s naturally developing minds and needs. I find that mentality — however widely practiced — wrong and needing re-evaluation, however unlikely that will ever happen.
Proactive measures may be needed to avoid later having to reactively treat (often with tranquilizing medication) potentially serious and life-long symptoms caused by a dysfunctional environment, neglect and/or abuse. And if we’re to avoid the dreadedly invasive conventional reactive means of intervention — that of governmental forced removal of children from dysfunctional/abusive home environments — maybe we then should be willing to try an unconventional proactive means of preventing some future dysfunctional/abusive family situations. Child development science curriculum might be one way.
Furthermore, mental health-care needs to generate as much societal concern — and government funding — as does physical health, even though psychological illness/dysfunction typically is not immediately visually observable. A psychologically and emotionally sound (as well as a physically healthy) future should be all children’s foremost right — especially considering the very troubled world into which they never asked to enter!