We each have a role to play in child abuse prevention

If you find yourself angry after reading the Star-Telegram’s special report on confronting child abuse in Tarrant County, you are not alone.

It should make you furious — furious enough to take action of your own.

What the five-month investigation uncovered — 5,162 confirmed cases of child abuse or neglect in Tarrant County, and a shocking number of child deaths ruled undetermined or that remain unsolved — is a clarion call to citizens and community leaders to be more vigilant and involved in protecting our kids.

While Tarrant County has made some strides in helping to protect vulnerable children, it still has the second-highest total number of reported abuse cases among the state’s five largest counties.

Even more devastating is the finding that many instances of abuse are entirely preventable.

Most children experience abuse at the hands of a parent or other caretaker, and nearly half of abused children are age 3 or younger.

That means they can’t fight back or even report their abuse to another trusted adult.

But in many of the situations highlighted by the reporting, another adult was aware of or at least suspected mistreatment of a child.

And in some cases, CPS officials or law enforcement authorities had similar suspicions but were unable or unwilling to pursue charges against a likely perpetrator.

To be fair, child abuse is a difficult crime to prosecute even after the death of child.

While the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office does not have an eyebrow-raising number of “undetermined” deaths, the classification can hinder or even halt investigations that might help put abusers behind bars before they can claim another victim.

The Tarrant County district attorney’s office Special Victims Unit is taking action, filing more cases involving the injury, endangerment, abandonment or death of a child in 2016 than the year prior, but that’s hardly a consolation to the victims and families who witness an abuser get away unscathed.

It’s easy to point fingers at state and local officials for systemic and enforcement failures. But protecting kids requires more than punishment after abuse has occurred. It requires awareness, prevention and vigilance.

Everyone has a role to play looking out for and reporting abuse.

We owe our kids that much.

This story was originally published June 2, 2017 at 6:13 PM with the headline "We each have a role to play in child abuse prevention."