HB abuse cases overflow

Four to five cases of serious physical and sexual child abuse are reported in Hawke's Bay every week.
Specialist child abuse teams in Napier and Hastings had overflowing case files, said Detective Dean Young, of Napier of the child-abuse team.
While Hastings figures were not available, Mr Young said he understood they were even higher than those recorded in Napier for 2006.
In Napier, the two-person child abuse team conducted 67 interviews with children, aged three to 12, in relation to physical and sexual assaults. They also took statements from child offenders aged 12 to 16, and dealt with about six complaints from outside the district but which related to incidents within it.
"There is also a percentage of files we did not deal with - they were handled by other sections."
Mr Young said the overflowing caseload meant several cases had to be passed on to other detectives to investigate. "And these are only the cases we get to hear about. A lot of incidents are not reported, so the overall figure is going to be higher."
While the physical assaults were generally recent, a large proportion of the sexual offences were historical. Mr Young did not have a figure on the number of convictions made. He said a sad factor in many cases was that the children involved did not realise that what was happening to them was wrong.
"In cases of physical abuse, a lot of kids don't know any better. They think it's a normal part of growing up." Teachers and doctors who noticed the injuries were the ones who raised the alarm.
Mr Young said in sexual abuse cases no-one, apart from the offender and the victim, usually knew what was happening. "It's only until they (the victim) come forward and say something - and that can sometimes be years later. They will often blame themselves for what's happened and feel guilt."
As with physical abuse, some children were in an environment where they thought sexual abuse was part of life.
Mr Young said Child Youth and Family (CYF) was brought in to assist by providing a specialist interviewer. The interviews took place at a "safe and comfortable" venue, away from the CYF and police offices. A detective monitored the interview via closed-circuit television.
In cases involving 12 to 16-year-old children, the interviews generally involved written statements. In most cases police would interview the victims first, then the alleged offender.
However, in some cases last year the Napier and Hastings teams moved in to remove a child from a "dangerous environment" and placed the youngster with CYF.