CAC Director: Suburban Residents Underestimate Child Sex Abuse Risk

For a month now, both the sporting world and the national media have been embroiled with the stories of how a Penn State defensive coordinator allegedly sexually abused several children.

And for Danielle Butts, Director of the Children's Advocacy Center of Southwest Cook County (CAC), there’s perhaps one thing about the entire scandal—and the media coverage—that frustrates (and frightens) her most.

“People don’t realize that this happens every single day, and all of these other victims don’t have this same kind of attention,” Butts said. “I hear a lot of these parents say, ‘oh, of course this doesn’t happen here.’”

Except that it does.

Butts says she works with about 150 sex-abuse cases in Cook County’s 5th District each year—nearly one every two days—and not from scenarios she says people typically expect. She estimates 99 percent of cases involve a person the child knows, and cases are hardly restricted to impoverished areas or families.

“It’s straight-A students, kids who come from privileged families, kids who live in million-dollar homes,” Butts emphasized, added that, nationwide, as many as 1 in 4 girls and 1 of 6 boys are victims of sexual abuse. “It’s not just somebody else’s problem. It’s our neighbors, the people across the street.”

These realities were echoed by Western Springs Deputy Chief of Police Brian Budds. “It’s from all walks of life, all socioeconomic backgrounds,” said Budds. “There are no bounds as far as that goes. It can happen anywhere at any time.

 “We really advocate that if you witness or suspect any abuse of any type, you must report it right away.”

As one group that can be contacted in the event of suspected child sex abuse, the CAC serves over 30 communities in southwestern Cook County and, according to their website, strives to “lessen the trauma a child faces during a sexual abuse investigation” by coordinating with police and investigators, at no cost to families.

Butts emphasized that parental education needs to go beyond the traditional “stranger danger” talk into the topic of what constitutes abuse, or a “bad touch,” or however a parent wants to make it clear.

“Whatever language you use in your household, you need to tell them and start young—three, four,” said Butts. “If we don’t give kids the tools… how can we expect the kids to tell us, or tell any trusted adult? It’s definitely time for open dialogue with their kids.”

And Budds emphasized that the Western Springs department is working to enact preventative, as well as investigative and punitive, measures. For instance, a member of the WSPD is part of the Internet Crimes Against Children task force, who work to hunt down online sexual predators.

Still, Budds agreed that prevention starts at home. “Parents have to stay vigilant and be involved in their children’s lives, answer any questions they may have and use their police department as a resource if they need clarification or answers on anything,” he said.

While fearing a misdirection of attention, CAC Director Butts did express hope that the Penn State scandal would shine a greater light on the overall problem of child sexual abuse as a whole

“There’s a common misconception that perpetrators are these crazy people who are lurking behind bushes, and that’s not true—they are trusted people to these children,” she said. “People read the Penn State article and say, ‘oh, that’s horrible,’ but for these 150 kids [per year], there’s no great media outrage

“It’s just not something we often hear about or talk about. It’s something we still keep behind closed doors. People are shocked about the Penn State thing, but this is real, it’s something we see every day in our own backyard.”