National Child Abuse Prevention Month 2025

Today, the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office held a press conference for Child Abuse Prevention Month. In fiscal year 2024, the Utah Division of Child and Family Services confirmed 8,791 victims of child abuse or neglect. More than seventy percent of the perpetrators were the victim's parents.

The Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office works every day to hold child abuse offenders accountable.  In 2024, the SLCo DA's Office filed 276 physical child abuse-related charges and 135 child sex abuse-related charges. In addition, to help fight child abuse, our office advocated for Senate Bill 24, which has now been signed into law. It is a new child torture law that is a first-degree felony with a minimum of 10 years in prison. This law, in part, came about as our office prosecuted the mother of Norlin Cruz.

Through the SLCo DA's Survivor and Victim Services Division, our office helps to prevent the cycle of child abuse that is often passed on intergenerationally through our Camp Hope America- Utah and monthly Pathways program. Camp Hope America-Utah's mission is to help kids find pathways to hope and healing. We want children to overcome the effects of trauma by providing opportunities for them to imagine, plan, and accomplish small goals in a safe space.

"Child abuse sees no economic nor political boundaries. It is a global problem that can only be addressed with community-level solutions like Camp Hope, which can stop the cycle of violence. Our Survivor and Victim Services team works every day with survivors of child abuse to help provide them with what they need to work through the trauma they have experienced. While our prosecutors work with survivors every day to help provide the justice they deserve and our community demands," said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill.

For those who are survivors of child abuse, there are community resources available. We have attached contacts for local and national resources.