Members of Stanly County’s law enforcement, with support from local support groups and government departments, hosted a child sexual abuse symposium Feb. 18 at the Stanly County Agri-Civic Center.

Sheriff Jeff Crisco welcomed attendees to the event, saying the idea for the symposium came from two staff members, detective Sgt. Karcin Vick-Dunn and detective Samantha Smith.

“I support about anything and everything that my staff wants to do, so I said, ‘Let’s do it,’ ” Crisco said.

After a prayer from Atrium Health chaplain Ben Floyd, Vick-Dunn and Smith presented information with the goal of giving attendees an understanding of the process of who and when to contact someone when abuse is suspected. The two detectives also presented potential red flag behaviors for adults and children.

Vick-Dunn said of the known sexual offenses against children, 34% are by a family member and 59% are by an acquaintance, which means in 93% of child sexual assaults, the child knows the offender.

She said 193 individuals are on the sex offender registry in the county. Seven of those offenders are in the Stanly jail, and 25 are in either the state or federal prison system.

Regarding the age of offenders, Smith said the largest number at the time of the offense is between 45 and 49 years old (29%). The next biggest group is between 18 and 24 (14.5%).

Sex offenders, Smith said, by statute are not allowed to live within 1,000 feet of a school or within 300 feet of a place which takes care of or supervises children, like child care centers, nurseries and playgrounds. Registered offenders also may not be in a place minors frequent like parks and swimming pools.

Vick-Dunn and Smith also presented a screenshot of the state’s website for looking up information on registry members, which gives the offender’s information and listed residence.

The detectives said many convicted child molesters often target children in churches and other religious organizations. Vick-Dunn noted Stanly has more than 180 churches, which does not include after-school programs.

She said one convicted child molester stated church people “are easy to fool.” Noting statistics, she added, “offenders that operate in our religious bodies or our youth serving organizations, statistically will accumulate more victims, younger victims and evade detection for longer periods of time.”

Vick-Dunn said offenders will use the tenets of a child’s faith to keep them quiet, and use their “biological reaction to a sexual assault against them to convince them because they had a reaction to the assault, they are just as responsible as that sin.”

She noted children who stay connected with a faith community “have fewer mental health conditions throughout their lives versus the people who don’t maintain those connections.”

When it comes to sex offenders attending church, Vick-Dunn encouraged people to not be negative, “because then their is a chance the unknown offenders are going to be less likely to reveal themselves. But if we’re over accepting and forgiving, there is a chance we could be prone to being taken advantage of by an offender.”

She suggested having informed chaperones or assigned staff to monitor those church members, including limiting access to children’s buildings. She also suggested background checks for youth church leaders.

The difference between supportive and inappropriate behavior by adults to children “may be the motivation underlying the behavior.” Vick-Dunn said offenders will select vulnerable children with psychological vulnerability, then gain access and isolation to those kids by giving rewards and developing trust.

Adults will then use inappropriate language, show pornographic material or tell “dirty jokes” to desensitize a child, along with increased normal touching.

Finally, adults will tell children not to tell about what happened, making the victim feel responsible.

Vick-Dunn said ways to overcome an offender’s actions include monitoring the time community members spend with a child, which should include parental supervision. Parents should “emphasize openness and a ‘no secrets’ attitude throughout their children’s upbringing.”

Smith said per North Carolina General Statute, citizens who “have cause to suspect a juvenile is abused” are required to report the issue to the county’s Department of Social Services (DSS). Failure to report could lead to a Class 1 misdemeanor charge.

The detectives reiterated reporting of suspected abuse can be done anonymously, both online and in person.

Amy Yow, director of the Butterfly House in Albemarle, spoke next, presenting information regarding the local children’s advocacy center.

Yow said the center was one of 51 accredited centers in North Carolina, first going into operation in 2005 when there were just 15 in the state.

She said children helped by Butterfly House suffer from four types of abuse. The number one type is sexual, along with physical abuse, neglect and children who are witnesses to crimes and/or drug endangerment, she said.

Yow said more than 3,700 children have received services from the center.

“That’s way too many. Essentially, we provide a systematic, multi-disciplinary response to reported cases of child abuse,” she said.

Butterfly House has medical and mental health providers for kids, working with local law enforcement and DSS.

“We’re not DSS; we don’t take children. We just help with a coordinated investigation to give them information they need to cooperate and cooperate with an investigation,” Yow said.

The Butterfly House, Yow noted, conducts forensic interviews, which are “structured ways to talk to a child, getting them to elicit actual facts of things happening in their life.”

While children are in interviews, victim advocates are out with families or non-defending caregivers, she added.

“We don’t allow any offenders in our office during what we call a psycho-social assessment,” Yow said.

Yow also said if a child reports abuse to an adult, that person should always believe the child and thank them while reassuring they have done the right thing by telling. Adults receiving reports, she added, need to remain calm and not criticize the child or the abuser.

Those adults should not confront the abuser, and refrain from making promises to the child which they can not keep, like saying “everything will be OK.” Abuse should be reported as soon as possible.

The Butterfly House also started a “Stop, Go and Tell” body safety program, which is in all the first- and fifth-grade classes in Stanly County Schools. The program teaches healthy lifestyle choices like drinking water, eating fruits and vegetables, exercise and sleep.

Yow said the program uses the bathing suit rule, explaining, “Why do you wear a bathing suit? Because it covers your private parts. Those are parts of your body that nobody should look at it, touch or take pictures. If they do, you need to stop, you need to go and you need to tell somebody.”

Speaking on behalf of DSS, Marie Webb said an intake social worker with Child Protective Services (CPS) fills out a long form mandated by the state, which will include the child’s name, the name of the child’s parents or guardians, address, phone number and as many details of the event as the person reporting can give.

CPS, Webb said, “only has the ability to intervene when that abuse, neglect or dependency is at the hands of a caretaker.” Anyone who reports abuse to CPS for someone other than a caretaker gets reported to law enforcement, the Division of Health Services Regulation, the Division of Child Development and the district attorney’s office.

Veronica Huffman of DSS said the department has two separate tracks of assessment. One is an investigative track for cases of physical and sexual abuse, where a social worker will show up unannounced. Often, she said, children are interviewed at school for safety purposes.

The other track is family assessment in cases of neglect or dependency, where social workers contact the families to arrange the initial contact.

Abuse, as defined by DSS, may be physical, sexual and/or emotional, and can also include moral turpitude, which could mean having a child engage in illegal activities. Human trafficking, including sex trafficking and labor trafficking, also falls under abuse.

Neglect may include improper care or supervision of a child, unsafe discipline, improper medical care, an illegal placement or adoption, injurious environments including substance abuse or domestic violence, and abandonment of a child.

In the last fiscal year (2023-24), Webb said DSS had 1,958 CPS investigations. Those investigations may find CPS is not needed, or services are provided and CPS is no longer need. CPS services may also be needed, which would move on to in-home services.

Veleka Barbee of Journey Counseling Services spoke about family and other types of counseling services the company provides.

“I am proud to say I have been treating children in this area for 21 years,” Barbee said.

Barbee listed the seven stages of trauma bonding, defined as a “psychological response to abuse that involves forming an emotional attachment with an abuser.”

The stages are: love bombing, trust and dependency, criticism, gaslighting, addiction, loss of self and resignation/submission.

Barbee said when kids are angry and aggressive, it may mean a whole different thing.

“They’re feeling vulnerable. They’re feeling defeated, lots of different things…if you don’t address any of these things, you don’t deal with them, this is what you’re left with,” Barbee said.

What you are left with, she added, is kids who have trouble establishing lasting, stable relationships, along with having trouble being close to people.