Belchertown raises flag to honor child abuse prevention

Yahoo

02-04-2025

BELCHERTOWN, Mass. (WWLP) – Belchertown and the surrounding area gathered Tuesday morning to raise the Child Abuse Prevention flag at town hall.
The Children's Advocacy Center of Hampshire County helped to raise the flag for child abuse prevention while also continuing to raise awareness.
'It's easy to think that this doesn't happen here but unfortunately, child abuse is a reality here, just like it is in communities across our nation,' says Executive Director for the Children's Advocacy Center of Hampshire County, Kara McElhone. 'The important thing to recognize is that every adult has a role and that as kids, kids need adults to be able to speak to and be that trusted adult in their life.'
McElhone said child abuse is far too common and often, adults are the only voice for children. She adds, 'Statistically one in four girls is sexually abused before they turn 18 years old.' In Massachusetts, 84% of offenders were family members or someone the child already knew. There are a number of signs to look out for to help identify a situation of child abuse.
'If a child's behavior changes a lot, if they start to withdraw, you know if you're worried about clearly this physical indicator of abuse, but you know it's not your job to investigate. It's your job to report,' states McElhone.
The general rule of thumb is if you see something, say something. David Sullivan with the Northwestern District Attorney's Office told 22News, 'I can't say enough about being the eyes and ears in a community. People can speak up, they can report to the Department of Child and Families (DCF), or the local police department if they suspect any kind of abuse.'
But if you do see signs, leave the investigation to the proper officials. Sullivan adds, 'We have a team of people that work with these children first, to make sure that they're safe and second, to make sure that any trauma, that they're starting to heal and lastly is to make sure that if we can go forward on a criminal case with abuse that we can.'
The Children's Advocacy Center helps to minimize the number of times a child has to talk about their abuse while they help them heal from it.
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.
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