Susie’s Place to begin offering medical exams to child abuse victims
By Lauren Slavin, Herald Times: There’s an immeasurable health benefit for children who have been abused to hear a doctor say, “You are OK.” “It is good to be able to make sure that a child understands they are a healthy child,” said Dr. Richard Malone, a pediatrician with Riley Physicians at Indiana University Health’s Southern Indiana Physicians group. “It’s good for a child to understand they may require some psychological help to bring them back into good health, but that’s OK.” But after Susie’s Place interviewers complete an investigation into a reported case of possible abuse or neglect, Malone estimates, more than half of the child victims don’t see a health professional for a follow-up medical exam. The child advocacy center has locations in Bloomington and Avon, and its staff members conduct forensic interviews with children across the state. About 85 percent of cases involve possible sex crimes against children, according to Susie’s Place statistics. Last year, in Monroe County, the child advocacy center investigated 147 cases of possible sexual abuse and 21 cases of possible physical abuse. “Many times with physical or sexual abuse, there’s not a lot of evidence to the plain observer that something has happened,” …
