Child abuse, neglect in Miami Valley a community concern, advocates say

DAYTON — A 37-year-old man faced a judge today on a charge of child endangering.

Police said his 5-month-old daughter suffered a skull fracture in his care.

News Center 7′s Mike Campbell took a look at how the community can help parents to prevent child abuse.

Aaron Hoff is facing a child-endangering charge for a skull fracture his daughter suffered, he made his first appearance in court Tuesday.

A judge entered a not-guilty plea on behalf of Hoff.

Court records show that police believe the 5-month-old girl’s skull fracture happened while he was alone watching the child.

Investigators have not said whether they believe the injuries were a result of an accident or intentionally inflicted.

Hoff’s case and many others show the widespread nature of child injuries and potential abuse.

Montgomery County Children’s Services records show that last year that agency handled almost 4,200 investigations.

More than 2,200 of those involved cases of physical abuse and another over 1,800 involved cases of neglect.

“Physical abuse of children typically happens because people don’t cope with stress very well,” Libby Nicholson said.

Nicholson is the director of Care House, a children’s advocacy center connected to Dayton Children’s Hospital.

Nicholson said she cannot comment on specific court cases involving child injury or abuse.

Nicholson said a wide range of life events or physical conditions can trigger child abuse.

Things like job loss, divorce, medical changes, even tiredness or exhaustion.

Nicholson said that’s when we all need to reach out to parents we know, offering help.

“‘Can I help you out, what can I do to support you?’ parents typically don’t want to hurt their kids, right?” she said.

She said abuse of any kind has life-long impacts that Care House works to help victims through.

The people at Care House say that all of us can play a part in reducing child abuse.

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