Sex crimes against children a growing concern for Columbus and surrounding counties

Sex crimes in the Columbus area are steadily rising towards pre-pandemic levels with sex crimes against children becoming a growing concern in the area.

Sgt. Alicia Hoover of the Columbus Police Department’s sex crimes unit said there were 201 sexual assaults in Columbus in 2021, another 203 in 2022 and with half the year over this year, there have been 117 at the time of the interview.

While law enforcement is seeing a slight rise in overall sex crimes, a notable concern for the public is who these crimes are being committed against.

“I would say a majority of our investigations involve children,” Hoover said.

Hoover said that most of the sex crimes (i.e. sexual assaults, child pornography, indecent exposure, etc.) involving children are sexual assaults and said that those cases likely make up more than 50% of the sex crimes they’re investigating.

Most of these sexual assaults on children are being perpetrated by people within their household, Hoover said.

“Over 90% of the victims know their abuser,” said Kalen Sieck , program coordinator for Children’s Tree House in Columbus.

According to the CDC approximately 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 13 boys will experience child sexual abuse in their life. In 2015 the total lifetime economic burden of child sexual abuse was estimated at $9.3 billion.

On the front lines

Children’s Tree House conducts forensic interview and provide therapy among other services for children who are victims of crimes (such as sexual assault) and witness crimes in the Chattahoochee Judicial District System. The agency can also conduct STD testing and rape kits for children who are victims of sexual assault.

“The majority of the cases we see here are child sexual abuse cases,” said Sieck.

Children’s Tree House conducted 461 forensic interviews in 2022 with approximately 80% of those cases being sexual abuse cases, according to Sieck.

So why are these crimes against children rising? Part of the problem may lie with easy access to pornography, according to Bobbi Starr, Executive Director of Micah’s Promise in Columbus. The group helps children who are victims of minor sex trafficking

“But you also see an increase in sex crimes against children by adults also again because of pornography,” said Starr. “They become addicted and then once they have easy access to a vulnerable kid they’re more likely to act out.”

Sexual abuse of minors can have long-lasting impacts and can make them vulnerable to exploiters later in their lives as well.

“Kids that are sexually abused in early childhood are more likely to become victims of sex trafficking later,” Starr said. She said the number one thing most sex trafficking victims have in common is early childhood trauma which she says can make them vulnerable to exploiters later in life.

CDC data shows that females exposed to sexual abuse in childhood have a 2-13 times increased risk of sexual violence victimization in adulthood. People exposed to sexual abuse in childhood are also twice as likely to experience non-sexual intimate partner violence, according to the CDC.

However, while sexual assaults comprise a good portion of the overall sex crimes in the area new threats are rising.

A growing problem with sexual exploitation of children online

Both CPD and Children’s Tree House said that they have seen an increase in sexual exploitation of children through online platforms.

Hoover said that CPD is seeing an increase of children sending sexual photographs and having their account hacked and being extorted in the area.

Sieck said that they are seeing the same trend in the area.

“Online children are being exposed at a much higher rate to sexually explicit material, and also are becoming the victims of sexual exploitation and things like that,” she said.

Sieck said that steps such as even delaying children’s access to electronic devices may be beneficial in keeping children safe.

However, this isn’t the only trend people in the area are seeing when it comes to child sex crimes.

Both Children’s Tree House and Micah’s Promise are seeing an increase on child on child sexual assault in the area.

Sieck said they have seen an influx of older juveniles preying on other children in Columbus and the surrounding areas they serve.

Both Sieck and Starr also attribute the rise in these cases due to exposure to pornography.

“The easy access to pretty brutal stuff and kids don’t know what they’re seeing and they act it out on smaller, younger, vulnerable children,” Starr said.

Sex trafficking growing

Micah’s promise works specifically with children who are victims of minor sex trafficking.

Starr said that in 2022 there were 26 identified cases of child sex trafficking within the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit system with at least 20 coming from Muscogee County.

The majority of the victims in these cases of minor sex trafficking were female, according to Starr.

Recent data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families shows in 2020 there were 35 states that reported 953 victims of sex trafficking.

In August 2022 the FBI found nine children in the Atlanta area who were being commercially sexually exploited as part of a nationwide sex trafficking operation.

“Human trafficking is among the most heinous crimes the FBI encounters,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray in a statement. “Unfortunately, such crimes—against both adults and children—are far more common than most people realize.”

This story was originally published July 5, 2023 at 5:00 AM.