Two Year Old Child Dies from possible Child Abuse, Texas Child Abuse Statistics

By: Jose G. Landa, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2015

The death of two year old child, Ismael Gonzalez, in Uvalde, Texas during late November 2015 is under investigation as a possible child abuse murder.

According to Uvalde County Sheriff’s Department, the two year old Uvalde, Texas boy lost his life after being on life support for several days due to the massive internal injuries sustained allegedly inflicted by his mother’s boyfriend, Severo Rosas Cuellar, a registered sex offender in the State of Minnesota.

According to reports, Severo Rosas Cuellar, age 34, was arrested on Wednesday, December 2, 2015 by the Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office on charges of injury to a child. According to Uvalde County Sheriff, Charles Mendeke, the child appeared to have been physically assaulted and sustained serious internal injuries to his young body.

Cuellar also had an outstanding warrant for violating probation or parole and is a parole transfer from Minnesota where he was found guilty of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, terroristic threats, and second-degree assault against his wife. Cuellar did appeal his conviction to the State of Minnesota Court of Appeals in 2005.

Child abuse cases in Texas are a significant problem. According to 2014 statistics released by the Texas Department of Family Protective Services (TDFPS), including Maverick County, show that from 2011 through 2014 there were 670,036 completed investigations of child abuse in Texas conducted by TDFPS.

During 2014, there were 168,164 TDFPS completed investigations and 29,440 (17.5%) of these investigations warranted further action or intervention from TDFPS due to confirmed risks of child abuse indicated during the investigation.

In 2014, TDFPS conducted a total of 19,873 investigations in Texas Region 8, which includes Maverick County, and there were 8,012 (40%) confirmed cases of some form of child abuse warranting further action from the TDFPS.

Although an exact number of child abuse cases in Maverick County is not specifically provided in the 2014 TDFPS annual report, a breakdown graph by county shows that there were at least 200 cases reported and/or confirmed in Maverick County alone.

Among the confirmed child abuse cases in Texas during 2014, the TDFPS study reports that 11,514 cases were identified as physical abuse, another 5,563 cases were for sexual abuse, 431 cases were for emotional abuse, 179 cases were for abandonment, 1,699 medical neglect cases, 4,857 cases were for physical neglect, 590 cases were for failure to accept parental responsibility, and another 51,197 cases were for negligent supervision.

In 2014, Region 8, which includes Maverick County, had 1,157 cases confirmed of physical abuse, 613 were for sexual abuse, 44 for emotional abuse, 19 for abandonment cases, 204 medical neglect, 554 were for physical neglect, 56 refusals to accept parental responsibility, and 6,271 neglectful supervision.

Eagle Pass Police Department Criminal Investigation Division monthly reports show during the past 12 months from December 2014 to November 2015 there have been 17 child abuse/ indecency to a child or injury to a child cases reported.

Hispanic children are more susceptible of being victims of child abuse as there were 29,266 cases confirmed throughout Texas involving Hispanic children compared to a total of 21,978 confirmed child abuse cases involving Anglo children in Texas during 2014.

Children between the ages of 1 to 3 years old are the largest percentile of victims of child abuse with 15,119 confirmed child abuse cases, neglect cases followed for children from 4 to 6 years old with 13,770, children under one year old had 10,647 cases, and children between 7-9 years old had 10,533, children between 13-17 years old had 8,774, and children between 10 -12 years old had 7,708 cases during 2014.

The 2014 TDFPS Annual Report documents the rising problem of child abuse and domestic violence cases in Texas with Hispanic children having a larger possibility of being involved in a child abuse case than their Anglo and African American peers.

During 2011 through 2014, there were 977 child abuse/neglect related fatalities in Texas.

Texas Region 3 had a total of 37 child abuse/neglect related fatalities in 2014 followed by Region 8, which includes Maverick County, with a reported 17 fatalities.

Statistics show that In one year, more than 65,000 cases of child abuse were confirmed in Texas. 1 in 4 girls (25%) are sexually abused before their 18th birthday compared to 1 in 6 boys (16.6%) are sexually abused before their 18th birthday.

If you know of a child who may be a victim of child abuse, please call the Texas Department of Family Protective Services in Eagle Pass at (830) 757-0070 or visit their offices at 1593 South Veterans Boulevard, the Eagle Pass Police Department at (830) 773-9044, or the Maverick County Sheriffs Department at (830) 773-2321.