EDITORIAL
Puna child-abuse case shocking wake-up call
The case of the brutally injured 10-year-old girl from Puna is a shocking and painful reminder of the cruelty and neglect that too often go unreported in Hawai'i.
• To report suspected child abuse and neglect, call the state Department of Human Services hot line at 832-5300. • For assistance with parenting problems, call Parent Line at 526-1222. • For parenting classes, call the Institute for Family Enrichment at 596-8433. • For help with domestic violence and child-abuse issues, call Na Lei Lokahi at the Salvation Army Family Treatment Services at 232-0046 or Prevent Child Abuse Hawai'i at 951-0200.
It also turns a spotlight on a rugged corner of the Big Island where, in the past, poverty and other social ills often were associated with some of the state's most tragic child-abuse fatalities.
How to get help
What we know so far is that the mother of the 10-year-old girl left her with a couple in the 'Ainaloa subdivision in Puna three months ago. On Feb. 7, the couple called an ambulance to get medical attention for the child.
When staff at Hilo Medical Center saw her festering head and body wounds, they called police, who have since determined that child abuse may have been involved.
Among her injuries, her eyes were swollen shut, part of her upper lip had been gouged away, and a cut on her head was filthy and festering.
Why no reaction?
So many questions spring to mind:
If neighbors witnessed what they say was abusive treatment of the child, as some say they did, why didn't they report it to police and social services? And if they did report it, why wasn't she removed from the home and treated? And where was her mother?
Clearly there should have been a moral obligation to find help for this child sooner; someone should have come forward.
Though more severe than most, this child-abuse case is not an isolated incident in Puna.
The state Department of Human Services reports a total of 464 cases of child abuse and neglect in Puna during 2003, of which 211 were confirmed and 253 unconfirmed. Urban Honolulu, with a population 10-fold higher than that of Puna, had a little over twice as many cases (1,027) the same year, of which 530 were confirmed.
The poverty factor
According to the 2000 Census, the median per-capita income in the Pahoa-Kapalana tract is $12,554, with 22.3 percent of families living below the poverty line and 16.7 percent unemployed.
Of course, poverty is not always an indicator of crime, abuse or other social ills. And child abuse pervades all social classes and cultures.
Puna's inhabitants include artists, farmers, retirees, entrepreneurs and a burgeoning population of welfare recipients, many of whom have relocated there from O'ahu. And as a former hub for Hawai'i's marijuana cultivation, Puna, to some extent, has retained a culture of isolation and mistrust of government interference. As with other places, crystal methamphetamine is also a problem there, officials say.
All the more reason to provide a better safety net of law enforcement and social services there and to increase awareness and mobilize communities to be more vigilant about reporting suspected cases of child abuse.
Other cases
Puna has had its fair share of high-profile abuse cases, among them:
• In 1997, 6-year-old child-abuse victim Peter Boy Kema, whose family resided in Puna, disappeared without a trace. His father said he gave the child to an O'ahu woman, whose identity was never verified. Police have since reclassified the case as a homicide, but to date, there have been no arrests.
• In 1999, a Puna woman was accused of second-degree murder in the starvation death of her 10-week-old daughter.
• In 2000, a 9-year-old boy died in the Nanawale Estates outside Pahoa. His father admitted to beating his son repeatedly for two months. The boy lost consciousness after receiving a blow to the head when he was pushed against a wall during a day of abuse.
Details of what happened to the 10-year-old girl in this recent case are still unfolding. But what's clear is the need for better intervention so that no other child has to endure a similar fate.
