Education is key to protecting youth from abuse

A statistic from last month’s article indicated that 29 percent of offenders or abusers are relatives of the victim, and 60 percent of the offenders are acquaintances of the victim. And 89 percent of child abuse offenders are known to the victims and/or their families.

What can we do to change the statistics? We can educate our children and loved ones. Teach your children to tell a trusted adult if they were in a situation that made them feel uncomfortable. We can teach our children to trust their instincts even at a very young age.

As the adults, we need to listen and take into account what our young people are telling us.

Another important tip is to be aware of who lives nearby. There are about 75 registered sex offenders living in the city of Superior. Information about the offenders can be found on the Wisconsin Department of Corrections web page, www.widocoffenders.org, or at the Family Watch Dog web page at www.familywatchdog.net.

The Superior Police Department holds community notification meetings when certain sex offenders are released into our community. The Police Department and Department of Corrections are not required to conduct community notifications. The police department chooses to make sex offender release notifications as a part of our commitment to serve and protect our community.

The Superior Police Department conducts checks of all registered sex offenders living in the city of Superior. Police officers have face-to-face contact with each registered offender twice a year. Beginning in 2012, Level III offenders will have face-to-face contact with officers three times a year.

Part one of this article was printed in the Superior Telegram on Dec. 2. The article was also posted on the Superior Police Department’s Facebook page.

Victims of abuse can find help from the Center Against Sexual and Domestic Abuse at (715) 392-3136 or (800) 649-2921. We hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year.

Community Policing Officer Bonnie Johnson shares information with the community. You can leave a voicemail for her at (715) 395-7401. Her column will appear on the first Friday of each month in the Telegram.

Tags: news, health, family, crime, education, superior