Cases of child neglect and abuse during seasonal school breaks remain significantly high across New Mexico and San Juan County, causing a two-year backlog that continues to pile up, according to the Children, Youth and Families Department and Childhaven Inc.’s Children’s Advocacy Center in Farmington.
During an academic year, four breaks were designed to give students and faculty time to rejuvenate. Schools around San Juan County take a break each fall, winter, spring and summer that can range from a week to several months.
But for some students, vacations cast children from the relatively safe school environment into an abusive home.
Meals and a heated or air-conditioned building are some of the safety nets that schools offer children. But in other circumstances, the security of having a mandated reporter near them could mean life or death.
Public records obtained by the Tri-City Record newspaper through the Inspection of Public Records Act beginning in fall 2023 revealed a widening backlog of cases.
The Farmington newspaper requested numbers and case reports from the Farmington Police Department from October to January.
The newspaper made a similar request to the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office spanning from Nov. 12 to Jan. 12.
In that time span, students spend 25 days away from school in break time, one break being Thanksgiving and the other Christmas.
These reports helped to track the cases by a week-to-week basis.
| Reports overall | Farmington Police Department: Oct. 30 to Jan. 12 | Sheriff’s Office: Nov. 12 to Jan. 12 | Reports made by mandated reporters | Reports made by other entities |
| 39 | 22 | 17 | 6 | 33 |
In the months of November and December, mandated reporters made six reports of abuse or neglect. Three of those reporters were teachers.
A mandated reporter refers to the legal obligation a specific profession must make when neglect or abuse is reported or suspected. Those professions fall within proximity to a child like teachers, licensed physicians, law enforcement and social workers.
On Nov. 1, a Farmington police officer was sent to a residence after a student was reported absent for multiple days. The reporting party stated in the police report that she had visited the residence to find the 13-year-old watching a younger sibling alone.
The officer conducted a welfare check and found the children there to be in a comfortable state. The parent told police they had left the two children alone for just 10 minutes. The case remains open.
On Nov. 6, a Farmington police officer responded to a teacher’s report that a 5-year-old student had red marks on her cheek about the width of an adult’s fingers. The child reportedly had been “slapped” by the suspect for refusing to put on her jacket. The case would be placed with a detective and remain open for investigation.
The last case reported to law enforcement before the winter break came as a telephone call to Farmington Police Department on Dec. 14.
A 7-year-old said the suspect forced her to drink “poison” and to spend the night outside. According to the initial interview, the girl said she had stayed outside in the bushes Dec. 8, shielded against the cold with a small blanket.
At Childhaven’s Children’s Advocacy Center on Dec. 15, the child would undergo several interviews.
During the interview, the 7-year-old said the suspect attempted to “make me drink bugs, rocks, and sand in poison.” She also said she had been abused physically and sexually while staying with another family member.
In another incident, the 7-year-old said the suspect and older sibling played a “game” that involved taping her hands, ankles and neck and pulling her by her hair after falsely accusing her of breaking household items.
The child was described as “mentally exhausted.” The case is inactive, according to the police report.
Returning from the winter break, there would be no reports from teachers until Jan. 18. The report is a date not included in the initial records request by the Tri-City Record. All requests were made until Jan. 12.
The case was opened after a 6-year-old student on Jan. 16 confided in school staff about abuse at home.
According to the report, the child told staff his dad physically and verbally abuses him.
The officer, another officer and a CYFD worker visited the home. After hearing the father yelling the child’s name from outside the apartment walls, they entered the apartment and the officer asked to see the child, who was in his room. After embracing the child, who ran to the officer, the officer noticed bruising on the child’s face, neck and kneecaps.
There was also a scratch about 6 inches long on his chest with “small parts of skin hanging off.”
Childhaven works to provide training in mandated reporting to the school administration around San Juan County, said Andrea Peńa, chief development officer.
During the COVID pandemic, there was a noticeable growth in child intake, Peńa said.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham closed schools in March 2020 and shifted to online instruction. A news release regarding the closure on March 27, 2020, addressed abuse and neglect and the student’s vulnerable state after being sent home from school.
Outside the pandemic, there is a noticeable increase in abuse and neglect cases while children are away from the academic setting, during those seasonal breaks, Peńa said.
“Things that happened during the shutdown and even up to this year, we were getting those stories,” she said.
In a Dec. 5 report to the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office involving the sexual abuse of a minor, details in the report pointed out prolonged abuse.
In the initial investigation, the victim described a occurrence between themselves and the suspect in summer 2023. In a follow-up interview, it was disclosed the sexual abuse was discovered two years before.
Deanna Goodman, family advocate with the Children’s Advocacy Center, said there is a noticeable decrease in forensic interviews during the holiday season.
“Our numbers ramp up once children return to school and the schools start reporting again,” she said “We are very busy now at the end of January, and we will be steady until summer break. We will then get a large wave in August and September.”
In the 2023 calendar year, the Farmington Child Advocacy Center conducted 390 forensic interviews, according to Goodman.
The Children Youth and Family Department’s report “The Last 13 Months” shows a trend of spiked numbers after seasonal academic breaks.
In September, a total of 3,514 reports were made through the Statewide Central Intake.
The numbers fell until January, when the total increased by 678 reports. From January, the reports stayed around 3,000 until June, then dropped to 2,454.
When classes resumed in August, reports saw a drastic jump to 3,450.
“Part of understanding these cases is understanding there are many cases,” Peńa said.
When children confide in adults about abuse, Peńa said, adults should report it rather than investigate it themselves.
Section 32A-4-3 of the New Mexico Children's Code requires “any person” to report child abuse or neglect to the statewide hotline.
“If they’re concerned enough for that child’s well being, submitting a report is the solution,” she said.
On Nov. 11, a caller to the Farmington Police Department reported that a suspect with three children was causing a disturbance at a park. While the responding officer dealt with the suspect, one of the children would not leave the officer’s side and said the suspect “hurts us” and “slapped her and gave her a bloody nose.”
The suspect behaved aggressively toward the officer and was handcuffed.
While the records obtained by Tri-City Record identified the numbers of mandated reporters, it also showed the community and family effort put forth by callers concerned for a child’s well-being.
Tri-City Record toured the Childhaven shelter on Jan. 26 with Peńa. During the tour, toddlers passed through the hallways with smiles on their faces after finishing lunch. One child led the others with their head high, smiling and waving to the group.
“As hard as the situations that they've experienced are, they're resilient, and they're brave, and we're honored to be an organization that gets to help them on their journey,” Peńa said.
If you suspect neglect or abuse of a child, dial #SAFE or 1-855-333-7233.
