Alarming decrease in child abuse calls, advocates warn it could lead to major spike

The pandemic has families spending more time together and while quality time can be good, there are some who feel worried about the increased alone time.

Will be re-evaluated "each week".

The pandemic has families spending more time together.

While quality time can be good, experts are concerned some things could be happening behind closed doors.

News 10's jordan kudisch is live from our newsroom.

She explains why isolation could play a role in child abuse.

In fact..

Child abuse cases are at an all time low.

And that's not a good thing.

Kids are staying home..

Which means trusted adults are no longer making daily contact.

Teachers..

Coaches... they're the ones who are likely reporting abuse.

But..

If they're not having that in person interaction..

They can't tell what's going on behind the scenes.

I spoke with emily perry.

She's the founder of susie's place..

A child advocacy center.

She says that after the stay-at-home order has been lifted..

There's a good chance abuse cases will spike.

"there's a fear that there will be a tidal wave of reports of child abuse as soon as children have access to safe trusted adults or loved ones are able to start interacting with children again and so we're preparing for that."

Why abuse could be worse now than before..

That's coming up.

Reporting live in the newsroom, jordan kudisch, news 10.