Salt Lake DA calls for ‘holistic’ approach to child abuse legislation

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill calls child abuse one of the country’s most underreported crimes, and with April being child abuse awareness month, he’s urging survivors to come forward.

But he also has a message for Utah lawmakers — while increasing penalties for offenders and prosecuting crimes is important, the government also has a responsibility to fund resources and programs so childhood trauma doesn’t go unresolved. On the latter, he thinks there’s room for improvement in the state.  

“Let’s transition these survivors so it doesn’t become an intergenerational issue. I think my policymakers need to think holistically,” Gill said. 

In the U.S., at least 1 in 4 girls experience some kind of child sexual abuse; for boys, it’s about 1 in 20, according to Gill. Rates of child abuse and neglect are five times higher for families in a lower socio-economic status. And as Gill pointed out on Monday, “We are not immune here in Utah.”

The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office prosecuted 879 cases of physical child abuse in 2023; that includes 123 cases of child abuse, 69 cases of aggravated child abuse, and 675 cases of domestic violence in the presence of a child, the most common child abuse crime. 

The office also prosecuted 533 sexual child abuse cases. Data from the county shows 192 charges of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, the most common, as well as 127 sodomy upon a child charges and 69 rape of a child charges. 

“That is a partial list,” said Gill. “That only captures the cases that were identified and actually reported, which continues to be an issue.” 

Perpetrators are often family members or family friends, and going to the police could mean implicating a relative. That’s why child abuse is so widely underreported. 

“It makes reporting really difficult and those numbers are, I think, suppressed,” said Gill. 

‘Hurt people hurt people’ 

Lawmakers this legislative session passed a number of bills aimed at crimes against children, some of them increasing sentences or creating new criminal penalties. That includes HB225, which creates an offense called “unlawful kissing of a minor,” or HB424, which expands the definition of lewdness involving a child. 

When asked whether the legislature’s work made it easier to prosecute crimes against children and support victims, Gill said he has a “mixed answer.” 

“Increasing penalties is a political expression that makes us feel good, makes us feel that we’re doing something. But if you are really committed to that expression, then you need to make sure that the resources downstream for social services, family support, access to medical and mental health services are crucial,” said Gill. 

The impulse to create more criminal offenses and ramp up penalties for people guilty of crimes against children is good, Gill said. Society has a responsibility to advocate for children — but he called for a more “holistic” approach from policymakers. 

“We have both an individual and collective responsibility to advocate for children. That is a no-brainer, and because it’s a no-brainer, it’s a very easy political and emotional point to rally behind. That commitment has to be a genuine commitment, it cannot be just performative in front of a photo op, you actually have to follow up during the 364 other days, when the photo op is gone,” he said.  

Increasing those resources, Gill said, can help prevent what he called the next generation of offenders. Studies suggest perpetrators in crimes against children often had some kind of unresolved trauma in their own childhood. Plus, “adverse childhood experiences” can result in increased likelihood of stroke, chronic lung diseases and mental health issues, according to Kyle Smith, a psychiatrist at the Children’s Center Utah. 

“Hurt people hurt people,” said Gill, “so we’re not only trying to build their resilience because they are victims and survivors, but we’re also trying to disrupt intergenerational trauma.” 

That includes resources like Camp Hope, a trauma-informed camping and mentoring program for children and teens that have been victims or witnesses to domestic violence. The five-day program combines outdoor activities like hiking, horseback riding, canoeing and archery with counseling and therapy, at no cost to the family.

“It gives them freedom, they can be who they are without any worries,” said Yvonne Argyle, a single mother who has sent her twin son and daughter to Camp Hope for several years now. “It does give them back the power to be a kid again.”