Child abuse reports increase after high-profile cases

High-profile child abuse cases in Spirit Lake and Oskaloosa have helped increase the number of child abuse reports submitted to the state.Department of Human Services director Jesse Rasmussen says over the past 10 months, there’s been a 20 percent increase in the number of child abuse reports.Rasmussen says the cases of Shelby Duis and Charles Charbonneau, Junior, have raised the awareness of Iowans, but the increase in child abuse reports is taxing an already over-loaded system.Governor Tom Vilsack acknowledges the public outcry about the handling of the Shelby Duis case has affected state workers. He says the immediate human response is to be defensive, but Vilsack says the workers are in the business because they want to protect children.Yesterday, the State Ombudsman issued a report, which criticized two state social workers for the way they handled the Duis case.