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Jocelyn De La Rosa, executive director of The Family Support Center, plants blue pinwheels in honor of every child who was abused in Salt Lake County during 2020 at the Salt Lake County Government Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, April 21, 2021. In Salt Lake County alone there were 3,616 confirmed cases of child abuse last year.
Laura Seitz, Deseret News
Police and child welfare workers in Utah’s most populous county confirmed fewer cases of child abuse in 2020 after the pandemic closed schools, churches and other places where adults tend to spot signs of abuse.
Now, Salt Lake County leaders and advocates are urging people to keep an eye out in their own communities and report any evidence of neglect or physical, emotional and sexual abuse so authorities can intervene.
Salt Lake County leaders say pandemic has left kids vulnerable to abuse ksl.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ksl.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Utah saw an increased need for domestic violence services during COVID-19, and it hasn’t slowed down
Safe Harbor is building a new center, expanding its shelter to be able to help more Utahns.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Kristen Floyd, executive director at Safe Harbor Crisis Center, at their Farmington location on Tuesday, April 13, 2021. Safe Harbor is building a new center in Layton and expanding its shelter in Kaysville to better serve the increased number of Utahns needing domestic violence help during the COVID-19 pandemic.
| April 17, 2021, 12:00 p.m.
The staff at Safe Harbor Crisis Center was already scrambling to keep up with all of the Davis County residents seeking help from domestic violence, even before 2020 and then the pandemic hit.
KSL TV
OGDEN – The family of Mindee Lavel Elmer Mastronardi encouraged people who are in abusive relationships to get help as soon as they can nearly two weeks after she was confronted and shot to death by her ex-boyfriend in Ogden.
Mindee s father, Frank Mastronardi, has been writing the kind of letter that no parent wants to write. It s easy to see why so many people loved her. It s been really tough, he said.
He wrote the letter to publicly thank the community that has seen his family through the darkest of times. It s why I had to do this, because not enough words can say what, how we really feel and love all of their help, Mastronardi said.