Beshear Provides Nearly $80,000 To Support Victims Of Child Sexual Abuse

Today Attorney General Andy Beshear, in partnership with the Child Victims’ Trust Fund, announced nearly $80,000 in grants to cover costs associated with more than 1,000 child sexual abuse forensic exams.

Beshear said the funding will be utilized throughout the upcoming fiscal year and shared among the state’s 15 Children’s Advocacy Centers that serve children in every county in Kentucky.

More than 650 child sexual abuse forensic exams have been funded by Beshear’s office in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.

“Before reaching their 18^th birthday, one in 10 children experience child sexual abuse and every day my team and I are working to prevent this abuse and seek justice for each victim,” Beshear said. “I encourage those who wish to join our mission of preventing child abuse and supporting survivors to consider a donation to the Child Victims’ Trust Fund.”

In addition to providing reimbursement for the exams, the fund provides support for child sexual abuse prevention programs.

Last year, the board approved $160,000 in statewide grants aimed at teaching parents how to discuss child sexual abuse with children and how to keep children safe on the Internet.

The fund also helped support Beshear’s 2016 partnership to provide the most comprehensive statewide child abuse prevention training ever offered, training over a thousand law enforcement officers, county prosecutors, parents and child advocates on how to recognize the behaviors of sexual predators and intervene to protect a child.

Beshear created the Office of Child Abuse and Exploitation Prevention when he entered office in 2016. The office administers the Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Prevention Board, created under Kentucky law as a 170(c)(1) nonprofit organization, which allocates funding from the fund.

Those interested in donating to the Child Victims’ Trust Fund can do so in three ways:

• Through a private donation directly to the fund.
• Purchase of an “I Care About Kids” license plate at your county clerk’s office.
• Donations made through the state income tax refund check-off program.​​​​​​​​​​​

Beshear reminds Kentuckians that everyone has a moral and legal duty to report any instance of child abuse to local law enforcement or to Kentucky’s Child Abuse hotline at 877-597-2331 or 877-KYSAFE1.