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CdA launches abuse fight

Gabriella Moon, 5, of Post Falls, holds one of the hundreds of pinwheels representing every reported birth at Kootenai Medical Center in 2006. The North Idaho Coalition for Domestic Violence and Child Abuse kicked off Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Month at Independence Point in Coeur d''Alene on Thursday. (Kathy Plonka / The Spokesman-Review)
Taryn Brodwater Staff writer
Gabriella Moon, 5, of Post Falls, holds one of the hundreds of pinwheels representing every reported birth at Kootenai Medical Center in 2006. The North Idaho Coalition for Domestic Violence and Child Abuse kicked off Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Month at Independence Point in Coeur d''Alene on Thursday. (Kathy Plonka / The Spokesman-Review)

Coeur d’Alene Mayor Sandi Bloem issued a special proclamation Thursday asking residents to each pledge to do one thing to make the community safer for kids.

Hundreds of pinwheels symbolizing every child born at Kootenai Medical Center last year spun lightly in the breeze as Bloem declared April Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Month in Coeur d’Alene.

Thursday’s gathering at Independence Point on Lake Coeur d’Alene was the kickoff for a monthlong campaign to bring awareness to the abuse and neglect suffered by children in the community – and to what people can do to prevent it. “Every child is entitled to be loved, cared for, nurtured and secure, and to be free from verbal abuse, sexual abuse and physical abuse and neglect,” Bloem said.

Clarissa Moon brought her 5-year-old daughter, Gabriella, to City Park to play Thursday and noticed the colorful display of pinwheels nearby.

Moon, who lives in Post Falls, had tears in her eyes as she looked at a display of wooden silhouettes representing local children who died from abuse or neglect.

“It breaks my heart because I love my daughter so much and I would never think of laying a hand on her,” Moon said.

She said she appreciated the effort to bring awareness to the suffering of children.

Nothing is worse for law enforcement officers than to deal with a child as a victim, Kootenai County sheriff’s Capt. Ben Wolfinger said.

“If we could wipe crime off the face of the Earth, that’s where we’d start: child abuse,” Wolfinger said.

In the moments before Bloem, child advocates and law enforcement representatives gathered for the reading of the proclamation, two young boys were skateboarding in a nearby parking lot. One boy asked Mary Lou Teyler what all the fuss was about.

When Teyler told him it was for Child Abuse Prevention Month, the boy told her he had been abused as a child. He said he had his leg and collarbone broken when he was 16 months old, and added that he’s in a safer place now.

“It was so neat to see him out here physically active with a smile on his face,” said Teyler, a volunteer legal guardian for Court Appointed Special Advocates, or CASA. “He’s doing fine, and it’s because someone was there for him and took him out of that situation.”

Since moving to Coeur d’Alene five years ago, the former educator has acted as a court advocate for abused and neglected children. Teyler said that before she became a volunteer, she didn’t realize how widespread and common child abuse is. The children she has represented in court range from newborns to age 18. The victims come from a broad range of financial backgrounds.

“Basically, it’s a cross-section of kids, it’s a cross-section of neighborhoods,” she said.

Coeur d’Alene Police Chief Wendy Carpenter encouraged people to report suspected child abuse, even if they’re not sure what they’ve seen or heard is abuse.

“We do have the authority to shelter a child,” Carpenter said. “If you see anything involving a child, because they’re so fragile, call us. This is what we do. This is what we get paid to do.”