SPRINGFIELD – The third annual Hands Around the Courthouse event will be held on Friday at Noon on the lawn of the Old Lee County Courthouse in Dixon. The event offers an opportunity for community members to show support for child abuse prevention. This year’s speakers include Lee County Assistant Prosecutor Bridget Schott, who handles juvenile abuse and neglect cases, and Dr. Aram Perry, Deputy Director of Child Protection at the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.
Jessica Cash, Executive Director of Shining Star Children’s Advocacy Center in Dixon, said abuse doesn’t discriminate.
“Child abuse happens in every town, every county, every sex, gender, social economic status, it’s everywhere.
No population is immune to child abuse,” she said. “The bigger cases you hear about, the child deaths, things like that, but the abuse is definitely happening.”
April is designated as Child Abuse Prevention Month.
