Report: New Jersey Agency Stopped Investigating Child Sex Crimes

By Christian Wade | The Center Square contributor, The Center Square New Jersey

February 14, 2023

(The Center Square) – A scathing new report blasts New Jersey's child welfare agency for halting investigations into certain allegations of child sexual abuse, without notifying the public of the changes.

The report stems from a year-long investigation by the New Jersey Comptroller's Office. It says the state Department of Children and Families stopped assigning caseworkers to most cases involving allegations of child sexual abuse by non-caregivers and inappropriate sexual activity between children, including child-on-child sexual assault.

Investigators said they determined that at least 123 children were reported to the state child abuse hotline as having been involved in inappropriate sexual activity. This included child-on-child sexual assaults during a five-month period in 2021, without a case worker being assigned to look into the allegations.

Law enforcement officials told investigators they were aware of at least 30 cases of non-caregiver and child-on-child abuse the agency declined to investigate.

"These findings are troubling," interim state Comptroller Kevin Walsh said in a statement. "DCF made a significant change in its approach, then kept police, prosecutors, and other partners in the dark. The ramifications of DCF’s decisions were serious for children and the system as a whole."

Investigators said during the probe the state agency "repeatedly" told them that there hadn't been any changes to its policies. The agency said most cases involving child-on-child inappropriate sexual activity and child sexual abuse by non-caregivers fell outside of its statutory authority.

But investigators determined both claims were "unsupportable." It pointed to internal documents showing DCF "engineered the change in policy, was aware that law enforcement and others were concerned about the changes, and yet continued to implement the changes" without communicating with other state authorities.

Investigators said DCF has the "statutory authority" to help children and families involved in or harmed by child-on-child inappropriate sexual activity and child sexual abuse by non-caregivers. The investigators said DCF's failure to notify police and the public of the changes conflicts with its administrative policies requiring transparency.

The comptroller's office made several recommendations for DCF. Among them was ensuring that the 123 children who reported child on child sexual abuse were connected with services as well as complying with the state's written policies on addressing child-on-child inappropriate sexual activity and abuse.

"If DCF elects to make changes to those policies, those changes should only be implemented after adequate notice to all stakeholders and time to prepare for such changes," investigators wrote.
In response to the investigation, DCF said it has developed safeguards to address issues that the probe uncovered, but the comptroller's office said it has not reviewed the changes "to determine if they are adequate."

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