The frightening fact one confronts when reporting on a child abuse story is this — how often physical and sexual abuse goes unreported, and therefore is not investigated and is not stopped. That is part of the sad story of child abuse, and it’s why Western North Carolina is, in many ways, lucky.

A few weeks ago state statistics were released which showed that many counties in WNC were among the state leaders in substantiated cases of physical and sexual abuse and child neglect. Those statistics point out that we have a problem here, and it is one that many groups and agencies are trying to combat.

A law enforcement officer who investigates child abuse told us a story, however, that might shed some light on these statistics. An admitted molester who was being questioned about his activities told officers about a child he had molested in one of this state’s large metropolitan areas. It was a first-degree offense that would have put the perpetrator in jail for more than 10 years. The metro police department questioned the victim, who did not admit the abuse. The case was quickly closed by the big-city department, and it was left to officers here in WNC to pursue leads and bring charges for offenses committed here. The perpetrator was convicted on second-degree sex offense charges.

The point is that in many counties in Western North Carolina, investigative teams and organizations like KARE (Kids Advocacy Resource Effort in Haywood), Kids Place (in Macon County) and AWAKE (in Jackson County) spend countless hours pursuing leads, amassing evidence and then helping children and families deal with the after-effects of abuse. As these groups continuously hammer home their message — that abuse won’t be tolerated, that there is help and counseling for victims, that there is a safety net for those in need, and there is protection (and a legal obligation) for those who reveal suspects — the number of substantiated cases will rise.

Another truth, perhaps, is that our law enforcement agencies don’t have the same emphasis as big-city departments. They must deal with violent murders, gang style behavior and large-scale drug problems. That, no doubt, saps their resources.

We are not arguing that WNC doesn’t have a problem with child abuse. Perhaps, though, the high number of substantiated reports is a positive reflection of how hard we investigate these charges.