by G.K. Dickey

Created on: April 15, 2008

Whirling briskly in a springtime breeze, 370 pinwheels placed on the courthouse lawn in April represent the number of child abuse cases reported in Elko County, Nevada, during 2007. This startling number only punctuates the trauma still reverberating in this remote community in the wake of three child murder trials in the past two years. While the tendency is to point the finger abroad to cast blame on others for dastardly human rights violations, these realities in this small-town-USA hamlet cry out for serious introspection as to how this country treats its children.

Three hundred and seventy child abuse investigations were recorded in one year's time, which is roughly one case a day in a county of 50,000 people. Most live in the city of Elko, with a population of 18,500, and nearby Spring Creek, with an estimated 12,500 residents. Ranked several years ago as "America's No. 1 Small Town," Elko's powers-that-be would be hard-pressed to accept such recognition today in light of this appalling record.

Getting a firm handle on such statistics nationwide is difficult, which makes Elko County's numbers so enlightening. It is probable this high-desert, mostly rural community in northeastern Nevada could be viewed as a microcosm for many locales across the country - without, hopefully, mirroring the worst of the county's child-abuse profile:

Take the case of 7-month-old Monica Uribe, who was starved to death by her parents despite the fact there was a closet-full of baby formula in the house. Salvana Maria Fernandez and Florencio Carlos Uribe were both found guilty in separate trials. Though they were tried for murder, they were found guilty of child abuse resulting in substantial bodily harm.

A few months later, "Little Ricky" Ortega, 3, was brutally beaten while under the care of a babysitter who had put the child to bed and fell asleep herself. Apparently the child wandered out the back door of the house in search of his mother, who used to live in a small outbuilding in the backyard. The mother was not there, but the daughter of the babysitter was. A few hours later, "Little Ricky" was found back on his bed, his body badly bloodied and non-responsive. He died late that afternoon after being air-lifted to Salt Lake City's Children's Hospital. The daughter of the babysitter, Melissa Eidson, 21 at the time, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to one to four years in prison.

Then, several weeks later, 6-year-old Kyle Hunt was killed by salt

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>