Child abuse numbers down, but severity increases

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File photo. David Obiezuoha, right, blows on a pinwheel before placing it. (Photo: J.D. Pooley/Sentinel-Tribune)

The field of spinning pinwheels - each one representing a case of child abuse or neglect inspected in Wood County last year - will be a bit smaller this year.
But the lower number shouldn't be misread as a reason for relief.
When it stops raining, preschool children at First United Methodist Church in Bowling Green will plant 782 pinwheels in the ground in front of the East Wooster Street church. The blue and silver pinwheels are annual reminder of the number of abused and neglected children in the county. This year's number is 28 less than last year's 810 pinwheels.
"We're down slightly, but we had a lot more severe cases," explained Sandi Carsey, supervisor of Wood County Children's Services.
Last year, two children in the Bowling Green area died of their injuries, Carsey said. And in several of the investigations of abuse and neglect last year, the parents were found to be using heroin and opiates.