Study Finds Military Children’s Killings Up

Murders of children in U.S. military families in North Carolina were more than double the state average over a 15-year period, according to a study released Thursday.

The report by the North Carolina Child Advocacy Institute, financed by the U.S. Department of Justice, examined 378 murders of children 10 and younger from 1985 to 2000.

It found that the average child homicide rate for the state as a whole was 2.2 deaths per 100,000 children.

But in Cumberland County, home to the major military bases of Ft. Bragg and Pope Air Force Base, the annual homicide rate for children of military families averaged 5 per 100,000. Onslow County, which contains Camp Lejeune and New River Air Station, recorded an annual average murder rate of 4.9 per 100,000.

Family advocacy groups fear the Iraq war may lead to an increase in spousal and child abuse.

“We have seen an escalation of domestic violence and child abuse both before and after past military deployments reflected in the Defense Department’s own data. We are concerned we’ll see an even bigger spike as people return from Iraq,” said Christine Hansen of the Miles Foundation, a private, nonprofit organization providing services to victims of military family abuse.

The North Carolina researchers compiled the data from county medical examiner records.

The Pentagon said it could not verify the figures because they were compiled from civilian rather than military records. The Defense Department only had records of 26 child homicides for the years of the study. But it applauded the group for compiling the report.

“We have a broad range of outreach programs dealing with domestic abuse and we are trying very hard to identify military families in crisis and to intervene before violence occurs,” said Lt. Col. Joe Richard, a department spokesman.

“Now that we are on a war footing, with military personnel coming home from long, dangerous deployments, we have stepped up our initiatives to prevent child abuse,” he said.