Child abuse reports are up in Utah

The most commonly charged form of abuse against Salt Lake County kids is violence against other family members while the children are watching.

Driving the news: Nearly 1,900 people were charged with domestic violence in front of a child last year in Salt Lake County, according to statistics released Monday by District Attorney Sim Gill.

• More than 500 people have been charged with the same crime so far in 2023.

By the numbers: To compare, there were about 300 people charged last year with sexually abusing children and 179 charged with other types of physical child abuse.

• So far this year, the DA's office has charged 92 people with child sex abuse — from lewdness to rape — and 21 with other physical child abuse, such as assault, abandonment and reckless endangerment.

What we're watching: The number of child abuse victims jumped in 2020, from 2,450 to 2,857, according to state child protection reports — and the numbers aren't going down as fast as they rose.

• Meanwhile, there were 1,595 new investigations launched during the first quarter of this year — up from the 1,460 new investigations launched as of April 1 last year.