In addition, the study found that the number of children seriously injured nearly quadrupled between 1986 and 1993 from 141,700 to 565,000. Girls were sexually abused about three times more often than boys. There is a disproportionate increase in the incidence of maltreatment for children under 12 years of age.
Children are consistently vulnerable to sexual abuse from age three on.
While the number of children reported to be abused or neglected has increased each year, the number of reports investigated has stayed about the same for each year. Thus, the percentage of allegations of abuse and neglect that were officially investigated decreased from 44 percent in 1986 to 28 percent in 1993. Reports from the States to the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect , U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1996.