The Detroit News. The number of confirmed child sexual abuse cases are also down. The problem, however, re-mains a serious one. The number of substantiated sexual abuse cases fell from 149,800 in 1992 to 103,600 in 1998, the latest figures available.
Parents continue to be the main perpetrators.
Almost 90 percent of all victims were maltreated by at least one parent. These reductions, however, don't necessarily mean fewer children are being victimized. Several factors, Finkelhor told the Associated Press, could influence the optimistic numbers. The decline in reported offenses notwithstanding, child abuse has far-reaching consequences. Juvenile arrests for murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault plunged 36 percent from its 1994 peak, according to a report by the Justice Department's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.