A 6-year-old Poplar Bluff child was flown to St. Louis in January with skull fractures, a collapsed lung and broken ribs after police say a man living in her home hit and threw the child.
The child is one of the latest victims of abuse and neglect that touched the lives of nearly 130 children in 2017 across seven area counties, according to the Missouri Children's Division.
Child abuse and neglect also led to the deaths of nine children in Butler, Carter, Dunklin, Reynolds, Ripley, Stoddard and Wayne counties in the past five years.
April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, and Great Circle, formerly Ozark Family Resource Agency, is urging the community to go blue to raise awareness.
The Poplar Bluff Kindergarten Center went blue Friday, on the official "Go Blue Day," along with many other businesses already participating the effort.
Great Circle has organized the distribution of blue pinwheels and the sale of blue T-shirts in April to help raise awareness, said program director Michael Turner. There are 1,000 blue pinwheels available in both Ripley and Butler counties for residents to display at their homes and businesses, he said.
Pickup sites include, while supplies last, Poplar Bluff Municipal Library, 318 North Main, or the Poplar Bluff Daily American Republic office, 208 Poplar St.
More than 3,000 children across Butler, Carter, Dunklin, Reynolds, Ripley, Stoddard and Wayne counties were involved in investigations of abuse and neglect in fiscal year 2017, Missouri Children's Division reports.
Nearly 130 children were substantiated cases of abuse and neglect in these counties. For another 168 children, workers found indicators that if left unresolved, they believed could contribute to abuse and neglect.
Children's division also investigated almost 500 additional reports of abuse or neglect that were considered unsubstantiated, and conducted more than 1,200 family assessments.
Great Circle includes a child advocacy center that conducts forensic interviews with children for law enforcement in suspected abuse cases or after a child has witnessed violence. Advocates then work with children and families long-term to provide mental health resources and other support, Turner said.
Nearly 200 forensic interviews are conducted by the agency with area children each year, and about 500 families a month receive ongoing services as they move through the court process for prosecution, or toward recovery.
Damien Jerel Gaylor, 27, is expected to appear in court this week in the case of the 6-year-old girl. He faces the six felony charges of abuse or neglect of a child. These charges also include alleged abuse of the girl's siblings.