Child-assault reporting 'on rise'

Police are dealing with more cases of child assaults, with an improved culture of reporting attributed to the rise.

In a summary of the enforcement of the controversial anti-smacking law, released yesterday, police also revealed a second prosecution for smacking since the law came into effect in June 2007.

The summary showed police attended 367 child-assault events between June 24 and December 22 last year. In the previous six-month review periods the totals were 288, 258 and 279, respectively.

Eleven of the events recorded in the latest review involved smacking and 39 involved minor acts of physical discipline. Twenty-one cases were referred to Child Youth and Family.

The latest case to lead to prosecution involved a victim who had a red welt visible on their backside for three days. The subsequent conviction was resolved with diversion.

Police deputy commissioner Rob Pope said the convicted person blamed stress and frustration for what they admitted might have been excessive force in the circumstances.

Pope said the rise in reported events was good because it gave police a better chance of early intervention.

"The more we get reporting at the lower end, possibly, medium and long-term, we may have an opportunity to prevent quite serious offending in terms of deaths or grievous harms" Pope said.

The anti-smacking legislation was "but an element" contributing to the increase in reporting.

Green MP Sue Bradford, whose private member's bill sparked the anti-smacking law change, said as far as she could tell, the law was being implemented as Parliament intended.

"We aren't seeing thousands of parents being prosecuted for trivial acts of physical discipline," Bradford said.

However, Family First national director Bob McCoskrie said police were still wasting time on smacking and minor acts of physical discipline.

"Where are the urgently needed reports on why our child-abuse death rate sky-rocketed in the past 12 months?" McCoskrie said.

- © Fairfax NZ News