Office of the Attorney General
Attorney General Conway Announces Availability of Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Grant

Attorney General Jack Conway today announced the availability of the Child Victims' Trust Fund's (CVTF) Regional Prevention Grant, which provides funding for regional sexual abuse prevention programs and projects to educate citizens about this horrendous crime.

"The consequences of child sexual abuse are significant and can last a lifetime," said General Conway, who chairs the Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Prevention Board. "This grant helps ensure that citizens across the Commonwealth know how to protect our children and that our children are armed with knowledge to combat sexual abuse."

Nationally, rates regarding child victims of rape or sexual assault range from 1.2 to 1.9 children per 1,000. There were 3,166 investigations of child sexual abuse in Kentucky in 2010, according to statistics from Kentucky Youth Advocates' Kids Count report. Approximately one-third of all sexual assaults reported to law enforcement involved a victim under the age of 12 and it's estimated that only one in 10 victims of sexual abuse ever discloses the abuse. There is also strong evidence that this horrific crime is directly tied to the growth of pornography on the Internet.

"My investigators work every day to make the Internet a safer place for Kentucky kids," General Conway said. "Since its creation in 2008, my Cybercrimes Unit has launched more than 250 child porn investigations and seized more than 300,000 child pornographic images and videos from the Internet."

Revenue for the prevention grant comes from proceeds of the "I Care About Kids" special license plate, the Kentucky Income Tax Refund Check-Off and private donations.

The registration deadline for the child sexual abuse prevention grant is Monday, April 2, 2012. For additional information or a grant application form, go to http://ag.ky.gov/cvtf or call (800) 372-2551 or (502) 696-5312.