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State crimes‑against‑children division reports nearly 17,000 hotline calls in quarter; substantiation rate 37%
Summary
Major Jeff Drew told the Senate Children and Youth Committee the Crimes Against Children Division logged roughly 16,954 hotline calls in the quarter, assigned 1,501 to CACD and 4,869 to DCFS, closed 1,220 of 1,515 cases with 451 substantiated (37%), and submitted 245 cases to prosecutors.
Major Jeff Drew, commander of the Crimes Against Children Division, told the Senate Children and Youth Committee the division handled roughly 16,954 hotline calls in the third quarter and assigned investigations across agencies.
Drew said 1,501 of those calls were assigned to the division while 4,869 were referred to the Department of Children and Family Services and 1,346 received a differential response. Within the quarter the division opened 1,515 cases and closed 1,220; of the closed cases 451 were found “true,” a substantiation rate Drew described as about 37 percent.
Drew also outlined prosecutorial outcomes: 245 cases were submitted to prosecutors, 38 were declined, 53 were filed, and 54 remained pending. He said the division presently has 2,290 active cases, with about 100 open longer than 45 days.
Committee members pressed Drew on troubling allegation patterns and data interpretation. Senator Stubblefield pointed out that one allegation category on the report—pornography/contact/exploitation—showed 362 incidents on a single page, far more than other categories, and asked whether the division planned legislative recommendations. Drew said those complaints are investigated and prosecuted in coordination with law enforcement and that no specific legislative package was being offered at the moment, though the division could analyze options.
Representative Evans asked whether the hotline counts include repeat calls about the same child; Drew said the division maintains monthly reports and can provide breakdowns to show duplicate or out‑of‑state calls. Another member asked why some rural judicial districts submitted substantially more cases to prosecutors than larger urban districts; Drew said prosecutorial practices vary by district and some prosecutors pursue cases more aggressively, which affects submission counts.
The committee did not take formal action on the report. Members asked staff to follow up for more detailed county and duplicative‑call analyses.
The committee proceeded to the next agenda item after members said they would meet with Major Drew off the record for additional information.
