Police Keep Abusing Children. How Can This Stop?

do not cross tape
Zain Murdock
July 24, 2024

In 2007, 14-year-old Alexandria Quinn met 32-year-old Levy Kelly Jr, a police officer in Tuskegee, Alabama. For the next two years, Kelly would sexually abuse her. Quinn documented it in her diaries: “You had took something From me I could never get back [sic].” In 2012, Kelly was charged with raping another teenage girl. And more than ten years went by without any consequences.

Between 2005 and 2022, at least 1,800 police officers were charged with child sexual assault, according to a recent Washington Post report. Of those convicted, 40% were not sentenced to prison. Why not?

The blue wall of silence means cops, prosecutors, and judges can manipulate investigations and their results. And increasing surveillance of these officers is a lackluster solution. How can we center victims of sexual abuse? For children especially, the system compounds the fear, embarrassment, and attachment to abusers they experience.

Seventy percent of survivors don’t report their assaults. And when only 30% of reports actually lead to arrest, and 2.4% to incarceration, why would a victim of a police officer feel empowered or protected by the system? How many abuse survivors are incarcerated?

When the criminal legal system frequently harbors sexual abuse and re-traumatizes survivors, it isn’t worthy of survivors. When survivors consistently choose remaining silent over reporting to the system, there is something foundationally wrong. The current system doesn’t prevent abuse or keep survivors safe. It’s worth asking: What can?

We have a quick favor to ask:

PushBlack is a nonprofit dedicated to raising up Black voices. We are a small team but we have an outsized impact:

  • We reach tens of millions of people with our BLACK NEWS & HISTORY STORIES every year.
  • We fight for CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM to protect our community.
  • We run VOTING CAMPAIGNS that reach over 10 million African-Americans across the country.

And as a nonprofit, we rely on small donations from subscribers like you.

With as little as $5 a month, you can help PushBlack raise up Black voices. It only takes a minute, so will you please ?

Share This Article: