The idea is simple: a child who has been sexually abused should only have to tell their story once. At one of Oklahoma’s 21 Child Advocacy Centers, a child is brought into a specially designed, child-focused room instead of a police station. A trained forensic interviewer asks carefully stru ctured questions, allowing the child to describe what happened in their own words. “The goal is to gather accurate information while minimizing additional trauma,” said Kylie Turner, executive director at Abbott House in Norman, which serves Cleveland, McClain and Garvin counties. Children are brought to the center only after law enforcement or the Department of Human Services has initiated a case. Best practices limit how much a child is asked before a forensic interview takes place, ensuring that the most critical information is collected in a structured, legally sound way. The interview then becomes a cornerstone of any resulting prosecution. But providers across Oklahoma say that system is under growing strain. Child Advocacy Centers, often referred to as CACs, are seeing more cases of sexual abuse, driven by both increased reporting and a rise in incidents, particularly those involving online contact, and are struggling to keep pace even as funding has increased in recent years. State support for CACs and multidisciplinary teams was more than doubled by the Legislature in 2023, rising from about $2.6 million to $5.8 million effective in 2024, according to the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Oklahoma. The increase allowed centers to expand staff and services, but providers said growing caseloads and more complex investigations continue to strain available resources. Data from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation show 12,080 reported incidents of child sexual abuse between 2021 and 2025, an average of 2,416 cases per year. In raw numbers, the state’s most populous counties – Oklahoma, Tulsa, and Cleveland – reported the highest totals. But when adjusted for population, a different pattern emerges. Smaller counties consistently report higher incident rates per capita than urban areas. Greer County, for example, recorded a five-year rate of 658 incidents per 100,000 residents. Kay County approached 600 per 100,000, while Garfield County exceeded 500. Grant, Blaine, and Washington counties also rank among the highest. By comparison, the state’s largest counties report significantly lower per capita incident rates. Oklahoma County recorded 419 incidents per 100,000 residents over the same five-year period, while Tulsa County reported 391 and Cleveland County 82. The pattern suggests demand for investigation and support services extends far beyond the areas where those services, and the resources for police and prosecutors, are most readily available. Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler, a prosecutor for nearly four decades, said Oklahoma was an early adopter of CACs and multidisciplinary teams for the investigation of child sexual abuse cases. The CAC in his county, he said, was one of the first in Oklahoma and served as a model for others. “The less the child has to talk initially to a number of people, and the more specially trained you can have people who are going to talk with these victims, the better it is,” he said. But the system built decades ago is now facing significantly higher demand. His jurisdiction used to see about 50 cases a month. Now it sees about 50 a week. “So just think about that. From every aspect of the case, the volume is large,” he said. In Canadian County, Joanne Riley, director at CART House, said her CAC conducted 351 forensic interviews last year. That’s a 30% increase over the year before. “We are a staff of three, so we are pretty stretched,” she said.  In Ponca City, Dearing House has also seen a steady rise. Executive Director Mark Bean said his CAC has seen about a 10% rise in caseloads. Part of the increase reflects a system that is identifying more cases than it once did. Oklahoma’s CACs and its multidisciplinary teams – teams that bring together representatives from police, prosecutors, medical providers, mental health professionals, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, and the CACs – are designed to coordinate investigations, making it more likely that cases are documented and pursued. “We’re tracking nationally that child abuse cases just keep increasing year after year,” said Carrie Little, executive director of Child Advocacy Centers of Oklahoma. Reporting fluctuated during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, she said. “We saw a big jump during COVID, right when kids started going back to schools and disclosures started coming into law enforcement and DHS more steady,” Little said. “They dropped for a while when kids weren’t in spaces where folks could keep an eye on them.” But better reporting and post-pandemic fluctuations don’t completely account for the rising number of cases and the expanding complexity of those cases. Researchers pointed to technological and generational shifts as key drivers. The expansion of internet access and social media has given offenders new ways to contact children anonymously and at scale, often across jurisdictional boundaries. At the same time, those who have grown up with smartphones and constant online access report significantly higher exposure to unwanted sexual advances than older generations. That shift is also changing how cases are investigated, said Assistant District Attorney Debra Vincent, who prosecutes cases in Payne and Logan counties. “The proliferation of access to digital resources has changed the way investigations are conducted,” Vincent said. Because many cases now involve long-distance contact over the internet and multiple victims, cases require more time, specialized expertise and more coordination across agencies. The result is a system experiencing pressure from multiple directions. More cases are entering the pipeline and investigations are more complex, while the capacity remains limited. Oklahoma law requires a coordinated, multidisciplinary response to cases in every prosecutorial district. Under statute, district attorneys must establish a multidisciplinary team either county-by-county or across a cluster of counties. The teams jointly investigate and review the cases brought before them. Vincent said that, after charges are filed, team members remain involved as witnesses and advocates for child witnesses during the court process. The goal is to reduce duplication and improve communication, as well as limit the number of times a child must recount traumatic experiences. Investigations are supposed to be guided by formal protocols designed to ensure that interviews are legally sound and developmentally appropriate. Those teams are also expected to identify gaps in services, share data, and continuously improve how cases are handled. In theory, the multidisciplinary team model creates a seamless system with one investigation, one coordinated response, and a network of professionals working from the same playbook. Funding for both the teams and the CACs flows through a dedicated state account, with dollars distributed across counties, hospitals, and advocacy centers according to a formula that heavily weights urban areas. Larger, accredited centers receive disproportionately greater funding, reflecting both higher caseloads and the cost of maintaining national standards. In most of Oklahoma, that work is anchored by an accredited CAC, but they don’t exist in every corner of the state. “In many of these cases, the child’s statement is the case,” said Angela Marsee, district attorney for Beckham, Custer, Ellis, Roger Mills and Washita counties. “So how that statement is obtained – carefully, professionally, and in a way that will stand up in court – matters tremendously.” Marsee’s district doesn’t have a nationally accredited CAC, but has what is called a developing CAC in Weatherford. The district has two multidisciplinary teams, one based in Custer and Washita counties and the other serving Beckham and Roger Mills counties. The team near Weatherford uses the new CAC there, and the team where there is no CAC has what Marsee called a soft room for interviews. Ellis County isn’t directly covered by either team, but Marsee said it could be staffed by the team from Beckham and Roger Mills counties. As for a forensic interviewer, there’s a way to arrange for that, too. “They’ve got a mobile unit that will travel and do forensic interviews,” Marsee said. But the law also includes a critical qualifier; those expectations apply “to the extent that resources are available.” In some parts of the state, that qualifier has real consequences. Ellis County Sheriff Shane Booth said the nearest CAC is nearly two hours away. “Transportation barriers, staffing shortages and long travel times can slow investigations,” Booth said. When access to a CAC is limited, the system adapts. Even in areas with established centers, geography still matters. “There are counties that operate ‘freestanding’ multidisciplinary teams without a local Child Advocacy Center,” said District Attorney Tommy Humphries, who handles cases in Blaine, Canadian, Garfield, Grant and Kingfisher counties, noting that victims in those areas may need to travel to another county for interviews. District Attorney Tommy Humphries, who handles cases in Blaine, Canadian, Garfield, Grant and Kingfisher counties, pauses for a photo at the Canadian County Courthouse on April 7, 2026. (Brent Fuchs/Oklahoma Watch) As cases move into the legal system, a different set of challenges emerges. Unlike many other crimes, child sexual abuse cases often rely heavily on a child’s disclosure and physical evidence can be limited. “Just making sure that we can meet our burden of proof with the evidence provided,” Humphries said. “We know we’ve got to go try those and prove them beyond a reasonable doubt.” That can be a difficult burden to meet, Kunzweiler said. “Do I even have a live witness who’s willing and capable of testifying?” he said. Even when cases can proceed, delays can create additional harm. “There’s a bit of re-traumatization with delay,” Humphries said. For families, the most difficult part of the process often comes after a case is identified. In Norman, Detective Megan Kieft said delays in accessing trauma-specific therapy are common, with families sometimes waiting weeks or months for therapy. “Not all families can outsource and pay for therapy,” Kieft said. “This delay in therapy is often extremely hard on the families, and they don’t know what to do or how to help their child while waiting for help and guidance from the professionals.” ““The amount of child sexual abuse cases because of the rise in social media and access to it is astonishing — shocking.”Suzanne Schreiber While the system brings together people from different agencies, each depends on a different funding source. The multidisciplinary teams are not funded as a single system, instead relying on a mix of state appropriations, federal grants and, in some cases, private funding. “It’s not one clean funding stream,” said Rep. Tim Turner, R-Kinta, vice chair of the House Public Safety Appropriations Subcommittee. “Some federal funds, some state funds, some private — it just depends on where those funds are coming from at that time.”  That complexity can make it difficult to assess whether resources are keeping pace with demand or where additional funding should be directed. “It’s kind of hodgepodge together across different agencies,” said Rep. Ross Ford, R-Tulsa, who chairs the House Public Safety Appropriations Subcommittee.  Even within the Legislature, lawmakers say the system’s structure is not always clear. “I assume there’s potentially money from the attorney general’s office, maybe from the Department of Human Services, probably federal grants,” said Rep. Suzanne Schreiber, D-Tulsa. “It’s probably multi-agency participation.”  At the same time, demand for services appears to be increasing. “The amount of child sexual abuse cases because of the rise in social media and access to it is astonishing — shocking,” Schreiber said.  Additional funding may be limited in the near term. “With the budget agreement that was announced, most of the funding is kept at the same level,” said Rep. Daniel Pae, R-Lawton, who chairs the House Human Services appropriations subcommittee.  Some lawmakers say the issue has yet to fully register within the state’s budget process. “The issue around forensic investigatory teams has not risen to the legislative level,” Schreiber said.  Others say the problem may be deeper than funding alone. “I’m not at all surprised to hear that the funding is not keeping up with the need,” said Rep. Michelle McCane, D-Tulsa. “I think it’s something that probably has been underfunded for quite a while.”  One proposal moving through the Legislature would restructure the system itself. Legislation by Sen. Paul Rosino, R-Oklahoma City, would consolidate multiple child welfare agencies into a new Department of Child Safety and Well-being to improve coordination. But the measure is not expected to increase overall funding, instead reorganizing existing resources, leaving open questions about whether structural changes alone can address growing demand. For now, the system continues to rely on a model built for coordination, not scale. As more cases are identified and investigated, the same network of forensic interviewers, advocates, prosecutors and therapists is being asked to handle a growing and increasingly complex workload. In some parts of the state, that pressure is visible in delays and travel distances. In others, it appears in staffing shortages and limited access to services. The result is a system that remains functional, but increasingly strained — one that can respond to cases as they arise, but may struggle to keep pace with the reality it is being asked to confront. Stephen Martin is an Oklahoma City-based journalist and contributor to Oklahoma Watch. Contact him at [email protected]. The post From 50 Cases Per Month to 50 Per Week: Oklahoma’s System for Child Sex Abuse Is Being Overwhelmed appeared first on Oklahoma Watch. ...read more read less