Northern Kentucky

Gallatin County, Kentucky prosecutors say a state Cabinet for Health and Family Services worker sent two girls, ages 6 and 8, back home despite witnessing suspected abuse injuries — including neck bruising that had reportedly been covered with makeup — after school officials reported the abuse and called law enforcement. County Attorney Grant Axon alleges the worker ordered the girls home over school officials' objections, and that the children were abused again in the roughly 30-minute window before deputies arrived. The girls later underwent forensic interviews at Cincinnati Children's Hospital; two people have since been charged.

The Cabinet, citing Kentucky confidentiality law (KRS 620.050), declined to directly address the allegation but said it treats abuse reports with the "highest level of seriousness." Advocates note the case emerges amid rising demand: Kentucky logged over 83,000 CPS intakes and nearly 8,800 substantiated abuse findings statewide in the past year, with thousands more in the Northern Kentucky region alone, underscoring strain on child-protection systems.