INDIANAPOLIS — The state of Indiana is now tracking how often prosecutors file criminal charges when a child dies from abuse and neglect.
The Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS) released new data in a report to the Interim Study Committee on Child Services on Thursday.
DCS revealed that, in 2023, county prosecutors did not file criminal charges in 38% of child abuse and neglect deaths.
In 25% of child abuse and neglect deaths, prosecutors filed charges, but the cases are still pending.
Prosecutors filed charges, and the perpetrators were convicted in 29% of 2023 child abuse and neglect deaths.
Alleged perpetrators died by suicide in 9% of cases reviewed by DCS for 2023.
2023 Child Abuse and Neglect Deaths
- 38% No Criminal Charges Filed
- 25% Charges Filed/Case Pending
- 29% Charges Filed/Perpetrator(s) Convicted
- 9% Alleged Perpetrator Died by Suicide
The report does not contain any names or personally identifiable information about the child abuse and neglect deaths.
A mother and her boyfriend were charged and convicted in the 2023 death of Oaklee Snow, age 3.
Harmony Gist, DCS Deputy Director of Strategic Solutions and Agency Transformation, emphasized that prosecutors have a higher burden of proof and have to prove their cases beyond a reasonable doubt.
"I think we see much more clear situations when it is abuse,” Gist told lawmakers. “When it gets to neglect, it’s very gray. It gets very difficult to prove things and add the evidence up where local prosecutors feel they have enough and can move forward."
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DCS uses the “preponderance of the evidence” standard, which means the evidence shows there is a greater than 50% chance that the perpetrator is responsible for abuse or neglect.
Gist said police and prosecutors also look at whether there are other children in the home.
“If we have intervened and protected the other children, and we’re working with the family regularly and engaging them in services, sometimes that plays a factor with law enforcement and prosecutors, whether they’re going to move forward or not,” said Gist.
DCS is evaluating its leadership as well to better work with police and prosecutors on abuse and neglect cases.
“I think we see a stronger alignment with whether charges are followed through when you have a very strong local leader working with law enforcement and your prosecutor's office,” said Gist. “I have a couple examples in my head where I know our leadership is struggling and we are actually looking for new leadership, and those are the hot spots where we see a very big disconnect between what happened in the home on a fatality and no charges being filed.”
DCS also revealed Thursday that none of the 56 deaths in 2023 had a “screened-out” report involving similar allegations with the same perpetrator and/or victim.
Child abuse and neglect intake reports that are not assigned for assessment are referred to as “screen-outs.” DCS Hotline Supervisors must review and approve all screen-outs.
DCS is currently working on compiling criminal charge data for 2024 child abuse and neglect deaths, Gist told lawmakers.
As WRTV Investigates reported in May 2025, we obtained this internal memo from DCS Director Adam Krupp to staff.
The memo said DCS will start including the following information about child deaths in its annual reports:
- data summarizing the number of prosecutions filed and/or pending related to the fatalities
- calls previously screened out regarding the same child, perpetrator, and allegation type
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A bill that would have forced the state to reveal more about child abuse and neglect deaths failed to advance this past legislative session.
Currently, the Indiana Department of Child Services puts out an annual child fatality report, but there’s a significant lag time.
For example, DCS released the 2023 report in January 2025, which revealed that 56 children died from abuse and neglect.
House Bill 1152 would have required DCS to disclose whether it received calls to the state hotline before a child’s death.
Rep. Ryan Lauer, R-Columbus, authored HB1152, which also would have required DCS to provide a public summary report within 90 days of completing the report for cases involving a child fatality or near fatality.
"I think the public has the right to know,” said Lauer. “If the state makes mistakes, the people should know. That leads to a clue or protecting a child who is being abused before the fatality happens."
The Indiana House passed the bill, but it failed to get a hearing in the Senate, which killed the bill.
“We need more awareness, better timeliness so that our communities know when these tragedies occur, not a year and a half later,” said Lauer.
WRTV Investigates typically learns about child abuse and neglect cases when a family member contacts us or we discover them in court documents.
However, because not all child abuse and neglect deaths result in criminal charges, WRTV doesn’t learn of every case.
DCS investigations and findings are not public record.
Several other pieces of legislation moved forward this session. The Governor signed the following bills on May 1:
- House Bill 1605 aims to decrease the amount of time children spend in foster care
- House Bill 1412 requires law enforcement to investigate failure to report allegations involving a volunteer or staff member at a school, daycare, gym, hospital or another institution
- House Bill 1273 creates a child welfare task force to study and report on the issues
