WSET.com - ABC13Study: Child Abuse Is Greater Threat Than SIDS

Reporter: Rachel Schaerr | Videographer: Ira Quillen

Lynchburg, VA - Child abuse in the U.S. is a bigger threat to our children than Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, and most abuse victims are less than a year old, according to a new study.

According to the new study published in the Journal Pediatrics, 58 out of every 100,000 babies are hospitalized for physical abuse. That's slightly higher than the rate of infants affected by SIDS.

It's a risk Joleen Thaxton knows all too well. She says on January 28, 2010, a daycare provider nearly shook her baby to death.

"The day I dropped my daughter off, I had a bad feeling," Thaxton remembered. "I just looked at her and I knew something wasn't right and I didn't follow my instincts."

Later that day, she got a phone call from her babysitter that one year-old Juliana wasn't breathing.

"She wasn't moving. Her eyes were open, but she couldn't see me. Her hands were moving up and down and she was foaming at the mouth," Thaxton recalled after seeing her daughter.

Juliana spent several days in a coma for head trauma. Doctors later told her it was a severe case of child abuse, and Juliana's life changed forever. 

"She can no longer walk or talk. She's blind. She eats from a feeding tube. But she's amazing," said Thaxton.

The new study by Yale University found nearly 4,600 children in the U.S. were hospitalized with broken bones, traumatic brain injuries, or other serious damage caused by physical abuse in 2006. Victims tended to be less than a year old were six times more likely to be from a poor family and almost always were abused by their own parent.

Lauren Radzille, a victim's advocate for Lynchburg's YWCA, isn't surprised with the new study. She says since the financial crisis of 2007, hospitals have seen a huge increase in traumatic brain injuries.

"Especially with parents that are unemployed," Radzille explains. "It's two times more likely for their children to be abused in those homes."

Thaxton is urging other parents to look for the red flags before it's too late.

"Get educated, know the signs and symptoms, and follow your gut," she said.