50 gather at Lee County courthouse to raise child abuse prevention awareness

Over 50 people gathered on the Old Lee County Courthouse lawn in Dixon holding up blue pinwheels, the national symbol for child abuse prevention, at the fourth annual Hands Around the Courthouse on Friday afternoon.

“No child should ever have to experience child abuse, but the reality is, it happens,” Dixon Deputy Police Chief Aaron Simonton said at the event. “We see you, we stand with you and we will not stop fighting for you.”

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Dixon Deputy Police Chief Aaron Simonton speaks to a crowd Friday, April 10, 2026, during a Hands Around the Courthouse event hosted by Shining Star Children’s Advocacy Center to raise awareness of child abuse. (Alex T. Paschal)

The event is held annually in April during Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness Month by Shining Star Children’s Advocacy Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit serving those in Lee and Ogle counties. Simonton was one of four local and state officials who spoke, raising awareness about child abuse and how to prevent it.

Shining Star works with area law enforcement, prosecutors and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services to investigate allegations of child abuse and, particularly, child sex abuse.

“I have seen firsthand the devastating impact child abuse has,” Simonton said. He added that these are difficult cases to work on that stay with the people who do.

“Every child deserves to grow up feeling safe, valued and loved,” Trisha Howard, executive director of CASA of the Illinois 15th Judicial Circuit, said.

CASA of the 15th Judicial Circuit trains volunteers to act as advocates for abused and neglected children in the court system in Carroll, Lee, Ogle, and Stephenson counties. Those volunteers gather information and talk to children and professionals to make recommendations to judges to ensure the best interests of the child are met, Howard said.

CASA is “the eyes and ears for the judge,” Howard said.

State Sen. Li Arellano, R-Dixon, said in April he visited the seven advocacy centers he works with across the 12 counties he represents.

“In the state of Illinois we are not doing enough” to prevent and address child abuse, Arellano said, adding that he was “genuinely shocked” by that when he was first elected as a senator.

“This is an easy thing to overlook in our daily lives,” Arellano said, and urged people to take action and educate themselves.

“It’s not fun to talk about child abuse but it is imperative,” Lee County Associate Judge Matthew Klahn said.

“We can help break the cycle,” Arellano said.

In Illinois there are 40 CACs, including Shining Star, that also provide referrals to mental health services, medical exams, courtroom preparation, victim advocacy and more. At Shining Star, the agency has a full-time counselor who will provide individual counseling, as well as two support groups for teenagers and the child’s parents or caregivers.

One of many services Shining Star provides is conducting forensic interviews with a child whom they suspect has been abused. The interview is designed so the child only has to tell their story once to a forensic interviewer who knows the right questions to ask in a way that does not retraumatize the child. Law enforcement professionals who need to see the interview can watch on a monitor in a separate room, said Jessica Cash, director of Shining Star Children’s Advocacy Center.

Cash noted that all of the center’s services are completely free to the children and their caregivers. It’s entirely funded through federal and state grants, as well as donations and fundraisers.

Shining Star is hosting its first Ogle County Hands Around the City event at noon April 17 outside Rochelle City Hall at 420 N. Sixth St. Like the Dixon event, it will include guest speakers to raise awareness about child abuse.

Cash said there are a lot of places holding fundraisers for Shining Star in April, which is great because that also helps spread the word.

Scale House Lounge at 407 Lincoln Highway in Rochelle is holding a bingo event from 7 to 9 p.m. April 18. In Dixon, Society Boutique at 91 S. Hennepin Ave. will be donating 15% of all in-store and online sales made from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. April 24.

For information, visit shiningstarcac.com or call 815-284-1891.

Suspected child abuse can be reported to the DCFS Hotline at 1-800-25-ABUSE.