美国政府未能保护受虐待儿童

The Associated Press says at least 786 children in the United States have died of abuse and neglect in a six-year span, saying the children died "in plain view of child protection authorities."

AP says it discovered during its eight-month investigation that many of the children were "beaten, starved or left alone to drown while agencies had good reason to know they were in danger."

AP conducted the survey in the 50 U.S. states, plus the District of Columbia and branches of the military. The report says many states "struggled to provide numbers" and that "secrecy often prevailed."

The survey revealed that most of the 768 children known to have died were under the age of four.

The data collection system on child deaths is so flawed, AP said, that no one can say for certain how many children overall die from abuse or neglect every year.

The federal government estimates an average of about 1,650 deaths annually in recent years. The Associated Press reports many believe the actual number is twice as high.

美联社说，在历时八个月的调查中发现，儿童保护机构完全应该了解这些儿童死亡之前的处境危险，他们中的许多人“受到殴打、挨饿或者无人看护溺水身亡”。

美联社在美国的50个州以及哥伦比亚特区和美国军队多个部门做了这项调查。

调查报告显示，已知死亡的768个儿童中，绝大多数年龄在4岁以下。

美联社说，有关儿童死亡的数据收集系统存在缺陷，因此没有人能够确切地说出每年究竟有多少儿童死于虐待或者疏忽。

美国联邦政府估计，近些年平均每年有大约1650名儿童死于虐待和疏忽。美联社报道，许多人认为实际数字是这个数字的两倍。