DA Cacace Inaugurates Pinwheel Garden for Victims of Child Abuse

The initiative aims to raise awareness about the prevalence of child abuse and its attendant harms

April 1, 2026

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. – Westchester County District Attorney Susan Cacace announced today the inauguration of a pinwheel garden at the Westchester County courthouse to raise awareness about child abuse, in commemoration of National Child Abuse Prevention Month.

According to the National Children's Alliance, 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 13 boys experience sexual abuse during their childhoods. In 2021, 1,820 children in the U.S. died of abuse or neglect, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Every Monday in April, members of DA Cacace’s staff will sell pinwheels in the lobby of the courthouse from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at $5 per pinwheel, with the aim of selling at least 407 pinwheels by the end of the month, representing the number of child abuse cases the office prosecuted in 2025.

The proceeds will be donated to the Sharing Shelf of Port Chester, which provides clothes, backpacks and other necessities to low-income children in the community.

DA Cacace said: “The common observation that children are resilient overlooks the deep scars left behind by child abuse, scars that often last for the rest of their lives. Child abuse extracts a toll from its victims over extended periods of time, affecting a child’s growth, cognitive development and behavioral characteristics well into adulthood. That’s why it is imperative to detect and intervene in child abuse cases at the earliest possible moment, to allow child victims to restore the sense of normalcy that had been robbed from them.

“My office works 24/7 to combat the scourge of child abuse and to bring abusers to justice. In 2025, our team reviewed and investigated 6,246 reports from Child Protective Services and scheduled 151 forensic interviews at our Child Advocacy Center, which was re-accredited as a Tier 1 facility in October. We also launched a new era of cooperation with our school districts, encouraging better communication between law enforcement and mandated reporters. We will never stop in our pursuit of keeping the children of Westchester safe from harm."

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