Maine saw a 26 percent increase in the number of reports of child abuse or neglect last year.

An annual report released this month by the Department of Health and Human Services showed more than 24 thousand referrals were made in 2018, up from about 19,500 in 2017. The number of referrals is by far the most since at least 2003, according to the Portland Press Herald.

Officials say the increase in reports is not unexpected following the high-profile deaths of four-year-old Kendall Chick and ten-year-old Marissa Kennedy.