Communities Against Predators

Press Release

September 12, 2008

The Bellevue Safe Child town hall will be held on September 18 at Highland Middle School on Belle-Red Road, from 7-830pm. Children are welcome!  Topics include Preventing Crimes against Children, Real Risks for Families living on the East Side, and Responding to Violence against your Child or Family.

Here in Washington, and especially on the Eastside, we’re very lucky to have low crime rates in most types of crime – but crimes against children are as high as anywhere else in the country: 33% of girls, and 20% of boys will experience sexual violence as minors. The consequences of that violence are overwhelming for the child, and long lasting for the family and community. Were these statistics to be applied to say, Polio, how would the community react?

This Safe Child town hall has tremendous participation from local organizations, including Legislative District 48, the Bellevue PTSA, the Bellevue Police Department, King County Sexual Assault Resource Center, Bellevue Parks, and Lake Washington School District PTSA.

Speaker List = Detective Chiu from Bellevue PD, Terry Smith from Bellevue Parks, and Mary Ellen Stone from King County Sexual Assault Resource Center. The speakers, as well as Representatives from Legislative District 48 and other organizations, will also be available for Q&A.

The Safe Child Project includes articulation of the rights of the child, security education as part of mainstream parenting, and security training for children from 3-18. This Project was inspired by the regular and inspirational crime prevention effort made across the country each May 25, on National Missing Children’s Day.

The goal of the Safe Child Project is to drastically reduce the number of children abused and exploited in Washington and other participating states, and to create a lasting pattern of child and parent empowerment. Wash-CAP is using tools that include town halls such as the Bellevue Town Hall, an advisory panel, targeted legislation, and materials from the Take 25 program from NCMEC.

Every child deserves to feel safe, and every care-giver needs the tools to create a barrier between their children and crime.

August 14, 2008

For Immediate Release: The City of Tacoma is the site of the first Safe Child Town Hall, located at Lincoln High School’s auditorium, is Wednesday, August 20th, at 6:00 pm.

This town hall series is designed to empower communities, parents, and children; to help define and confront real risk head-on, in order to reduce crimes against children and tragedies in our communities. The Safe Child Town Hall series is part of Washington Communities Against Predator’s [Wash-CAP] Safe Child Project, in observance of National Missing Children’s Day.

As many of the media know, 67% of all reported Sexual Assaults are committed upon minors: 33% are below 12 years of age. It is the goal of the Safe Child Project to reduce those numbers.   We hope for community members from across Tacoma to attend.

Parents, care-givers, concerned adults and teenagers all benefit from learning –proactively- how to safeguard the children within their communities. With knowledge and empowerment, children can be kept safe and secure.

Tacoma Safe Child Town Hall topics will include:

• preventative safety for child and family,
·
• resources available if your child has been assaulted, ·
• real statistics on who is a threat to your child and community,
• internet safety ·
• what is being done to increase the safety of Tacoma’s families & children, and
• what has been learned in the last year since the tragic loss of Zinna Linnick, ·
• what kind of oversight Registered Sex Offenders receive, ·
• Panel Q&A

Please – Attend if you can. Children are welcome. Printed materials will be available from participating organizations, including the Take 25 program from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children [NCMEC].

May 20, 2008

For Immediate Release:

[Press Release from the Attorney General's Office]

Attorney General provides “Tip of the Day” for days leading up to Missing Children’s Day

Joins coalition supporting “Safe Child Week”

OLYMPIA - Attorney General Rob McKenna today joined Washington’s Communities Against Predators in sharing tips for parents to improve child safety and prevent child abductions. The Attorney General’s Office is working with Communities Against Predators as part of a national effort called Safe Child Week--a week-long event May 19 through 25 to educate children and caregivers about preventing abductions.

“As parents, one of our worst fears is having a child go missing, but there are some basic precautions we can all take to help keep our kids safe,” McKenna said. “I hope all parents and caregivers take a few minutes to review these life-saving tips.”

McKenna reminded parents that as sex predators have become increasingly more sophisticated, the “Stranger Danger” message is no longer the most effective way to protect children. More and more frequently, predators groom families and children in order to gain their trust before committing their crimes.

In 2006, the Attorney General’s Office released its national Child Abduction Murder Study, an expert review of nearly 800 child abduction murders and the factors surrounding them. The study found that in 44 percent of cases, the victims and killers were strangers. But in 42 percent of the cases, the victims and killers were friends or acquaintances.

McKenna today provided a “Tip of the Day” for the five days of Safe Child Week, leading up to Missing Children’s Day on May 25.

·       Choose babysitters with care. Obtain references from family, friends and neighbors. Once you have chosen the caregiver, drop in unexpectedly to see how your children are doing. Ask children how the experience with the caregiver was and listen carefully to their responses” (Audio- 15 seconds)

·       Remind your children it’s OK to say no to anything that makes them feel scared, uncomfortable or confused and teach your children to tell you if anything or anyone makes them feel this way.  (Audio-11 seconds)

·       Remind your children not to walk or play alone outside. (Audio- 4 seconds)

·       Teach your children to never approach a vehicle, occupied or not, unless they know the owner AND are accompanied by a parent, guardian, or other trusted adult. (Audio-11 seconds)

·       Practice ‘what if’ situations and ask your children how they would respond. ‘What if you fell off your bike and you needed help? Who would you ask?’ (Audio-10 seconds)

More tips are available at www.take25.org

In 2006, the Attorney General’s Office worked with victim advocates, law enforcement and prosecutors to draft a comprehensive package of bills to protect children from sex predators. All were passed by the legislature (PDF).

One of the new laws established the crime of Criminal Trespass Against a Child (PDF). It was the first law in the nation to give employees at facilities where children congregate the authority to order out certain registered sex offenders. Offenders who refuse to obey such orders can be charged with an unranked Class C felony punishable by a maximum one year in prison.

Every year in America, an estimated 800,000 children are reported missing, more than 2,000 children each day. An analysis of attempted abduction cases by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children found that in 88 percent of the cases, the child escaped would-be abductors through their own actions.  Forty-one percent actively resisted (yelling, kicking, pulling away, running away or attracting attention) while 47 percent recognized something was not right and responded by walking or running away.