Corrections Community

Crisis in the Community: Understanding and Responding to the Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children.............SEPTEMBER 11, 2009 IN ATLANTA
TO REGISTER: http://www.mentalhealthgeorgia.com/HTML/WORKSHOP/workshop2.html With vision and action, The Attachment and Bonding Center of Atlanta continues its focus on providing mental health and emotional well-being through personal and professional development. As a result of our vision, our ABC University will host a one day themed Crisis in the Community: Understanding and Responding to the Sexual Abuse and [Commercial Sexual] Exploitation of Children and we are distinctly honored to extend to you an invitation to this event. At this September 11th event, participants will gain from national experts Dr. Sharon W. Cooper, M.D. and Detective Cathy De La Paz:
· a greater understanding of child sexual abuse including the commercial sexual exploitation of children and how our community can most effectively respond to this growing issue.
· a detail of the different aspects of child sexual exploitation and trafficking, including children victimized through pornography, prostitution, cyber-enticement, sex tourism, and human trafficking.
· information regarding the scope of the problem of child commercial sexual exploitation, its dynamics, characteristics and profile of the victim and the offender, as well as the pathway to victimization and recruitment techniques.
· knowledge of how investigative interventions of child commercial sexual exploitation cases differentiate from traditional child sexual abuse investigations, how to identify investigative challenges/issues related to these cases, and how to overcome these challenges through non-traditional proactive investigative techniques. Case examples will be utilized to illustrate where mistakes have been made and what successful investigative techniques have worked.
· a unique and rare look, "a first-hand, insider's view," of how children are victimized through prostitution from the victim's and the perpetrator's ("pimp's") perspective.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
Child advocates Child welfare professionals Defense attorneys Judges Juvenile justice professionals Law enforcement Mental health professionals Policymakers Prosecutors Social workers Therapeutic Group Home Providers
CONFERENCE PRESENTERS
Dr. Sharon Cooper Dr. Sharon Cooper, MD, FAAP, is the CEO of Developmental and Forensic Pediatrics, PA, a consulting firm that provides medical care, training, and expert witness experience in child maltreatment cases, as well as medical care for children with disabilities. She works regularly with numerous national and international investigative agencies on Internet crimes against children cases.
She holds faculty positions at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Medicine at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. She is also an instructor at the Army Medical Education Department Center and School at Ft. Sam Houston, Texas, where she provides multidisciplinary training in all forms of child maltreatment to health care providers, law enforcement, attorneys, judges, therapists, chaplains, and social workers.
Detective Cathy De La Paz
A 24-year veteran of the Dallas Police Department, assigned to the High Risk Victims and Trafficking Unit within the Child Exploitation Squad, Detective De La Paz specializes in conducting interviews of adolescent children and non-compliant victims who may be deceptive, avoidant and/or tentative in their disclosures. Because of this specialty, Detective De La Paz is often called upon to assist and consult on these interviews and cases, both locally and nationally. Additionally, Detective De La Paz instructs on the unique interview skills and investigative techniques needed on cases involving children who have been victimized through prostitution.
Detective Del La Paz has instructed for the Dallas Police Department Academy, the Tarrant County Regional Police Academy (Fatal Child Abuse and Neglect Program), the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP,) the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and for various other agencies and conferences throughout the country. Detective De La Paz has also trained internationally regarding high risk youth/ prostitution interviews and investigations for law enforcement, prosecutors and NGO's from Thailand, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, China, Myranmar, and Singapore.