Missing and Exploited Children

MEDIA ADVISORY
Thursday
May 1, 2008
Contact:
NCMEC Communications Department
(703) 837-6111
media@ncmec.org

WHAT: Fifteen law enforcement officials from ten cities throughout the U.S. who have displayed extraordinary efforts in resolving missing child cases and protecting children from victimization will be recognized at the 13th Annual Congressional Breakfast on Capitol Hill organized by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

WHEN: Wednesday, May 7, 2008, 8:30 AM to 9:45 A.M.

WHERE: Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room G-50
Washington, D.C.

MEDIA OPPS : Mult-box plug-ins, audio feed, and press risers available for on-site broadcast crews on Capitol Hill. Limited interview time with honorees and John Walsh following the Capitol Hill Breakfast.

PHOTOS: High-resolution digital photos of honorees suitable for publication and broadcast will be available following the event.

WHY: For more than 24 years, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has assisted law enforcement in finding missing children and helping prevent child sexual exploitation. NCMEC works with federal, state, and local law enforcement on a daily basis. NCMEC recognizes their efforts through a special annual recognition ceremony held in partnership with the Fraternal Order of Police and the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

WHO: Participants Include:

John Walsh, host of America's Most Wanted; and Reve Walsh, co-founders of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

Actor Bryan Cranston, who plays Walter H. White in the new AMC series "Breaking Bad," and played Hal in the FOX sitcom "Malcolm in the Middle."

John P. Kelly, Chairman of the Board of Directors
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

Ernie Allen, President and CEO
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

Honorees Include :

2008 National Missing Children's Award:

Conn. - Detective Eric Kovanda of the Police Department in Bloomfield will be recognized for recovering 14-year-old Danielle Cramer, who vanished in June 2006. Nearly a year after her disappearance, Detective Kovanda found Danielle hidden inside a locked cupboard under a stairwell.

Calif. - Investigator Keith Prewitt of the Kings County District Attorney's Office in Hanford will be honored for recovering one-year-old Dylan Pike-Alcantara, who was abducted by his biological father from Peru in 2005. The mother returned home with Dylan in September 2007.

Iowa - Postal Inspector Troy Raper of the US Postal Inspection Service and Detective Charity Hansel of the police department in Cedar Rapids will be recognized for arresting child pornographer James Bentley, who had victimized a preschooler and her infant sister.

2008 National Exploited Children's Award:

Del. - Detective Ronald Garland of the Delaware State Police in Dover will be honored for the apprehension of Paul Thielemann, who coordinated an online child pornography ring that was sexually abusing children ranging in age from 1½ to 17-years-old. Ten defendants were arrested and prosecuted.

Fla./N.C. - Special Agents James Lewis and Alexis Carpinteri of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in North Miami Beachand Special Agent Christopher Haas of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation in Hickory will be recognized for rescuing a dozen children from an online child pornography ring. The ring was abusing children as young as five years of age and webcasting the abuse live.

Wash. - Pioneering investigative work into photo sharing networks and training by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Group Supervisor Brian Bujdoso of Seattle resulted in 38 arrests, among them a Kentucky man who was molesting his five-year-old nieces and recording the assaults for online posting.

2008 Law Enforcement Excellence Award:

Colo. - Detectives Todd Fredericksen, Randy Hansen and Shannon Youngquist-Lucy with the police department in Aurora will be honored for their work in the case of six-year-old Aaroné Thompson, who was reported missing in November 2005. Her father is charged with her murder.

Wash. - U.S. Immigrations & Customs Enforcement Special Agent Lisa Vlad of Seattle, Detective Joe Marsh of the Benton County Sheriff's Office in Kennewick, and Deputy US Marshal Jeff Marty of Richland will be recognized for arresting last year Kenneth Freeman, the producer of some of the most frequently downloaded child pornography in the world. The international manhunt crossed two continents.

About the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
NCMEC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that works in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. NCMEC's congressionally mandated CyberTipline, a reporting mechanism for child sexual exploitation, has handled more than 570,000 leads. Since its establishment in 1984, NCMEC has assisted law enforcement with more than 140,900 missing child cases, resulting in the recovery of more than 124,500 children. For more information about NCMEC, call its toll-free hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST or visit www.missingkids.com.

Contact: NCMEC Public Relations Department, (703) 837-6111, media@ncmec.org

The Take 25 campaign is proudly sponsored by Lifetouch, the largest employee-owned photography company in the world. Lifetouch provides professional portraits for preschools and schools, houses of worship and the retail market in all 50 states and Canada, National partners include the National PTA, the United States Secret Service, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE), Community Oriented Police Services (COPS), and 50 Minor League Baseball teams. In addition, more than 200 other local and national organizations have partnered with NCMEC on this campaign.

A list of cities where events will be held can be found at www.take25.org or on the Spanish language site, www.toma25.org.

About the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, that works in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. NCMEC's congressionally mandated CyberTipline, a reporting mechanism for child sexual exploitation, has handled more than 570,000 leads. Since its establishment in 1984, NCMEC has assisted law enforcement with more than 140,900 missing child cases, resulting in the recovery of more than 124,500 children. For more information about NCMEC, call its toll-free, 24-hour hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST or visit its web site at www.missingkids.com.

A program of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children®, the goal of Take 25 is to heighten awareness about children's safety issues. With a focus on prevention, the campaign encourages parents, guardians, and other trusted-adult role models to spend time talking to kids and teaching them ways to be safer.

Take 25 was started to commemorate National Missing Children's Day on May 25th. First proclaimed by President Ronald Reagan in 1983, the day serves as an annual reminder to the nation to renew efforts to reunite missing children with their families, remember those who are still missing, and make child protection a national priority. It's a time of reflection and renewed hope for millions of families in communities across the country.

Get involved with the Take 25 campaign by hosting an event in your area or distributing Take 25 child safety materials in your community.

Make time to talk about child safety.

About Take 25
Be Informed
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Child Safety Is More Than A Slogan: "Stranger-Danger" Warnings Not Effective at Keeping Kids Safer

By Nancy McBride, National Safety Director
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

"Stranger danger" - the phrase is so pervasive in our culture that it has become part of the lexicon. Well-intentioned adults perpetuate this misguided message, and the media often uses it as a slogan. A recent case illustrates how literal children may be when given a specific message. The child in this case may have evaded his rescuers, because he had been taught "not to talk to strangers."

This case and many others clearly illustrate how literal children may be when given a specific message. That's why the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) has never supported the "stranger-danger" message, especially because experience has shown us that most children are actually taken by someone they know or are familiar with.

So what does "stranger danger" really mean, and do children benefit from an outdated and incomplete message? Here's what we have learned about the "stranger-danger" concept

Children don't get it.

Adults don't practice it.

It doesn't go far enough in protecting children from potential danger.
When questioned, children will often describe a "stranger" as someone who is "ugly or mean." They don't perceive nice -looking or friendly people as "strangers." And if someone talks to a child or is even around a child more than once, that person loses his or her "stranger" status. The child then thinks he or she "knows" the person. Children also want to be helpful, thrive on adult approval, and respond to adult authority. So, if someone with ill intent asks them to perform a task or tells them something has happened to a loved one, chances are good the child can be tricked.

The "stranger-danger" message becomes even more confusing for children since they can't tell by looking at someone whether or not the person is "good" or "bad." Wouldn't it be great if we could point out the "bad" people to our children and be done with it? Whether it's in a grocery store or at a baseball game, adults break the rule of "don't talk to strangers" all the time. But adults have the benefit of experience, judgment, and decision-making skills; children do not. And sometimes adults are wrong. So, if we can't identify "bad" people, we certainly can't expect our children to.

Today, kids need to be empowered with positive messages and safety skills that will build their self esteem and self confidence while helping to keep them safer. Kids don't need to be told the world is a scary place. They watch the news, hear adults talking, and may even experience violence firsthand. Rather, they need to know their parent, guardian, or another trusted adult is there for them if they are in trouble; and most adults they encounter in their lives are basically good people.

When we tell children to "never talk to strangers," we have effect ively eliminated a key source of help for them if they are in trouble. If they're lost they may be surrounded by many "strangers" who could conceivably help them if they would only ask for it. Since we know parents and guardians can't be with their children every second of the day, we need to give children "safety nets" of people they can go to if they need help. Those individuals may include uniformed law-enforcement or security officers; a store salesperson with a nametag; the person in an information booth at a mall or other public venue; or a mother with children.

In specific situations such as being lost outside, the safety messages need to be tailored to those circumstances.

A child should never wander away from where they first became lost. If they stay put, chances are better that they will be found more quickly.

If the child gets lost in conditions like a thunderstorm or near an overflowing riverbank, then the child needs to go to the nearest safe spot and wait for rescuers.

Children should make noise either by yelling, blowing a whistle, or just attracting attention. This will help in bringing someone to their rescue.
Parents and guardians can make child safety part of a child's everyday life in a nonthreatening way by practicing some of these skills. Whether it's checking first with a trusted adult, taking a friend, or avoiding and getting out of dangerous situations, there are easy "what if" scenarios to practice with your children to make sure they "get it." Make outings to a mall or park an opportunity to reinforce these skills. That way they won't have to wonder what to do if lost or in danger. Do this on a regular basis to make sure it becomes second nature. At the same time reassure them you are there for them, and remind them there are other people who can help.

NCMEC believes the time is now for our society to retire the "stranger-danger" message; realize child safety is much more important than a slogan; and make sure we are arming our children with relevant, age-appropriate messages that w ill empower them. Remember, there is nothing on earth that beats our parental, guardian, and caregiver supervision and attention in helping to keep our children safer.

Copyright © 2005 National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). All rights reserved.

Wisconsin
Illinois

Indiana
Michigan
Minnesota

Resources

Wisconsin Department of Justice
Office of Crime Victim Services
www.doj.state.wi.us/cvs
PO Box 7951
Madison, WI 53707-7951
Toll Free (victims only) 1-800-446-6564
Fax: 608-264-6368
TTY: 800-947-3529

National Resources

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
www.missingkids.com
Clearinghouses in other States [PDF]

The Charles B. Wang International Children's Building
699 Prince Street
Alexandria, VA 22314-3174
1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678)

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
Child Protection Division
810 Seventh Street NW
Washington DC 20531
202-616-3637

Additional Resources

Wisconsin Department of Corrections Sex Offender Registry
www.wi-doc.com/offender.htm

Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault
608-257-1516

Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence
608-255-0539

National Sexual Violence Resource Center
877-739-3895

Youth Educated in Safety (YES)
920-734-5335

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