Caught in the Web*
Julian Sher
Award-winning author Julian Sher spent two years following the work of the FBI, ICE, NCMEC and police agencies around the world. Senator John Kerry called it “a must-read for parents, policy makers, prosecutors, and anyone who cares about our kids." Dr. Sharon W. Cooper praised the extremely educational and riveting writing by a superb investigative journalist.” Come share the lessons and insights for police, prosecutors and educators.
Conducting A Community Safety Audit to Improve Child Safety*
Sarah Buel, J.D.
It turns out we can greatly improve victim services by asking the question of each community agency, “How does this (practice, policy, rule etc.) enhance or diminish victim safety and offender accountability?” By reviewing successful evaluations of police, prosecutor, shelter, legal aid, and other relevant family violence programs, there is much to be learned. The workshop will discuss how to replicate a community safety audit of victims’ services programs with no funding or to obtain a grant to do so.
Crawford v. Washington: Latest Developments, Part 1 and 2
Tom Harbinson, J.D.
This workshop analyzes several United States Supreme Court decisions, Crawford v. Washington and Davis v. Washington, that have changed the ability of professionals to get children's out-of-court statements admissible in court when the child is unavailable to testify. The presenter gives tips on how to get statements admitted based on CRAWFORD's new test for Confrontation Clause analysis. The course also covers the Court's recent decision last June in GILES v. CALIFORNIA. The presenter submitted an amicus brief on behalf of the Center and attended oral arguments. He thoroughly explains the GILES decision's impact on child abuse cases. The workshop includes tips on using the forfeiture by wrongdoing exception after GILES' further development of the forfeiture by wrongdoing exception.
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Cross Examination of Expert Witnesses
Tom Harbinson, J.D.
This workshop gives tips on how to best prepare to cross-examine expert witnesses in child sexual and physical abuses cases. It addresses specific techniques to use to rebut defense expert witnesses testimony.
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Defending the Investigative Interview in Court
Victor Vieth, J.D.
In this course, students receive an overview of the research defense attorneys often use to discredit forensic interviews and learn concrete responses for responding to these attacks.
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Detecting Deception
Jim Tanner, Ph.D.
(NOTE: Provided free with purchase for professionals. Our speaker ended session after 45 minutes because of confidential/proprietary information at the end of the lecture; minor audio difficulties in the capture of this session - so you benefit!)?Improve your interview skills. Learn how to tell when someone is editing something out of a verbal or written statement. This session cover the basics of Discourse Analysis, a lexical and syntactical approach to analyzing statements. Using clear examples, Dr. Tanner explains how shifts in words and grammar by respondents can point interviewers to "hot spots" in a statement that need to be probed. You will never listen to a conversation the same way again if you attend this session.?
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Drug Endangered Children*
Sgt. Courtney Pero
Vanessa M Sanford, LPC
Drug endangered children are those children who suffer physical or psychological harm or neglect resulting from exposure to illegal drugs or persons under the influence of illegal drugs or exposure to dangerous environments where drugs are being manufactured or chemicals used to make drugs are accessible. Topics include: Safety and Awareness in Volatile Drug Environments & Investigating Drug Endangered Children cases, Child Protective Services Role in Drug Endangered Children cases, Medical Issues for the Drug Endangered Child, Prosecuting Drug Endangered Child cases, Psychosocial Issues of the Drug Endangered Child, Sustaining Local DEC Alliances and Data Collection.
Effective Courtroom Testimony for Therapists, Part 1 and 2
Sherre Sweet J.D.
Vanessa Sanford, LPC
This session addresses and discusses issues a therapist faces when called as a witness in a child abuse trial. This session also includes a demonstration of a direct examination and cross examination of a therapist in a child abuse case.
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(The) Impact of Child Abuse on Spirituality: Cultural Sensitivity to the Faith Needs of Children*
Victor Vieth, J.D.
This course provides an overview of the impact of child sexual abuse on the spirituality of victims. The workshop provides concrete suggestions for overcoming blocks that may result from the spiritual concerns of children and otherwise responding to this issue before, during, and after the forensic interview.
Investigating and Prosecuting Cases of Emotional Maltreatment
Victor Vieth, J.D.
Students receive an overview of the literature concerning the emotional abuse of a child and receive concrete suggestions for investigating these cases and for proving and allegation of emotional abuse in either a civil child protection or a criminal case.
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Linking Non-Compliant Sex Offenders to Child Victimization Cases
Kristen Anderson
Staca Urie
With as many as 100,000 registered sex offenders in the United States whose whereabouts are unknown, expanding our ability to link open and unsolved missing/exploited child cases to these offenders is of great potential benefit. This presentation focuses on how NCMEC is working to bring together a variety of resources to assist law enforcement in locating sex offenders and identify case linkages across broad time and geographic parameters. Cases examined include child abductions, attempted abductions and relationships to online solicitation/exploitation incidents.
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Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy
Christopher Greeley, M.D.
Mike Trent, J.D.
This talk is an introduction to Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MSbP) sometimes referred to as “Medical Child Abuse.” The history and common clinical manifestations are presented. An evaluation process for suspected cases of MSbP is outlined. This process focuses on looking at alternative explanations to MSbP as well as documentation of findings. The pros and cons of covert video surveillance are discussed. We highlight the strange and terrible case of Laurie Williamson, a mother who abused her three children by fabricating, exaggerating, and inducing symptoms of chronic illness in them in order to subject them to unnecessary medical treatments, including surgeries. The workshop details the efforts to investigate and prosecute the case that eventually resulted in Williamson's conviction.
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Opening Statements and Closing Arguments in Cases of Child Abuse
Victor Vieth, J.D.
Students learn the art of developing effective themes and theories to present to jurors in cases of child abuse. Particular emphasis is placed on cases in which the outcome largely relies on the assessment of the child’s credibility versus the credibility of the accused.
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Protecting Yourself and Your Family on the Internet*
Jim Tanner, Ph.D.
Join a Cyber Crime Analyst as he explains how the dark side of the Internet can hurt you and how to defend yourself from cyber attacks. In plain English, he covers purging personal information from data mines; establishing good security on your computer and home network; avoiding common problems like cross site scripting, trojans and worms; and emerging threats. If you own a computer, do yourself a favor and watch this session.
Recent Developments Relevant to the Investigation and Prosecution of Child Abuse
John E. B. Myers, J.D.
This workshop addresses recent developments relevant to investigation and litigation of child abuse and neglect. Subjects covered include the most recent medical and psychological research that has an impact on testimony from children and medical evidence of maltreatment. The workshop offers detailed treatment of the admissibility of hearsay in child abuse cases, with particular emphasis on the impact of Crawford v. Washington on the admissibility of hearsay.
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Shaken Baby Syndrome: Truths and Myths
Christopher Greeley, M.D.
This talk focuses on the medical findings seen in victims of abusive head trauma. This talk also addresses some of the areas of debate; specifically short falls, medical conditions, onset of symptoms and medical mimics. After the talk, learners should be able to understand the medical findings seen in abusive head injury. Learners will be able to understand how to sort through the potential alternative explanations for the findings as well as understand which explanations are unsupported by the medical literature.
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Surviving Sexual Molestation*
John B. Warnick
For ten years John B. kept the biggest secret of his life. A secret that haunted him every day until he finally told someone. John B. was hiding the fact that he had been molested repeatedly by his trusted soccer coach when he was only ten years old. Surviving Sexual Molestation tells his amazing story of survival. John B. shares the effects of victimization on his life, what kept him from telling his secret, and what he has done to overcome the enormous obstacles such a crime places in the victim’s life.
URL Histories: The Mother Lode of Information
Jim Tanner, Ph.D.
When you surf the Internet, your browser records all the sites you visit. These Uniform Resource Locators (URL or URI – Uniform Resource Indicators) provide us with a detailed map of Internet use. Most examiners understand how to interpret these records. However, most examiners miss a wealth of information available through simple approaches to these records. This session will explain how to approach these records to gain a deeper understanding of cyber criminal behavior. While the session will focus on sex offenders, the tools and approach work equally well for any type of cyber crime.
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What's that Dog Doing in my Playroom??
Using Animal Assisted Therapy in a Children's Advocacy Center*
Vanessa M. Sanford LPC
Sarah Torres, MS, LPC
Andrea Schultz, LPC-S, RPT-S
This session provides an overview of using Animal Assisted Therapy in a CAC setting. Topics will include how to propose, develop, and implement an AAT program. Enlisting the support of the multidisciplinary team and general liability issues will also be discussed. Therapeutic activities and techniques will be presented and case examples will be used to demonstrate how animals are incorporated into both individual and group therapy sessions. The process of how to train and register a therapy dog will be discussed.
When a Child Freezes on the Witness Stand
Tom Harbinson, J.D.
When a Child "Freezes" on the Witness Stand This workshop shows how professionals can best prepare the child before trial so the child will not "freeze" or become unable to communicate in the defendant's presence during trial. The workshop will also address how to enable the child to testify if the child "freezes" during the trial in spite of your best efforts to assist the child in testifying successfully. A specific step by step approach will be taught on how to assist the child while the child is in the courtroom.
Witness Tampering of Children in Family Violence Cases, Part 1 and 2
Sarah Buel, J.D.
Although witness tampering of children is prolific in family abuse cases, it is a rarely charged, prosecuted, or sentenced offense. By examining practices, statutes, and cases involving child victims of witness tampering, we will discuss important next steps. Although the Crawford and Davis cases make it even more difficult to hold the perpetrators responsible, there are a number of strategies that can be implemented to better protect children.
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