ILLINOIS News

The Bettendorf Police Department and the Bettendorf Police Explorers
will be handing out Children's I.D. Kits and safety information at the
Bettendorf Family Museum's Great Hall, 2900 Learning Campus Drive, on
Saturday, May 22 starting at 8:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.

This
will be held with the Family Museum's Music Market Fest. Tickets are
available at the museum's welcome desk. Picture taking and
fingerprinting will be available as well as educational information in
support of the Take 25 campaign. Take 25 is a preventive child safety
campaign created by the National Center for Missing & Exploited
Children (NCMEC) in honor of National Missing Children's Day. Annually
honored on May 25, this day serves as a reminder to the nation to make
child safety a national priority.

Walkers from across the state of Illinois
will lace up for a statewide walk in support of the Children's Advocacy
Centers of Illinois and its 38 member Centers. Established in 1995,
the Children's Advocacy Centers of Illinois is the network that coordinates and
provides a comprehensive response to child abuse in Illinois. To increase awareness, knowledge
and education, the Children's Advocacy Centers of Illinois is proud that 25 cities and towns
will participate in the third annual Champions4Children Walk sponsored
by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois.
"Each walker – each supporter – is a true Champion for Children," explained Billie Larkin,
executive director of the Children's Advocacy Centers of Illinois. The third annual
Champions4Children Walk will be held on May 15, 2010, and will bring
awareness to child abuse issues. Additionally, the Champions4Children
Walk will increase knowledge about the services of local Children's
Advocacy Centers and the difference these services make in a child's
life. The walk will help raise funds through pledges and sponsorships
for the 38 Children's Advocacy Centers in Illinois,
which serve 88 of the state's 102 counties.
Walkers are encouraged to lace up and make a difference for our children! In the past year
alone, Children's Advocacy Centers throughout Illinois
provided support and services to over 10,500 children. Clairice Hetzler, executive director, Advocacy
Network for Children, Quincy, said, "We walk for 10,500 voices. We walk
to ensure that children have champions in their lives. We walk to be the difference."
For more information and to register for this exciting event, please visit http://www.cacionline.org.
Governor Pat Quinn serves as the Grand Marshall and Erwin McEwen, director of
the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, serves as
honorary Chair for the Champions4Children Walk.

State's Attorney Michael Waller has received close to
$200,000 in federal money to add to the staff at the Lake County
Children's Advocacy Center.


The county board's Law and Judicial Committee last week
accepted $196,336 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Youth and Families grant program.


Waller said the money, backed with $80,744 already in
the advocacy center budget, will provide a position for a principal
assistant state's attorney for the center from now through September
2011.


Waller said the attorney will be assigned to strengthen
the structure of child abuse cases in the county and to coordinate case
management with the state Department of Children and Family Services,
the court system and the protocols developed by the Lake County Sexual
Assault Coordinating Council.


He said the new assistant will serve child victims and
non-offending family members by improving the quality of legal
representation of victims and their families.




Golf outing


The Court Appointed Special Advocates of Lake County
will be holding its 11th annual Golf for a Child Invitational at Kemper
Lakes Golf club in Kildeer on June 21.


Golfers can queue up between 8:30 and 11:15 a.m. for
some last-minute consultation from Mike McGuire, a master clubfitter and
maker, who will analyze swings and equipment with state-of-the-art
technology.


Tee-off will begin at 11:30 a.m., with a reception,
dinner, auction and raffle starting at 5 p.m., featuring prizes
including a three-day stay at a condo in Pinehurst, N.C., and tickets to
sporting events.


Prizes for golfing will be awarded to the first, second,
third and "most honest" teams over 36 holes.


The cost for a foursome is $1,300, while individuals can
register for $350. Nongolfers can attend the evening reception and
dinner for $150.


To register, go to the CASA website at casalakecounty.com or
call (847) 808-9154.

Grundy County Sheriff Terry Marketti is offering parents a free
Internet monitoring program, Computer Cop.

The CD-ROM based parental monitoring software is endorsed by the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

“When it comes to Inter-net crimes, es-pecially sexual predators on
the Internet, parents are the best cops,” Marketti said. “We are asking
them to be curious about what their children are doing on-line and we
want to put this tool in their hands so they will be able to do it more
effectively.”

While parents want to protect their children from the dangers on the
Internet, the sheriff said more than 70 percent do not use parental
control software provided free by their service provider or that they
have purchased.

Even when installed, blocking and filtering software frequently fails
to protect children from pedophiles who attempt to seduce them on line.

According to the Crimes Against Children Research Center, one in five
children have received an unwanted sexual advance while surfing the
web.

Marketti said this alarming research led him to provide a free
monitoring tool.

Computer Cop does not have to be installed on the home computer, but
operates off the CD. Because it is not installed in the computer, it
prevents children from sabotaging the program.

After a brief scan, Computer Cop’s one main window will display the
pictures found on the hard drive, including images from websites visited
by children or images sent to children.

The software also performs a scan of the computer for potentially
inappropriate words and phrases. This feature allows parents to see if a
child is visiting inappropriate websites of if the child has been
communicating with a stranger through instant message options, chat
rooms or e-mail.

Sheriff Marketti said Computer Cop “draws from a built-in data base
of nearly 1,000 red flagged words and phrases associated with
pornography, drugs, violence, hate crimes and gambling. Computer Cop
even scans files that have been deleted.

Computer Cop software is compatible with all Windows operating
systems, but it will not run on Mac (Apple) systems.

CDs are available free at the James L. Olson Law Enforcement Center,
111 Illinois Avenue, Morris, weekdays between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. or by
contacting Sgt. Jeff Cole.

CPS Gets $3.9 Million to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
$8.2 Million in Federal Grant Funds for State

Updated: Saturday, 02 Oct 2010, 3:56 PM CDT
Published : Saturday, 02 Oct 2010, 3:56 PM CDT

Sun Times Media Wire

Chicago Public Schools will get more than $3.9 Million in federal teen pregnancy prevention grants.

The funds are a part of grants being awarded to states, non-profit organizations, school districts, universities, and others, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced this week. Illinois will see nearly $8.2 million total.

These grants -- which total $155 million -- will support the replication of teen pregnancy prevention programs that have been shown to be effective through rigorous research as well as the testing of new, innovative approaches to combating teen pregnancy, a release from HHS said.

¿Teen pregnancy is a serious national problem and we need to use the best science of what works to address it,¿ HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said. ¿This investment will help bring evidence-based initiatives to more communities across the country while also testing new approaches so we can expand our toolkit of effective interventions.¿

Of the Illinois grants, the Chicago Public Schools will get $3,943,607, the Children¿s Home and Aid Society of Illinois will get $1,443,303 and the Illinois Department of Human Services will get $2,231,758.

The funds come from two different programs:

$100 million comes from the Teen Pregnancy Prevention program, funded by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010, and administered by the Office of Adolescent Health within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health.

$55 million comes from the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP), funded under the Affordable Care Act and administered by the Administration for Children and Families. Under the statute, states must use these funds for programs that replicate evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention strategies and incorporate other adult responsibility subjects, such as maintaining healthy relationships, improving communication with parents, and financial literacy. The programs supported by states must incorporate lessons about both abstinence and contraception, the release said.

¿These grants address a major problem facing American young people and their families,¿ Sebelius said. ¿Teen pregnancy short-circuits the futures of young parents and their children. It is critical that we work with states and communities to give our young people the tools and information they need to make wise decisions that will ensure their health and success.¿

The U.S. Marshals Service led an operation throughout July, August and September to ensure more than 2,200 convicted and registered sex offenders who live, work or attend school within the 38 counties making up the Southern District of Illinois were in compliance with the law.Operation TALON's main goal was to conduct compliance checks of all sex offenders living within each county of Southern Illinois to determine whether they were following court or parole officers' orders as to behavior and residence. Those registered sex offenders who were determined to be non-compliant or missing are being considered for prosecution by each county's state's attorney's office for state violations or the U.S. Attorney's Office for violation of the "Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006" and other federal laws.Of the 2,233 sex offender compliance checks performed in Operation TALON, 20 individuals were arrested for criminal violations. Among the 20 arrests, six were for sexual offenses, including aggravated sexual assault of a minor, possession of child pornography and sexual assault of an adult. Currently, a total of six subjects have been identified as accessing or possessing child pornography and are under investigation for those offenses.In Fayette County, a registered sex offender was found to be living in a residence with his girlfriend and her three children in violation of conditions of his parole. Another registered sex offender checked for compliance is a suspect in multiple rapes that have occurred in St. Clair and Bond counties. In Clay County, a registered sex offender stated that he liked to park near restaurants frequented by children, where he would watch little girls and masturbate."We need to continue this program on a regular basis to make sure that these sick criminals are strictly following the rules of the courts," said U.S. Marshal Don Slazinik of the Southern District of Illinois. "This program and the help of all of the state and local agencies will help keep our children safe."The U.S. Marshals Service was assisted by many law enforcement agencies during Operation TALON. These agencies included the Illinois State Police, the Illinois Attorney General's Office, the Illinois Department of Corrections, sheriff's departments of the 38 counties making up the federal Southern District of Illinois, and various municipalities within those counties."Sex offender compliance checks are absolutely critical for protecting children and communities from these dangerous predators," Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said. "Through the Illinois Sex Offender Registry Team, my office has worked closely with the U.S. marshals throughout Illinois to track down and arrest sex offenders who are not complying with the law. The success of Operation TALON demonstrates the importance of this cooperative effort with the U.S. Marshals Office and state and local law enforcement."The Marshals Service is the lead federal law enforcement agency responsible for investigating sex offender registration violations and related offenses in connection with violations of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. Enacted on July 27, 2006, this Act directed the USMS to assist state, local, tribal and territorial authorities in the location and apprehension of non-compliant and fugitive sex offenders. Offenders who are found residing out of state can be charged federally and those charges often carry more severe penalties. To ensure the safety of children across the country, the USMS implemented an aggressive enforcement strategy. Since the law was enacted, the USMS has arrested more than 34,000 fugitives for sex offenses, failure to register as a sex offender and failure to comply with sex offenders' registration requirements. This resulted in the closure of more than 42,000 warrants.To learn more, please visit www.usmarshals.gov.

Saying he is alarmed by the rate of attempted child abductions in the
Chicago area -- as well as by the perceptions that the cases are
handled less vigorously when they involve black and Latino youth -- U.S.
Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., tomorrow will convene an “Emergency Summit on
Missing and Endangered Children and Teens.”
The event, scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. in the auditorium of Kennedy
King College, 740 W. 63rd St., was called in response to a recent
Chicago Tribune investigative series that examined 530 attempted child
abductions by strangers in the city and suburbs since 2008, Rush said
today in a statement.
The Tribune found that only 5 percent of those cases resulted in an
arrest and prosecution. The newspaper also noted that in the 407
preliminary Chicago police reports identified by the Tribune since March
2008, the arrest rate was sharply lower in areas that had higher crime
rates and more single-parent households and families on public
assistance. This concentration of disparities correlates closely with
race in Chicago, and those South and West Side census tracts were
predominantly African-American and Hispanic.
“There has long been a perception in low-income neighborhoods where
many people of color live that when their children go missing there is
less urgency than when children from white or affluent communities
disappear,” Rush said. “I called this summit to not only educate the
communities about the predators lurking in our neighborhoods but to also
address why this perception exists.”
Rush said he will be joined at the summit by Chicago Police
Department Assistant Superintendent James Jackson; FBI Special Agent
Sean Burke; Kirsten Anderson, national program director of the National
Center for Missing & Exploited Children; First Assistant Cook County
State’s Attorney Shauna Boliker; prosecutor Patti Sudendorf of the Sex
Crimes Division of the Cook County State’s Attorney's Office; 20th Ward
Ald. Willie Cochran, a former Chicago Police officer; Kathy P. Chaney,
online editor of the Chicago Defender; Rose Stearns, mother of missing
teen Yasmin Acree; Sheila Powell, aunt of slain child Jahmeshia Conner;
and Martha Torres, the grandmother of sisters Tionda and Diamond
Bradley.
Acree was a 15-year-old student at Austin Polytech High School when
she went missing three years ago from her West Side home. Family members
criticized law enforcement for a “botched investigation” and for
asserting the teen was a runaway despite evidence of forced entry into
her home.
Conner was a fifth-grader living in the Englewood community in Rush’s
district when she vanished while walking home from a bus stop less than
two blocks from her home. The child’s relatives complained that police
refused to issue an Amber Alert, believing the 12-year-old had run away
from home. The girl was later found dead in an alley, having been
sexually assaulted and strangled.
Another high-profile, unsolved case in Rush’s district involved the
Bradley sisters, who went missing from their South Side neighborhood in
July 2001, when they were 3 and 10 years old.
In his statement, Rush commended law enforcement for a recent arrest
in the murder of 9-year-old Mya Lyons. “It was a horrific case, then,
and now that her father has been arrested in her death it remains a
horrific case now,” Rush said. “None of us should rest until each and
every one of these cases involving missing, abducted and slain children
are solved.”
Rush added: “My goal is (to) educate the community on ways to protect
our children, as well as inform people of the processes, procedures,
and resources that are in place for when a child goes missing. The
constituents in my district must have the trust and confidence in their
public officials that everything is being done to protect our children,
and when a child is abducted, finding them and bringing the perpetrators
to justice is a top priority for all of us whose job it is to protect
the community.”

Child abuse on the rise in region


April 14, 2013 6:00 am • BY STEPHEN RICKERL, The Southern


With a decade-long trend of increasing rates of child abuse and neglect in Southern Illinois, child ad-vocacy services are urging everyone to be more vigilant.

According to the Voices for Illinois Children Kids Count 2013, child abuse and neglect cases between 2009 and 2011
increased 1.3 percent in Franklin County, 50 percent in Jackson County and 13 percent in Williamson County.

Dave Clarkin, Illinois Department of Children and Family Services spokesman, said the increase in cases is not a statewide trend. He said DCFS partners are reporting victims are younger and younger and the abuse is getting more severe.

“Younger victims are particularly a concern because an older kid can tell another adult what’s going on and even understands what’s happening to them is wrong,” he said. “When someone abuses a kid that’s 6 months old, the kid doesn’t know that this isn’t normal and they obviously can’t tell anyone.”

Kids younger than 5 and not attending school are at an extraordinary risk of harm in the most severe abuse, he said because two-thirds of reports come from mandated reporters like school districts, teachers and counselors.

A department report released in November showed a 5 percent increase of reported abused and neglect of children in downstate Illinois. Citing the Child Abuse and Neglect Statistical Report, the state said its Child Abuse Hotline received
25,348 reports of suspected abuse or neglect involving downstate children from July to October, compared to 24,053 at the same time last year.

Data further illustrated that in 2012, for every 10,000 Illinois children, 91 were indicated cases of abuse or neglect.

In Southern Illinois Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Jackson, Jefferson, Pulaski, Saline, Union and White Counties had abuse and neglect rates more that twice the state average, according to the DCFS report.

Since 2003, reports of suspected abuse in downstate Illinois increased 20 percent, according to the department. During that same time reports of abuse and neglect declined 9 percent in Cook County.

Linda Reiss, associated executive director for Lutheran Social Services Southern Region, said abuse and neglect go hand-in-hand. She said often a parent will turn to drugs and alcohol because they don’t have hope, a job or a decent place to live.

She said while many people might work harder, or take on a second job, some don’t have that drive and turn to drugs to kill their pain.

“It seems like every time something gets cut, it’s usually those programs that help the poor people, the drug addicted, the mentally ill,” Reiss said. “I really think the poorer the area, the less the resources, which creates the trickle effect that affects the children and the families.”

Also, Reiss said, the increase in abuse reports might have something to do with an increase in willingness on the part of society to report abuse.

Jo Poshard, director of Poshard Foundation for Abused Children, said a frightening fact is that there were 90 child deaths last year where abuse or neglect was indicated. She said 40 of the 90 died from suffocation because of sleep conditions.
Something her foundation is very concerned about.

Poshard said children need to sleep in bassinettes or cribs, not with parents.

She added the top requests at the foundation are for beds and cribs.

stephen.rickerl@thesouthern.com

618-351-5823

http://thesouthern.com/news/local/child-abuse-on-the-rise-in-region/article_ea930f2c-a4bd-11e2-891e-0019bb2963f4.html

I was born in southern Illinois and have relatives in the area. Unless you have a good job (far and few have) you don't have much money. The southern part is much poorer than middle or upper state by far. This affects children trememdously when the state cuts back funding for children services and other needed programs. Education suffers as do just about every thing. This state has the worse debt and budget problem outside of California and the national issue. Seems like every politican only makes it worse. For years now my vote has not counted for anything. Unfortunately it's the children that suffer the most as the numbers show.

William


NEVER assume where your child is, KNOW.
NEVER assume your child is NOT in the car LOOK.
NEVER leave your child ALONE for one second, NEVER.
NEVER assume your child is safe, KNOW.

House panel strengthens child-abduction prosecution
By Lauren Leone-Cross

The State Journal-Register Posted May 01, 2013
Prosecutors can use a person’s past attempts of child abduction as evidence during trial under a proposal passed by a House Judiciary panel Wednesday.

Past acts are typically not permitted as evidence in child-abduction cases even though repeated attempts are often precursor crimes to sexual assault of a child, said Mary Boland, sex crime specialist for the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.

This evidence could be critical in showing a person’s tendency to repeat these acts, Boland said.

During testimony, Boland pointed to Jeffrey Jewitt of Des Plaines, who was convicted four other times over a 10-year period for exposing himself to children or attempting to lure them into his car before his September conviction as a sex offender.

Because Jewitt claimed the acts to be innocent gags, the majority of the prior convictions were considered misdemeanors, Boland said.

As a former prosecutor, Rep. Dennis Reboletti, R-Elmhurst, said admissibility of past acts could help secure convictions against sexually dangerous persons.

“When offenders show a history of behavior, and if the jury and court has no idea that’s already been going on, that this is a pattern and not some single occurrence, I think it’s important the jury have all that information,” Reboletti said.

While the legislation doesn’t increase sentencing, he said, it does give prosecutors an additional tool in securing a conviction.

“(That evidence) shows that the person is reaching … and eventually they may successfully lure a child and take custody. What this shows is that there’s some pattern in an attempt at something,” Reboletti said. “It will be used to establish ... that this has been pattern that’s been building.”

Senate Bill 1814, sponsored by Sen. Pam Althoff, R-McHenry, and Rep. Jack Franks, D-Woodstock, passed the Senate last month and now heads to the full House. If passed, prosecutors could use past acts as evidence for cases currently in the court system.

http://www.sj-r.com/breaking/x1416816187/House-panel-strengthens-child-abduction-prosecution

Well it's a small step in the right direction. Hopefully it will pass the full house. William