TRENTON
– Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman today announced that all Department
of Law and Public Safety employees will receive mandatory child sexual abuse
identification and prevention training as part of a proactive approach to
eradicating this abominable crime in the state of New Jersey. This free, online
training session is available to all New Jerseyans.
“As
law enforcement and as parents, we owe it to our children to expose the
perpetrators who commit these hideous crimes and bring them to justice,” Acting
Attorney General Hoffman said. “Law enforcement will continue to crack down on
this vicious crime. Yet, it is important to remember that it is everyone’s
responsibility, be it teachers, friends, relatives or neighbors, to recognize
the signs of abuse and report it to the proper authorities. That is why our
Department will participate in this mandatory training.”
The
training is provided by Darkness to Light, a nonprofit with the mission
of reducing the incidence of child sexual abuse through public awareness.
“This
is an unprecedented state-wide investment in the prevention of child sexual
abuse,” said Jolie Logan, President and CEO of Darkness to Light. “Many adults
do not know how to recognize signs of sexual abuse, and most do not know what
to do if sexual abuse is discovered. The New Jersey Attorney General’s office
is empowering adults to protect children, and there is no greater gift than
providing safe communities for children to grow up healthy and whole.”
Statistics
provided by Darkness to Light are sobering:
▪
Studies
indicate that one in 10 children will be sexually abused before their 18th
birthday.
▪
Child
sexual abuse is linked to a host of societal issues including teen pregnancy,
depression, anxiety and suicide.
▪
Victims
are three times more likely to have substance abuse issues, two times more
likely to drop out of school, and are at greater risk for physical illnesses
such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes and other serious medical conditions.
▪
In
the U.S. alone, there are an estimated 42 million adult survivors of child
sexual abuse.
▪
Child
sexual abuse ranks second to murder as the most expensive victim crime in the
U.S., where immediate and long term costs exceed $35 billion annually.
The
two-hour training is the latest step in the Department’s ongoing campaign to
combat child exploitation, which has included several recent, high profile
prosecutions:
▪
In
August, a Voorhees man pleaded guilty to distributing child pornography online
from a massive stash of hardcore photos and videos found in his laptop,
including images of children being raped. The man also posted more than a
thousand photos he took of two young girls on a foreign website and asked site
users to Photoshop the girls into child pornography. He faces seven years in
state prison.
▪
In
September 2012, a Camden County woman pleaded guilty to having sexual
intercourse with a 13-year-old boy and photographing the boy and an 8-year-old
girl engaged in a sexual act. She faces 10 years in state prison.
In
addition, the Attorney General’s Office successfully advocated to strengthen
the state’s child exploitation law. The new law includes provisions upgrading
the penalties for possession of child pornography, and modernizes the child
pornography distribution laws to directly address new technology, such as
file-sharing.
Beginning
in October, multiple local YMCAs have been holding events around New Jersey to
spread the word about this important training.
“The
New Jersey Alliance of YMCAs applauds the leadership and commitment of the
Attorney General to giving communities the prevention tools needed to make New
Jersey a safer place for children,” William Lovett, Executive Director of New
Jersey Alliance of YMCAs, said. “All of us have a responsibility to protect our
kids, and we invite individuals, organizations, and businesses throughout the
state to join us in this effort.”
If
you suspect an incident of child sexual abuse, please contact Darkness to
Light’s Helpline at 1-866-FOR-LIGHT. To take the online training
session, visit https://d2l.csod.com.
A Spanish version of the online training is also available.
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