Child Sex Crimes: New Arrests, More Money

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The Georgia Bureau of Investigation in Decatur is getting a fresh infusion of money from the Justice Department to fight child prostitution and other forms of sex exploitation.  A 300- thousand dollar grant will go towards reaching children in trouble and arresting adults who exploit them, according to the Office of Justice Programs.

To emphasize the work that’s being done in the Atlanta area, federal prosecutors released new information about three men who were sentenced and four others arrested for child sex crimes, including these cases:

Former Baptist Minister Gregory Hunter, who got 18 years in prison for producing a pornographic webcast of a 9 year old girl. Former doctor Adam Lebowitz, convicted of child porn and trying to entice a child to have sex
Michael Young and James Lampru,arrested at hotels where they arranged to have sex with a 12-year-old girl

Earlier this week, a 280 page report from Attorney General Eric Holder detailed a national strategy to fight child sex exploitation. The GBI has received other grants to fight Atlanta’s child prostitution and pornography problems.  In 2009, the GBI got $1,438,937.00in Recovery Act funds for the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.  During the first half of last year, the ICAC made 96 arrests and helped local law enforcement with 60 cases. Read more:

Project Safe Childhood

Internet Crimes against Children Task Force

News Release from Department of Justice

Justice Targets Child Sex Trade

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Georgia’s child prostitution problem will get some new attention from the Justice Department. Attorney General Eric Holder spells out the first National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention in a 280 page report. The plan focuses on child prostitution, child pornography, sex tourism and child exploitation in Indian Country.  It’s a multi-agency effort that includes a national database to allow federal, state, local and international law enforcement to work together better and analyze trends.  The Justice Department is adding 38 new Assistant U. S. Attorneys devoted to child exploitation cases.  And the U.S. Marshals Service is targeting the top 500 most dangerous sex offenders in the nation. The extent of Georgia’s child sex trade came to light last spring, when a study done for A Future Not a Past revealed that an estimated 7,200 men are paying for sex with teenage girls every month in the Atlanta area.

Normer Adams: Engaged to Learn

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More than 40% of Georgia's students are absent from school each year for six or more days; 8.7% are absent more than 15 days.  Foster children do appreciably better than students in the general population do.  Only about 30% of all foster children miss six or more days from school. Students cannot learn unless they are in class.  They have to be present and they have to be engaged.  Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers, speaks to this problem with American education and culture.  He proposes that Asians do better than Americans do academically, not because of some innate intelligence, but purely because they go to school more.  American children spend 180 days in school versus the 280 days that Asian students spend.  He says, “For its poorest students, America doesn’t have a school problem; it has a summer-vacation problem.” Does Georgia want to close the gap between rich and poor students? If so, get rid of summer vacation in its poorest school districts. The same postulate can be made with chronic absences.  A child who is absent from school cannot learn.  Absences reflect other fundamental problems faced by the student: the quality of the school, the stability of the family, the lack of transportation, the lack of health care, the unavailability of childcare and a parent who may be working long hours, for low pay and little flexibility.  Absences speak to whether or not we are meeting the needs of a child and supporting the family. Gladwell was not off the mark with his assessment.  Research shows that absences matter because they adversely affect academic success in the future.  There is a direct correlation between the number of days absent and performance in math and reading in the later grades.   Absence is linked with juvenile crime.  One Colorado study found that 90% of detained juveniles had a history of school absences; 80% of those who were high school dropouts were excessively absent.

DMC and DSO are Priorities for GA

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Disproportionate minority contact and detention of status offenders are the core issues for Georgia’s juvenile justice system, according to Joseph Vignati, Justice Programs Coordinator at the Governor’s Office for Children and Families.  Vignati will testify at a hearing on reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act in Washington D.C. this week.  He speaks with a loud voice, because he’s also the National Juvenile Justice Specialist for the Coalition for Juvenile Justice, representing 56 states and territories. Vignati says the JJDP Act requires states to focus on four core issues:

Removing juvenile offenders from adult jails
Separating juveniles from adults if they are held in the same lockup
Disproportionate minority contact
Minimizing the detention of status offenders

He believes the first two issues are less significant now than they were 20 years ago, because Georgia and other states have laws against housing children with adults, and separate detention centers for kids.  Vignati points out, “In FY 2009 we had only 23 juveniles locked up as adults across the state, and 20 of them lied about their age.

When Juvie is a Haven

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Some young people would rather serve time in juvenile detention than be out on the street in their own neighborhood.  An insightful column in the Boston Globe spells out why:

“For some, juvenile detention is very much like summer camp — most people hate being shipped off, some never get adjusted, but after a while it’s not as bad as it seems. Good behavior is rewarded, and detainees can earn take-out, movie, and video game rights. Still, that is not what makes detention appealing. For some, it is the certainty that they will see another day…None of them liked juvenile detention, but they preferred it to facing death.”

Read the rest at Boston.com

Family Group Targets Unruly Kids

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Floyd County has a program that is keeping runaways, truants and children caught up in other status offenses out of juvenile court.  The Parent and Family Support Group targets entire families.  The Rome News-Tribune is profiling the program in a series of stories. The Support Group was started by former Juvenile Court Probation Officer April Thomas. The group helps children like 13 year old Arianna Creamer, who was hitting and talking back to her mother, Julianne.  Julianne turned to Juvenile Court for help. Judge Timothy Pape tells the newspaper he tries to keep unruly kids from hurting themselves without treating them like criminals.

Drug Abuse and Mental Health

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85% of children treated for substance abuse also have mental health problems. The Child Welfare League of America reports this is a growing problem across the country.  In addition, 23.1 million people age 12 or older needed treatment for drugs or alcohol in 2008.  But only 9.9% of them got help at a specialty facility.

GA Children Trapped by Immigration Debate

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While the battle over immigration plays out across the country, children of immigrants in Georgia face fear, anxiety and stress-related health problems, according to a report from the Sapelo Foundation.  Children who are U.S. citizens by birth, are getting separated from their families more often as local police agencies arrest illegal immigrants under the expanding 287 (g) program.  The study also found women and children  who are victims of assault and domestic abuse are afraid to call police because they fear getting deported.  In Immigration Enforcement and its Impact on Latino Children in the State of Georgia, author Elise Shore spells out long-term, traumatic consequences for children.   Among the recommendations:

Prohibit checkpoints and road blocks near schools, churches and day care centers
Local police should adopt ICE humanitarian guidelines for sole caregivers
The foster care system needs bilingual and bicultural workers to understand the needs of immigrants

Ex-Judge to do Community Service

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A Marietta Magistrate Judge accused of allowing teenagers to drink at her home has accepted a deal that will spare her from serving jail time.  According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Diane Busch has tentatively agreed to do community service and have an alcohol assessment. Busch resigned from her post as a part time judge in Marietta and Woodstock, after a Christmas party last December. A noise complaint led police to her house at 3 AM, where they found her asleep, while teenagers were drinking elsewhere in the house.

New Child Welfare Law Specialists

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Move over Atticus Finch, there’s a new kind of lawyer in town: The Child Welfare Law Specialist. Georgia now has 17 of these specialized attorneys, certified by the National Association of Counsel for Children. They are uniquely qualified to represent children, parents and state welfare agencies in abuse, neglect and dependency cases:

Jamie Averett
Patricia Buonodono
Darice Good
Diana Johnson
Mary McCord
Kimberly Mullins
Temika Murry
Anissa Patton
Jennifer Satija
LaMia Saxby
Brooke Silverthorn
Jamie Smith
Leslie Stewart
Marie Watson
Suzanne Whitaker
Ashley Willcott
Rosalind Zollicoffer

Specialists must pass a written exam on child welfare law, and prove their knowledge through peer review, education and writing.  The Child Welfare legal specialty is recognized by the American Bar Association, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Children’s Bureau, The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, and other groups

If you know someone who might qualify, check out the application.  The next application deadline is August 15, 2010