Advocate a voice for DuPage county's youngest abuse victims

Stephanie Mogensen's job frequently requires her to hear and see things many of us couldn't stomach. But she does it because she loves children.

As a veteran case manager at the Jeanine Nicarico Children's Advocacy Center in Wheaton, Mogensen serves as an advocate for many of the 400 to 500 children victimized by reported cases of sexual abuse and severe physical abuse each year in DuPage County.

"We do the investigation and go to court if something is charged. We continue to be the child victim's advocate in court when they're meeting this new group of people involved in the court process," Mogensen said. "My role is to follow the children from the very first phone call through the end of the criminal proceedings and even further so that I am a familiar face for that child and their family."

Prior to joining the children's center 13 years ago, Mogensen earned a psychology degree and worked in the victim witness department of the DuPage County state's attorney's office. Ultimately, she decided she wanted to focus on helping children and found it rewarding.

"I've certainly been asked 'How can you do that?' Look, I love my job, but I'm not saying, "Yay for sex abuse.' I just feel like someone needs to be there for these kids and I feel like I'm equipped to do it and make a difference to the families and the children," Mogensen said. "I think it's an important and rewarding career."

Mogensen said some of her favorite moments are when she sees a victim "rise above and grasp the survivor mentality and succeed in life."

DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin, whose office oversees the center, said Mogensen's personnel file is "loaded" with thank-you letters from victims and their families who were appreciative of her compassion and attention to detail.

"That just shows you that, to Stephanie, it's not just a job. She truly cares about these victims and that makes her so effective and important to the office," Berlin said. "She's passionate. She loves her job and we're thankful she's here doing it."

And Mogensen, in turn, is thankful for the people she works with.

"I'm obviously thankful for my family and my child and my friends, but I'm also thankful for all the dedicated professionals who I work with. Everyone at the children's center is very dedicated," she said. "There's so many and I could never thank all of them. We have a common goal and I'm thankful for all of them and I hope they're thankful for me."