Will County plans sex trafficking summit
Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow will sponsor a Child Sex Trafficking Summit in September where community leaders will discuss steps being taken to protect children and outline future strategies to end such exploitation.
The summit, held in conjunction with the Will County Children's Advocacy Center and the National Criminal Justice Training Center, will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 7 at the Renaissance Center, 214 N. Ottawa St., in downtown Joliet.
It's designed for law enforcement officials, educators, business and industry leaders, prosecutors, child welfare advocates/DCFS, probation professionals, victim services advocates, and elected officials.
Glasgow established the Will County Children's Advocacy Center in 1995 to improve investigations into child sexual abuse.
Children who have been sexually abused come to the center to provide recorded statements to specially trained and compassionate forensic interviewers. The center also provides counseling, as well as referrals, to other medical and social services so the healing process for these vulnerable victims can begin.
"The Children's Advocacy Center has been working for more than two decades to provide hope, healing and justice for abused children," Glasgow said in a written statement.
"Through this summit, we are expanding our efforts to end the systematic sexual exploitation of our children and remove dangerous child predators from our community."
As part of this initiative, Glasgow and the Children's Advocacy Center have formed a Will County Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children Coalition. The state's attorney also has designated a specialized Child Sexual Exploitation Advocate to provide case management support and advocacy to youths who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation.
Glasgow also implemented a high technology Crimes Against Children Unit in 2012 to track and prosecute predators who trade child pornography online.
Research has documented disturbing links between those who exploit children by collecting and trading sexually abusive images and those who are hands-on abusers.
The unit has uncovered a number of cases involving defendants who were actually producing child pornography and who were hands-on abusers.
The team's work has enabled the Children's Advocacy to identify and help children even before they make an outcry of sexual abuse or a law enforcement/DCFS investigation begins.
The Child Sex Trafficking Summit will include facilitated discussions on identifying and rescuing victims of child sex trafficking as well as services that are available to victims.
The summit is free, but participants must register online at willcountycac.org. The deadline to register is Aug. 24.
For details, call (815) 723-1630.
If you go
What: Child Sex Trafficking Summit
When: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 7
Where: Renaissance Center, 214 N. Ottawa St., Joliet
Who: Sponsored by Will County state's attorney with Will County Children's Advocacy Center and National Criminal Justice Training Center
Cost: Free
Register: Required by Aug. 24 at willcountycac.org