The Safe Child Project
LOGAN — The Cache Children’s Justice Center will be hosting The Policy Project and Prevent Child Abuse Utah, for a parent and community education night in Cache County. The presentation will be at the Riverwoods Conference Center, Tuesday, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m.
Stephanie Kendrick from the Children’s Justice Center said the goal of the event is to educate citizens about child sexual abuse and ways to prevent it.
“So this will provide an opportunity for parents, community members, and local leaders, to learn more about The Safe Child Project,” explained Kendrick. “Those attending will be able to participate in trainings that will be led by experts on abuse prevention and create a plan, to prevent child sex abuse within their family and community.”
The Safe Child Project seeks to strengthen existing Utah code and secure funding through a public-private partnership with the Utah Legislature to ensure that all K-6 students have the opportunity to receive sexual abuse prevention education.
Scott Bodily has worked with child victims for years, first as an investigator with the Logan City Police Department, and later as the director of the CJC. He said, in most cases the victims that he has worked with knew their abusers.
“There is a level of trust that is used by predatory individuals,” explained Bodily. “They rely and depend on it to get close to the child and the child’s primary caretakers, to be able to manipulate the situation, so that they can have access and abuse the child. That continues through the media and game systems. That is where it starts, they are trying to gain the child’s trust.”
Child sexual abuse is a more significant problem than many realize. According to The Policy Project, one in seven Utah children experiences sexual abuse before the age of 18, with children ages seven to 13 being the most vulnerable.
Interim Cache County Attorney Taylor Sorensen oversees the prosecution of people arrested for abusing children. He said this is becoming as much of a problem in Cache Valley as it is in other parts of the country.
“We have a Special Victim’s Unit,” said Sorensen. “We have attorneys who are solely dedicated to prosecuting these types of crimes. They have a heavy workload. Per capita, Logan and Cache County are no different than any other city. We’re anxious to try and stop it because once it comes to us, it has already happened and we want to try and prevent it.”
Kendrick said everyone is welcome to come learn and show their support. She hopes the community’s presence will show the legislature that the state is ready to make a change to prevent child sexual abuse.