A Victimization Prevention Symposium This Sunday
This Sunday, there will be an all day community symposium on some difficult but important topics including child abuse prevention, predator awareness and family safety.
Susanne Vyhmeister, event organizer of ‘Not A Target’, was Wednesday’s KVML “Newsmaker of the Day”.
The free symposium is open to the public and is a family event. It will be held at the Discover Life Seventh-Day Adventist Church, located at 40 N. Forrest Road in Sonora, California.
Attendees will learn what can make them or their child a target and how to identify predator behavior from two of the top world experts on child exploitation.
Guest speaker Matt Sandusky will share his story of survival and hope. Matt Sandusky is the adopted son of Jerry Sandusky. Jerry is a convicted serial child molester and retired American football coach who spent most of his career at Pennsylvania State University. Matt helps other victims of abuse to gain peace through the process of coming forward and then setting them on the road of forgiveness.
Francey Hakes is one of the top experts in the nation on the topic of child victimization. Hakes was the first ever National Coordinator for Child Exploitation Prevention, has testified before Congress and has written articles regarding laws on child victimization.
Why is a community symposium like this important?
According to Vyhmeister, the National Center for Victims Of Crime reports that people abused as children are thirteen times more likely to be targeted for sexual assault later in life, than a person who was not abused as a child. Unresolved emotional pain and bitterness can make adults a target for sexual assault.
Solutions include stopping victimization before it even starts.
This Sunday is a chance to hear how you can better protect yourself, your children, your grandchildren, your students, or any child in your life from child predators.
The Program Guide includes:
10:30am- 11am Opening Session with Local Law Enforcement
11am – 12:30pm The Virtue of Vigilance with Francey Hakes.
1:30 – 3:00pm Turning Pain Into Power with Matt Sandusky.
3:30 – 4:30pm Protecting Children From Offenders, Child exploitation, Mandatory Reporting, the Dark Net, and much more with Francey Hakes.
5:00 – 6:30pm Question and Answer Session. Questions can be submitted anonymously ahead of time or in person during the symposium.
More information can be found on www.notatarget.org
The “Newsmaker of the Day” is heard every weekday morning on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 AM.
