Fort Garry Hotel, Spa and Conference Centre Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada May 18-20, 2010

The Canadian Centre for Child Protection is excited to host our 10th annual Missing and Exploited Children Conference (MECC), which will take place from May 18-20, 2010 at Winnipeg's Fort Garry Hotel, Spa and Conference Centre. The goal of this three-day training conference, which is attended by law enforcement members, social workers, educators and prosecutors, is to broaden the knowledge of those involved in child protection surrounding the issues of missing and exploited children.

The leading conference of this type in Canada, MECC provides training by expert speakers from around the world on a wide range of issues, including the detection and investigation of child victimization and internet related exploitation as well as offering a unique glimpse of the victim's perspective. With the rapid growth in online crimes against children, the training needs of professionals working in the area of child protection have changed immensely, making this conference important to those working in the field. As training opportunities of this caliber are few and far between, particularly in Canada, this conference has grown each year, attracting participants from each province and territory who work with exploited children and/or aim to prevent child victimization.

This is a must-attend conference for law enforcement members, social workers, educators, prosecutors and non-profit employees who work with exploited youth. This year's conference will feature a well-rounded, engaging group of speakers, including:


Dr. Sharon Cooper - JUST ADDED!
Sharon Cooper, MD, a forensic pediatrician for the past thirty years, has literally written the book on child sexual exploitation as the lead author of the most comprehensive text on child sexual exploitation crimes and Internet crimes against children. An internationally-renowned expert on child exploitation, Dr. Cooper shares her knowledge by serving as an instructor and board member of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Through her practice, Dr. Cooper cares for victims of child pornography, cyber-enticement and prostitution while serving on the faculty of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Medicine.

You will not want to miss her lecture - a rare opportunity to see her present in Canada - which will focus on:

  • Her groundbreaking work on the complexities surrounding disclosure of sexual abuse and exploitation.
  • The role of first responder in disclosure and the use of effective strategies.
  • Case studies to demonstrate current biases when dealing with adolescent disclosure and solutions for effective intervention with multi-disciplinary coordination.

Dr. Anna Salter is a clinical psychologist who consults half time to the Wisconsin Department of Corrections in addition to lecturing and consulting on sex offenders and victims throughout the world. Dr. Salter also evaluates sex offenders for civil commitment proceedings and other purposes. She testifies as an expert witness in sexual abuse civil and criminal. She is the author of: Predators: Pedophiles, Rapists and Other Sex Offenders; Who They Are, How They Operate and How We Can Protect Ourselves and Our Children; Transforming Trauma: A Guide to Understanding and Treating Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse; and, Treating Child Sex Offenders and Victims: A Practical Guide. For more information on Dr. Salter, visit www.annasalter.com.

Geraldine Crisci specializes in the assessment and treatment of child sexual abuse and has developed protocols for trauma assessment, and the assessment of sexualized behaviour in children. She provides clinical consultation to a variety of sexual abuse treatment programs, children's mental health centres and treatment residences. She is an expert witness in criminal court in the areas of sexual abuse, disclosure process, memory and suggestibility in young children, and investigative interviewing. Her lecture will provide MECC attendees with expertise on investigative interviewing with preschool children.

D/Cst. Rob WARREN
A former school teacher, D/Cst. Rob Warren is well aware of the issues plaguing youth. Today Mr. Warren is working to combat some of these issues as a Child Abuse Investigator with the Saanich Police Department. His presentation will detail Internet Child Exploitation Offences from the Police Investigator's perspective, covering the following issues:

  • Vicarious victimization for ICE Investigators
  • Online "Communities" of ICE Offenders
  • Technical Aspects of ICE Investigations (IP Address and Hash Values)
  • The spread of CSAI around the globe on file sharing networks
  • Offender use of CSAI
  • The critical link between online offenders and contact offenders

Case Study: Parental Abduction - Sam lost 8 1/2 months of his life to a person that he was supposed to look up to and listen to. He lost 8 1/2 months of time with his friends and family to a person he was supposed to love and strive to emulate. He lost 8 1/2 months of his life to his dad. He was abducted by his own father when he was just 10 years old. Hear his story: the abduction, his life during those 8 1/2 months, reuniting with family and friends and then facing his abductor.
In addition, hear from his mother, Abby Potash. She now works for the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children as the program manager of Team Hope - a network of parents across the United States (and a few in Canada) who provide support to parents who are dealing with a missing child. The Team Hope program is in the process of expanding to provide support to parents who have a child who is being sexually exploited. Abby's son Sam was abducted by his biological father when he was 10 years old. Abby and Sam, along with law enforcement officials involved in their case, will present their story pre-abduction, abduction, recovery and healing.

Agenda for Law Enforcement / Prosecution
Agenda for Child Welfare / Education

Click here for more information and to register.