Nevada Children’s Advocate Announces Program Milestone

Nevada State Children’s Advocate Vic Schulze has announced that the child safety program SHOUT OUT LOUD has reached a milestone in its efforts to reduce abductions of Nevada’s children. The Office of the State Children’s Advocate, in partnership with Nevada Child Seekers and the Clark County School District’s Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program, sponsors an educational program where trained presenters go into schools and teach groups of children, those in kindergarden through third grade, age-appropriate strategies for responding to abduction attempts by perpetrators. The presentations include a discussion between the presenter and a puppet named Tobie, who talk about child safety issues and invite the participation by the children. As one of the presenters, Children’s Advocate Vic Schulze has recently carried the message of child safety to 2000 Nevada Children, and plans many more presentations, along with volunteer presenters inside and outside of the school district. “Our plans, in conjunction with Nevada Child Seekers and the Clark County School District, are to take the message of child safety and to teach abduction reduction strategies to as many children as is humanly possible, both in Clark County and by spreading the program to other areas of the State as well. Child safety is our number one priority. We are honored that Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto has been so supportive of the program to enhance the well-being of Nevada’s children”, Schulze said.
 

Attempted Child Abduction Follows Enticement

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that St. Louis area police were investigating an October attempted abduction of a 12 year old boy. The attempted abduction occurred when two men in a slow-moving car approached the boy and offered him an Ipod as an enticement to enter the car. The boy ran home and reported the attempt. The incident took place near the location of an earlier attempted abduction of another boy just days earlier involving a slow moving car.
 

Man Detained For Abduction Attempt

The Black Hills (S.D.) Pioneer has reported that a man who reportedly tried to lure a 13 year old girl into a van in October was detained and questioned by local police in Rapid City. The victim of the attempted abduction did not get in the van, but ran to a nearby business and reported the crime. The van was captured on the video camera of the business, which assisted police in locating the suspect.
 

Threat Proceeds Abduction Attempt

The Pinal County, Arizona Sheriff’s Office reported that a female fourth grade student was the victim of an attempted abduction at the child’s school. The suspect allegedly jumped over a fence at the school, grabbed the student, and held something to her neck. The assailant told the student that he knew where she lived and that he would be back again after school. He then jumped back over the fence and departed the area in a red sports car.
 

Child Drugged, Assaulted, Murdered

KOB broadcasting reports that a Montpelier, Vermont man was charged by federal prosecutors with drugging, assaulting, and murdering his 12 year old niece. The child disappeared in June, 2008 from her home in Braintree, Vermont, and her body was found a week later in a shallow grave. Her disappearance triggered Vermont’s first Amber Alert. Because the federal grand jury made special findings in conjunction with the killing, the suspect is eligible for the death penalty. The suspect allegedly persuaded another girl to help in the kidnapping of the victim, who was herself a victim of repeated sexual assault by the same suspect, who had intimidated the girl by persuading her that into believing that a non-existent shadowy child sex club would harm her or kill her family if she did not engage in sex acts with him over an extended period of time, according to the U.S. Attorney assigned to the case. The suspect videotaped the acts of sexual assault against the second child, and distributed the images in interstate commerce.