Workshop seeks youth safety from predators

The Churchill County Sheriff’s Office and Churchill Community Coalition sponsored an all-day workshop last week that focused on keeping children, churches, schools and youth service organizations safe from sex offenders.

“This training was suggested to me by a local concerned citizen, asking that I consider sponsoring it,” said Sheriff Ben Trotter. “I believed it was a great opportunity to provide some community outreach training on a topic that is near and dear to my heart — protection of children from predators.”

Trotter added they were fortunate to be able to have Cory Jewell Jensen of the Center for Behavioral Intervention in Oregon.

“She is a renowned expert on this topic and is booked around the globe for these training workshops,” Trotter said.

The workshop, “Sex Offenders: Keeping Children, Churches, Schools and Youth Service Organizations Safe,” was presented in the county commission chambers and was attended by over 50 people, comprised primarily of church leaders but including some law enforcement, social workers, child care workers and other related professions.

“Initially, I invited all churches and known day-care entities from Churchill County,” the sheriff said. “I then extended the invitation to the same entities statewide and to law enforcement.”

Trotter described Jensen as a huge wealth of knowledge and experience on the topic and as someone who opened the eyes of all the attendees.

The training is also valuable for parks and recreation or camp staff as well as human resources and risk management professionals.

Workshop topics included statistics, common “grooming tactics” used by offenders, professional perpetrators, responding to abuse victim disclosures and reporting, responding to children’s sexual behavior problems, family education, offender traits or “red flag” behaviors to watch for, child safety policies and practices that help protect public and private agencies, suggestions for safety planning with known offenders (particularly in churches), and employee/volunteer screening and training.

There were also informative videoed interviews and discussions.

Jensen, an award-winning and published professional, is currently the senior trainer for CBI Consulting and recently retired from a 35-year-career of providing evaluation and treatment services to adult sex offenders and their families.

In addition to her clinical work, she provided training and consultation to the National Center for the Prosecution of Child Abuse, the National Child Advocacy Center, the U.S. Marshall’s Office, the New York Police Department Special Victims Unit, the U.S. Navy and others. She has also testified as an expert witness in local and federal courts and been a guest on radio talk shows and the Oprah Winfrey Show.

For more information on this subject, contact the Churchill Community Coalition at 775-423-7433 or the CCSO at 775-423-3116.