Two programs are set for next week on child safety in the wake of two recent high-profile cases of sexual predation.
A nationally recognized program out of Vermont will hold sessions for police, teachers, volunteers and other professionals on how to spot potential child abuse on Monday and Tuesday at the Crossbridge Key Biscayne, 160 Harbor Drive.
Prevent Child Abuse Vermont will hold a meeting for parents at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
Then on Wednesday, the Village will hold a community outreach meeting at 6 p.m. at Village Hall’s community room on human trafficking, internet safety for children, and how to keep children safe during the summer.
The arrest of resident William McCaughan Jr., on child pornography and other charges became public on New Year’s Eve. Longtime gymnastic coach Oscar Olea then was charged in February with sexual battery for allegedly having sex with two of his students more than a decade ago.
Anne Rothe, the director of Key Biscayne Presbyterian School, helped organize the sessions.
“I recognized that there was a need and a motivation for the community to address the issue,” Rothe said. “As a clinical social worker by training, I have always been aware of the risks all communities face – and Key Biscayne may be a paradise but that doesn’t mean we are immune.”
Rothe met resident Maura Somers Dughi, who works in child abuse advocacy, at a Village meeting in February and learned of the Vermont program. Somers Dughi said the Vermont program uses methods that “have been tested and replicated and where there is research that shows it has been effective.”
Prevent Child Abuse Vermont will lead the training portion of its Care for Kids program at the Presbyterian School, starting at 8:30 a.m. on Monday and Tuesday. The educational session for parents will teach them how to instill health boundaries and body sovereignty in their children.
Marcie Hambrik, a director with Prevent Child Abuse Vermont, said since the program started in the 1990s it has decreased child sexual abuse cases by 66% in the Green Mountain State. She said parents should know that 90% of child abuse involves someone the child knows already.
“The program is in really plain language that adults can understand,” Hambrick said. “It covers what child sexual abuse looks like so that they don’t have those misconceptions where they’re, you know, worried about strangers in the bushes.”
The school’s parent teacher association has agreed to help fund the program, Rothe said.
JOHN PACENTI is the executive editor of the Key Biscayne Independent. John has worked for The Associated Press, the Palm Beach Post, Daily Business Review, and WPTV-TV.