UPDATED: Jan. 23, 1:29 a.m.

Christine Garvey said it is important people realize child sexual abusers are not always a ‘stranger in a trench coat,’ but that in most instances, the abuser is someone the child and his or her family knows.

Garvey, the chief assistant district attorney with the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office, was one of six panelists that met at Onondaga Community College at 6:30 p.m. Thursday to shed light on some of the issues raised regarding child sexual abuse following the Bernie Fine case and the Pennsylvania State University scandal.

‘Preventing Child Abuse in Youth Athletics: A Call to Action’ was hosted by the McMahon/Ryan Child Advocacy Center and functioned like a town hall meeting. It was free and open to the public.

Other members on the panel included community members Dan Leonard, a childhood sexual abuse survivor; Julie Cecile, executive director of the McMahon/Ryan Child Advocacy Center; Allison Young, director of sexual abuse services and director of family transition services at Elmcrest Children’s Center; Ellen Ford, clinical director at Vera House; Sgt. Jack Schmidt of the Onondaga Sheriff’s Office; and Tim Donovan, director of the State University of New York Youth Sports Institute.

The meeting was moderated by Becky Palmer, a radio host on local station B104.7.

More than 50 people attended the meeting, including coaches, teachers, university administrators and community residents.

At the beginning of the meeting, parts of a short documentary titled ‘Child Sexual Predators: The Familiar Stranger’ were shown. The documentary explained that child sexual abuse is not an uncommon crime, though it is usually thought of as a taboo subject. One in every four girls and one in every six boys are sexually abused by age 18, according to the documentary.

Leonard is one of those victims.

As the first panelist to speak, Leonard said he was abused by a football coach from ages 11 to 13. He said he came to the meeting because he wanted to put a name and face to victims of child abuse.

Leonard said he wanted community members to be able to engage in an open conversation about the different types of abuse that can happen to children.

‘No one really likes to talk about children being abused,’ he said. ‘We want you to stop pretending that ‘it’ doesn’t happen in your community.’

Parents should be vigilant when looking for signs that their child is being abused, Leonard said. He said two red flags are if an adult is trying to make the child his or her best friend, and if the child and the adult are spending a lot of one-on-one time together.

These, he said, are two signs that parents should question or not allow.

‘Don’t trust another adult with your child,’ Leonard said.

Each panelist spoke for about 10-15 minutes each and went over topics, such as what child abuse is, the signs and symptoms of abuse, the characteristics of a sex offender and how to report abuse.

Donovan, director of the SUNY Youth Sports Institute and Syracuse University alumnus, said it can be tricky dealing with child abuse within youth athletics. Sometimes, he said, it can be hard to see the signs of abuse and differentiate a dedicated and friendly coach from a potential predator.

‘Some of the best people we know are volunteers with our kids,’ he said.

Donovan said he wanted to approach the meeting organizationally and suggested youth athletic groups create a new position on their board of directors, a coordinator of child protection standards and practices. He said this person would be certified in identifying abuse and would be in charge of sharing information with parents, coaches and other board members.

Donovan said some organizations are starting to do this. He said this will help improve the standards within youth sports.

‘We don’t want people who would abuse young people to be comfortable in our organizations,’ he said.

When the panelists were done speaking, audience members were able to ask questions by submitting written note cards. The meeting lasted two hours.

Syracuse resident Carol Holbrook said she came to the meeting because she has four kids involved in youth sports. She said she thinks it’s important that issues of child sexual abuse aren’t ignored.

‘People need to talk about it,’ Holbrook said. ‘I think this helped.’

Cecile, executive director of the McMahon/Ryan Center, said she was pleased with the audience turnout.

‘I’m glad that people made the trip here,’ she said.

Cecile said she and other organizers started planning the meeting after news broke about the Penn State scandal. Once news broke about the Fine case at SU, it brought these issues to the forefront of the Syracuse community.

‘It’s my mission in life,’ she said, ‘and I think it’s important that we continue this conversation.’

snbouvia@syr.edu

Published on January 19, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Stephanie: snbouvia@syr.edu | @snbouvia