Back-To-school Safety

As the back-to-school season approaches, UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital Injury Prevention Team and Safety Store offer some tips to help keep children safe throughout the school year. 

Transportation Safety Tips

For walkers

• Choose safe routes: Teach your child to walk on the sidewalk whenever possible. If there’s no sidewalk, teach your child to walk facing traffic to be aware of oncoming vehicles.  

• Crossing streets: Before crossing the street, children should stop and look left, right, and left again to watch for cars. 

• Eye contact: Instruct your child to make eye contact with drivers before they cross the street to help ensure that drivers see them before crossing the street. 

• Stay alert: Distracted walking can be dangerous. Teach your child to stay alert by keeping phones and other distractions away while walking. 

For bike riders

• Wear a helmet: Make sure your child always wears a properly fitted helmet and bright clothing. Helmets are sold at the Safety Store. 

• Lane safety: Your child should ride on the right side of the road, in the same direction as traffic. They should maintain a single-file formation with other cyclists. 

• Crossing the street: Instruct your child to stop before crossing the street, and to walk their bike across the street. 

For bus riders

• Bus stop etiquette: Go to the bus stop with your child to teach them how to get on and off the school bus safely. 

• Maintain distance: Teach your child to stand at least six feet away from the curb on the sidewalk for safety reasons. 

• Bus riding etiquette: Inform your child to stay seated facing forward, and to speak in soft voices to not distract the bus driver. 

• Safety crossing the street: If crossing the street in front of the bus is necessary, teach your child to walk on the side of the road until they are ten feet ahead of the bus. This ensures both the child and the bus driver can see each other. 

For parents driving their children

• Observe speed limits: Obey school zone speed limits and follow the designated drop-off procedures.  

• Be alert: Make eye contact with children who are crossing the street to ensure their safety. 

• School bus safety: Never attempt to pass a school bus that is loading or unloading children. Maintain a safe distance—at least ten feet—from the school bus to allow children to safely enter and exit the bus. 

For teen drivers

• Practice regularly: Inexperience is a common cause of teen accidents. Practice driving with your teen every week, before and after they get their license. 

• Set a good example: Drive the way you would like your teen to drive.  

School Safety Tips

Backpack safety

• Manage weight: A backpack should weigh no more than 5% to 10% of your child’s body weight to avoid strain. 

• Use both straps: Encourage your child to use both straps to distribute the weight evenly on their shoulders. 

• Watch for rolling backpacks: While convenient, rolling backpacks should be used cautiously since they can create trip hazards in crowded hallways. 

Playgrounds and sports

• Avoid hazards: Leave necklaces and jackets with drawstrings at home to prevent strangulation hazards on playgrounds. 

• Avoid hot playground equipment: Teach your child to avoid playing on hot playground equipment, as burns can occur if the playground equipment is too hot from the sun. 

• Head injury awareness: While minor bumps are common in sports, head injuries should never be ignored. Prompt attention is crucial. 

Safety Store

The University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital Safety Store is the first of its kind in Iowa and serves families across the state, offering low-cost child safety products and an inventory that includes adaptable safety products designed specifically for children with special health care and educational needs. 

• Learn more about our Safety Store

Las Vegas Man Sentenced To Over 12 Years in Prison For Sex Trafficking Children While Visiting Metro-Detroit

For Immediate Release

U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Michigan

DETROIT – A Las Vegas man who sex trafficked children in metro-Detroit while visiting the area in December 2020 was sentenced to 12 years and 6 months in prison, United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison announced today.

Ison was joined in the announcement by Acting Special Agent in Charge Devin J. Kowalski, of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Detroit Field Division.

Jquon Wroten, 31, pled guilty to two counts of sex trafficking of a minor in April 2023. Wroten was sentenced today by United States District Judge Bernard A. Friedman.

Law enforcement first began investigating Wroten while attempting to locate two minor females who had run away from the Lansing area in late 2020. A relative of one of the minors contacted law enforcement with information and expressed fears that the minors were being trafficked in the Detroit area. Law enforcement recovered the minors from a motel room in Southfield, Michigan in December 2020 and learned that Wroten had recruited the minors to work for him after meeting them in a local motel while he was in town. Wroten and an adult female associate took the minors to a local beauty supply store and bought items in an effort to make them look older. Wroten then set up a commercial sex date for the minors at a residence in metro-Detroit and drove the minors to the date, where they engaged in commercial sex with multiple men. Wroten took proceeds from the sex trafficking for his own use.

“The sex trafficking of children is a hideous crime that preys on some of our district’s most vulnerable citizens,” said U.S. Attorney Ison. “The court’s sentence today is a just punishment and will prevent the defendant from further victimizing children here or anywhere else.”

“Protecting young people from dangerous predators is a top priority for the FBI in Michigan and across the country,” said Devin J. Kowalski, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Michigan. “Mr. Wroten in an example of how manipulative these criminals can be. I commend the work of the special agents, deputies, police officers, and prosecutors who worked to make our children safer by ensuring he remains behind bars for a significant period of time.”

This case was investigated by the FBI Detroit Division, FBI Las Vegas Division, FBI San Francisco Division, SEMTEC (Southwest Michigan Trafficking and Exploitation Crimes), and State of Michigan Children’s Protective Services.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Meghan Sweeney Bean and Eaton Brown.

Wagner Introduces Bipartisan Legislation to Protect Victims of Child Sexual Abuse

Help Find Missing Children. Let's Put An End To Child Abuse And Exploitation... Care.

The legislation enhances reporting of online child exploitation and requires online platforms to report child sex trafficking

Washington, D.C.  –  Today, Congresswoman Ann Wagner (R-MO), along with Representatives Sylvia Garcia (D-TX), Don Bacon (R-NE), and Zach Nunn (R-IA), released the following statement after she introduced the Child Online Safety Modernization Act:

“In 2022, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received more than 32 million reports of online child sexual abuse material, sometimes called ‘child pornography.’ That’s equal to approximately 87,600 reports per day of images and videos of children being sexually exploited. My legislation, the Child Online Safety Modernization Act, will advance common-sense, bipartisan, and bicameral solutions to help law enforcement investigate these cases, rescue vulnerable children, and apprehend online predators,” said Wagner.  “Additionally, this bill will make it clear that images and videos of children being raped is not ‘pornography,’ it is sexual abuse of a child. America cannot, and should not, accept a reality where innocent children are sexually exploited for financial gain. Congress must do everything in its power to end this scourge against humanity, and my legislation will help protect innocent victims from some of the most destructive criminals in our society.”

“In today’s modern society, it has become increasingly important to hold accountable those individuals that would sexually coerce and extort our children. As elected officials, there is no greater responsibility than ensuring we are keeping our children safe,’ said Garcia. “This is why I’m proud to co-lead the Online Safety Modernization Act of 2023 because it is a step toward preventing online sexual abuse from occurring in our society today.”

“As a father with six young children, there’s nothing in the world I wouldn’t do to protect them,” said Nunn. “The appalling number of reports of sexual abuse to the CyberTipline indicate that we have a crisis on our hands. We must take action to stop this horrific abuse and ensure victims get justice.” 

“It is troubling and heartbreaking to see the rise of child sexual exploitation on the internet and we must do everything we can to save these children by supporting the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children as fully as we can,” said Bacon. “By requiring reports from online platforms to provide more information to help law enforcement identify and locate the child victim and the individual who posted the image, we can save more children from a life of sexual trauma.”

Read the one-pager on this legislation here.

Supporting Organizations

National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC)

“NCMEC thanks Representatives Ann Wagner and Sylvia Garcia for their leadership in online child safety and the introduction of the Child Online Safety Modernization Act (COSMA).

“COSMA addresses the significant impact of child sex trafficking and enticement of children for sexual abuse by requiring online platforms to report these crimes to the CyberTipline. The bill also extends the preservation of CyberTipline data from 90 days to one year and ensures reports will be more actionable, which will help law enforcement safeguard victimized children. Lastly, COSMA provides a much-needed update to the criminal code by replacing the term "child pornography" with "child sexual abuse material" to more accurately reflect the rape and sexual abuse of children that is depicted in these images.

“NCMEC is proud to support this important legislation and applauds Representatives Wagner and Garcia for their continued dedication to the safety of our children.”  - Michelle DeLaune – President & CEO – NCMEC

National Children’s Alliance

“We cheer the introduction of COSMA by longtime Congressional champion for children, Rep. Ann Wagner of Missouri, to modernize and fix many of the paths by which children exploited online might be saved from their abuse,” said Teresa Huizar, CEO of National Children’s Alliance, the national association of Children’s Advocacy Centers. “Child sexual abuse materials are exploding in volume as our systems for online reporting and holding offenders accountable are stretched past their limits. The important changes to the CyberTipline and enhanced reporting requirements, plus the changes to federal law forever eliminating the inaccurate and victim-blaming term ‘child pornography’ from our federal laws, make the passage of the act a critical step toward an internet that minimally protects our children. We thank Rep. Wagner for her ongoing bipartisan leadership on behalf of children around the country, online and off.”

Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN)

 "Technology companies must effectively collaborate with law enforcement to address online sexual exploitation of children", said Stefan Turkheimer, Interim Vice President of Public Policy for the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network. "The Child Online Safety Modernization Act is a major step forward to ensure technology companies are doing their part to rescue victims and catch predators seen in child sexual abuse material that they host and show on their platforms.

International Justice Mission

“International Justice Mission (IJM) is pleased to support the Child Online Safety Modernization Act (COSMA). We are grateful for the leadership of Rep. Ann Wagner (R-TX) and Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX) in introducing this much-needed legislation. This bill will enhance reporting and preservation requirements for technology companies to the CyberTipline, which is operated by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).  In 2022, 89.3% of all CyberTipline reports were linked to potential offenders outside the U.S. and referred to law enforcement agencies in more than 140 countries. From IJM’s experience in training international law enforcement partners on CyberTipline investigations, it is clear that updates are desperately needed to the existing reporting framework. COSMA will help improve consistency, quality and timeliness in reports of suspected OSEC sent from electronic service providers to the CyberTipline. IJM’s 2020 study of livestreamed child sexual abuse in the Philippines found that victims were abused on average for two years prior to intervention, in part because of failures to detect, report or disrupt these crimes. These updated reporting requirements will help international law enforcement receive and respond to reports faster, helping to identify and remove more children from abuse sooner. IJM also supports COSMA’s increase in the period of time electronic service providers are required to keep content from reports submitted to the CyberTipline – from 90 days to 1 year. This critical change will give investigators much-needed time to conduct their important work.” – Nate King, Director of Congressional Affairs at International Justice Mission

Raven

"Today our children live and interact in an online environment. There are not enough reporting mechanisms, guidelines, and legislation to find victims and protect them. COSMA will do just that and more importantly ensure that the horrific victimization of children is described accurately as - child sexual abuse material.” – John Pizzuro, CEO of Raven

Ending Online Sexual Exploitation and Abuse of Children (OSEAC) Coalition

"Online sexual exploitation and abuse of children has increased exponentially since the COVID-19 pandemic", said the Ending Online Sexual Exploitation and Abuse of Children (OSEAC) Coalition. "In 2019, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline received over 16.8 million reports of suspected OSEAC. In just 3 years, that number has nearly doubled to over 32 million. The Child Online Safety Modernization Act is essential in ensuring that law enforcement has the necessary information to successfully investigate reports and identify child victims. We applaud Representatives Ann Wagner and Sylvia Garcia for their leadership on this important issue."

Missouri KidsFirst

“Online sexual exploitation is an issue of great concern to providers who serve victims of child abuse, including Missouri’s Child Advocacy Centers (CACs). While we know the presence of Child Sexual Abuse Materials (CSAM) is becoming more frequent in child abuse investigations, reliable data has been a consistent challenge to the field. This can delay the system response by law enforcement and child protective services and limit access to victim services,” said Jessica Seitz, Executive Director of Missouri KidsFirst, the state’s network of CACs. “We thank Representative Wagner for introducing this legislation which will promote justice and healing to children who have been exploited.”

Missouri Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence (MOCADSV)

“The Child Online Safety Modernization Act seeks to replace the term “child pornography” with “child sexual abuse material” throughout U.S. federal statutes. Child victims depicted in such imagery have no consent and no control over their sexual exploitation, and U.S. federal law should accurately reflect this abuse. MOCADSV supports Representative Wagner’s efforts to increase online safety for children, and update federal statutes to accurately name this abuse.” – Matthew Huffman, Chief Public Affairs Officer.

Protect All Children from Trafficking (PACT)

"Our nation's laws have failed to catch up with technology and the internet. By holding online platforms accountable, The Child Online Safety Modernization Act is a step forward to ensuring all children can access the internet free from exploitation and abuse." – Alexander Delgado, Director of Public Policy.

National Center on Sexual Exploitation

"It's time for the House of Representatives to act to protect children online. COSMA provisions mainly match bills already approved by Senate Judiciary Committee. Let's see a Child Protection Congress this year!” - Dawn Hawkins, CEO, National Center on Sexual Exploitation.

‘We have the internet, it’s not going away’: How to keep children safe online

Natalie Faas News10NBC

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Spencerport superintendent is encouraging families to ask their children about their online activity after a middle school teacher was arrested on child pornography charges. Ian Milam of Pittsford is a sixth grade math teacher at Cosgrove Middle School in Spencerport. 

Greece Police started investigating him back on May 3. Prosecutors say Milam posed as a high school student on Snapchat and sent and received sexually explicit photos and videos with young girls. 

Since that arrest News10NBC has been hearing from parents rattled by the disturbing allegations.

Parents are wondering what they can do to keep their children safe. News10NBC’s Natalie Faas spoke with the Bivona Child Advocacy Center on Wednesday to see what advice they could offer.

The people at Bivona deal with cases of child abuse in all forms. They are trained to teach both children and adults how to prevent, respond and react to abuse and how to stay safe in all environments.

Bivona’s outreach work is all about educating children and adults. The experts help kids learn how and when to tell a safe adult that they need help. They work with adults on how to react if their child tells them someone is hurting them, and what they should do. 

A major focus is on online safety. With social media constantly evolving, it can be hard to keep up. 

Bivona keeps an extensive database of child safety resources — like a list of apps that parents can use to monitor what their children are doing on their devices, and who they are interacting with. 

“Check your children’s phones, check your children’s devices on a regular basis,” explains Danielle Lyman-Torres, president and CEO of Bivona Child Advocacy. “Make sure you have some settings on there, some parental settings, especially for younger children to maybe block some content. The reality is that we have the internet, it’s not going away, and we are not going to be able to keep children from using it. But we need to be sure that we are being vigilant and checking.”

If you want to know more or need Bivona’s help, they can be reached at (585)935-7800 or click here for their website.

Nearly 100 arrested in global child sex abuse operation launched after murder of FBI agents

BY EMILY MAE CZACHOR CBS NEWS

Close to 100 people have been arrested in Australia and the United States in connection with a global online child abuse network uncovered in the aftermath of a high-profile murder of two FBI agents, authorities announced this week. 

The myriad charges for alleged child abuse stem from the killings of two FBI special agents, Daniel Alfin and Laura Schwartzenberger, who were fatally shot in 2021 while serving a warrant in Sunrise, Florida, to search the apartment of a suspect allegedly tied to a case involving violent crimes against children. 

FBI Special Agent Laura Schwartzenberger and FBI Special Agent Dan Alfin were shot and killed in the line of duty serving a search warrant in Sunrise, Florida, on Feb. 2, 2021.FBI

The deaths of Alfin and Schwartzenberger, who both specialized in investigating crimes against children, spurred a wider international probe into an illicit online platform whose members are accused of sharing child abuse material on the dark web, according to the Australian Federal Police. 

news release

 as a "sophisticated" digital network. Members are believed to have produced, searched for and distributed images and videos of child abuse material on the dark web, officials said. 

Two people have been sentenced in Australia for their ties to the massive investigation, while the others have active cases in court, according to the federal police. In addition to the 19 arrests, authorities also removed 13 Australian children from harm over the course of the probe. Federal police allege some of those children were "directly abused" and others were removed as a precaution.

Called "Operation Bakis," the joint investigation involving state and local authorities in various parts of Australia ran alongside a U.S. investigation led by the FBI. The FBI investigation has so far led to the arrests of 79 people allegedly connected to the online network, the Australian Federal Police said. That probe has led to the convictions of 43 people for child abuse offenses, the Associated Press reported.

The suspects — who were arrested across Australia, including in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia — collectively face 138 charges related to the investigation. One suspect described as a "public servant" by federal police was already sentenced to 14 1/2 years in prison in June after pleading guilty to 24 charges. The same month, a call center operator on the NSW Central Coast was sentenced to five years after pleading guilty to possession of an estimated five terabytes of child abuse material.

AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE

"The success of Operation Bakis was only possible because of the close working relationship between the AFP-led ACCCE [Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation] and the FBI, and our dedicated personnel who never give up working to identify children who are being sexually assaulted or living with someone who is sharing child abuse material," said Australian Federal Police Commander Helen Schneider in a statement. 

Schneider added that "the lengths that these alleged offenders went to in order to avoid detection makes them especially dangerous - the longer they avoid detection the longer they can perpetuate the cycle of abuse."

Most of the suspects in Australia worked in jobs that required a high degree of knowledge in the field of information communications technology, the federal police said, noting that alleged members of the online platform "used software to anonymously share files, chat on message boards and access websites within the network." The suspects are accused of using methods like encryption to remain anonymous online and avoid being identified by law enforcement.

Both Australian and U.S. authorities noted that the success of Operation Bakis hinged on cooperation between agencies in both countries.

"The complexity and anonymity of these platforms means that no agency or country can fight these threats alone," FBI legal attaché Nitiana Mann said in a separate statement. "As we continue to build bridges through collaboration and teamwork, we can ensure the good guys win and the bad guys lose."

Mann said the FBI alerted authorities in other countries to additional suspects in their jurisdictions who are allegedly connected to the online child abuse ring, but did not did say which countries, according to the Associated Press.

Man Accused Of Trying To Kidnap, Offering To Buy Child: Norwalk PD

Police said the man is accused of trying to remove a child from a parked car, then asking a woman if she wanted to sell the child for money.

RJ Scofield,Patch Staff

A man accused of trying to take a child out of a parked car in Norwalk, then offering to purchase the child for money, was arrested Sunday evening, according to police. (Al Branch/Patch)

NORWALK, CT — A man accused of trying to take a child out of a parked car in Norwalk, then offering to purchase the child for money, was arrested Sunday evening, according to police.

In a news release, Police Lt. Joe Dinho said officers were called to Bouton Street around 5:30 p.m. after receiving a report of a man trying to take a child out of a parked car.

A woman told police once she unbuckled the child's seatbelt in the back of the vehicle, an unknown man reached in and began to remove the child from the car, Dinho said.

When responding officers found a man that matched the description, he was slurring his words and appeared to be under the influence of an unknown substance, police said. The man was then identified by the woman as the person who tried to take the child, Dinho said. 

Jose Domingo, 37, of Norwalk, was arrested and taken to police headquarters for processing, where he was found to have a substance that tested positive for cocaine in his possession, Dinho said.

Domingo was charged with risk of injury to a child, possession of controlled substance, second-degree breach of peace and second-degree kidnapping. He was held on a $150,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court later this month, according to Dinho.

For The Children...

 

By Brett Fletcher @TrinityMount

I urge The Congress, The Senate and all the people on The Hill - please, for the sake of Missing and Exploited Children stateside and worldwide: do not allow partisan blindness to steer you view of a global catastrophe - the sex trafficking of children. While bickering and fighting for partisan superiority takes priority over the well-being of the only innocent among us, children, this despicable crime yields the highest profits globally.

Do not take my word for it, look to the people and organizations that deal with this human tragedy on a daily basis: NCMEC, ICMEC, INTERPOL, International and national Law Enforcement, police departments, DOJ, DHS, FBI, as well as other child advocates and organizations who are sounding the alarm, and have been for years and years.

This must be a bipartisan concern, anything else is shameful and disgraceful. Listening to people who have a voice, failing to recognize the enormity of this issue is appalling and turning a deaf ear to the cries of children waiting to be rescued from the grips of pure evil. Open your heart, open your eyes and join the fight to rescue these children by all means possible. This is not a political problem... please stop treating it as if it were.

Brett Fletcher - Founder of Trinity Mount Ministries

https://www.TrinityMountMinistries.com

https://www.TrinityMount.Info

Photo: ECPAT-ICMEC | 103 Certificate | ICMEC

This Certificate of Completion is awarded to:

Brett Fletcher

to mark your successful completion of the course

ECPAT-ICMEC | 103: Agents of Change Tools for Frontline Workers to End Sexual Exploitation of Children.