Agenda
2021 CEASE Virtual Conference:
Leaders in Combatting Child Sexual Abuse
and Trafficking at Home and Abroad
April 16, 2021
8:30am - 3:00pm EST
Welcome Remarks and Georgia's Response to the Commercial and Sexual Exploitation of Children: Building a National Model
8:30am - 10:15am EST
Welcome Remarks from
Marlan Wilbanks, Partner, Wilbanks & GouinlockProfessor Emma Hetherington, Director, CEASE ClinicDean Peter "Bo" Rutledge, University of Georgia School of LawAmy Boney
Director
Children's Advocacy Centers of Georgia's CSEC Response Team
Naeshia McDowell
Coordinator
Children's Advocacy Centers of Georgia's CSEC Response Team
Hon. Roxanne Formey,
JD, LLM
Judge
Chatham County Juvenile and H.O.P.E. Court
Debbie Garner
Special Agent in Charge
Georgia Bureau of Investigations, Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit
How Georgia is Working to End International Child Sex Trafficking
10:30am - 11:45am EST
David Okech, MSW, Ph.D., Associate Professor, University of Georgia School of Social Work
&
Director, African Programming & Research Initiative to End Slavery (APRIES)
Claire Bolton, M.A., Ph.D.
APRIES Program Manager - Sierra Leone
African Programming & Research Initiative to End Slavery (APRIES)
Hon. Justice Adrian J. Fisher
Justice of the High Court
Judiciary of the Republic of Sierra Leone
Break
11:45am - 12:30pm EST
Keynote Speaker:
Sarah Klein
12:30pm - 1:15pm
Sarah Klein is an attorney, an advocate for victims of sexual abuse, and a former competitive gymnast. Sarah is also one of the first known victims of former Olympic Women’s Gymnastics Larry Nassar, and in July 2018, at the ESPYs, Sarah accepted the Arthur Ashe Courage Award on behalf of herself and the hundreds of other survivors of Nassar’s sexual abuse. Prior recipients of the Ashe award include Nelson Mandela, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and Robin Roberts. Today, Sarah is a widely respected advocate for legal, cultural, and political change. Her op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer, “I lobbied to change the law after I was abused by Larry Nassar,” caught the attention of Pennsylvania’s Attorney General, and she has worked in New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, California and elsewhere for legal reform that will bring survivors healing and justice. Sarah believes that the time has come for the law to impose upon abusers and their enablers, both institutions and individuals, the legal consequences they deserve. Sarah is an alumna of Columbia University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Global Entrepreneurship program. She sits on the Board of Directors of CHILD USAdvocacy, an organization committed to protecting children’s civil liberties and keeping children safe from abuse. She also sits on the Board of the Montgomery County Advocacy Project (MCAP), preventing child abuse and neglect in Montgomery County through legal services, advocacy, and education.
Legislative Reforms for Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation
and Closing Remarks
1:30pm - 3:00pm EST
Kathryn Robb
Executive Director
CHILD USAdvocacy
Mike Griffin
Public Affairs Representative
Georgia Baptist Mission Board