Dr. Bill Bass, a man personally responsible for having trained over a quarter of the practicing forensic scientists today, will conduct a book signing and make a presentation on his decades of work in Jefferson City for his newest non-fiction work, Beyond the Body Farm,co-authored with Jon Jefferson. In this riveting book, the bone sleuth explores the rise of modern forensic science, using fascinating cases from his career to take readers into the real world of C.S.I.    

     Dr. Bass will be making the appearance on November 28 in support of the Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center and their work to serve child-victims of sexual abuse and other forms of severe abuse in the Fourth Judicial District, including Jefferson, Grainger, Cocke and Sevier counties.

     “There is no scientist in the world like Dr. Bill Bass”, notes Barry Fain, Board President for Safe Harbor. “He is a pioneer in forensic anthropology and created the world’s first laboratory dedicated to the study of human decomposition on three acres of land on a hillside in East Tennessee across the river from the University of Tennessee – Knoxville.”    

     Dr. Bass is a world-renowned forensic anthropologist and founder of the University of Tennessee’s Anthropology Research Facility – The Body Farm. He is the author or co-author of more than 200 scientific publications, as well as a critically acclaimed memoir about his career, Death’s Acre. Bass is also a dedicated teacher, honored as National Professor of the Year by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. “During fifty years as a forensic anthropologist, I’ve seen the bodies and bones of too many abused children,” says Bass. “In my job, I speak for the dead. Safe Harbor’s mission is to protect the living.”    

     Jon Jefferson, the co-author of Beyond the Body Farm, is a veteran journalist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. His writings have been published in the New York Times, Newsweek, USA Today, and Popular Science and broadcast on National Public Radio. He is also the writer and producer of two highly rated National Geographic documentaries about the Body Farm. “One of the saddest things I’ve ever seen was the battered skeleton of a toddler, who endured years of bone-breaking abuse before he died,” says Jefferson. “If Safe Harbor can prevent even one case of terrible child abuse like that, it will have made a huge difference in the world.”    

     “We are very pleased to have Dr. Bass join us again for a book signing and presentation on his life’s work in forensic anthropology”, concludes Fain. “This is the fourth time we have had an opportunity to partner with him in our district and the second time, now, in Jefferson City. I can’t wait to buy my copy of Beyond the Body Farm on November 28 th at the event. I had a hard time putting the other ones down, even to sleep.”    

     The event takes place from 6:00-9:00pm on November 28 at Stokely Memorial Hall/Cafeteria on the Carson-Newman campus (809 E. College St., Jefferson City, TN 37760) in the small dining room on the West side. Admission is a charitable donation to the Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center of $10 for adults and $5 for students, with a valid student ID. Receipts will be available, if requested, for tax purposes. Books-A-Million will be onsite with copies of the authors’ books for sale with a portion of the proceeds also being donated to Safe Harbor.

     To learn more about the Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center and their work to serve the child-victims of sexual abuse and other forms of severe abuse in our area, visit their website at www.SafeHarborCAC.com or contact their executive director, Donna J. Koester, by phone toll-free at (866) 774-1778 or by e-mail at Donna.J.Koester @ SafeHarborCAC.com. Safe Harbor is an IRS approved 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Donations to Safe Harbor are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

To learn about more Safe Harbor events in your area, check out our “Upcoming Events“ page.

     Seventy-five participants came from all over Tennessee and, even, North Carolina.  About eighteen of thosecame from right here in Tennessee’s Fourth Judicial District, including the district attorney’s office, law enforcement, juvenile court, child protective services and the Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center, for a unique training opportunity May 22-24 by the National Law Center for Children & Families. Participants joined together for three days at the Music Road Hotel & Convention Center to delve into one of the most serious issues, if not the most serious issue, facing society today – the sexual exploitation of children.

     Courses topics included: Sex Offender Management at the Local Level, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Resources, Interview Strategies in Child Exploitation Investigations, Child Pornography Prosecution, Understanding and Recognizing the Signs of Trafficking in Persons, Obscenity Investigation and Prosecutions, Coping Techniques for Professionals in Exploitation Cases, Referral of Cases for Federal Prosecution, The Adam Walsh Child Protection Act of 2006, Dangers of Online Social Networking, On-Scene Forensics and Technology Used by Sex Offenders, Role of Child Advocacy Centers in Sexual Exploitation Cases, and Computer Facilitated Crimes Against Children.

     Instructors included nationally renowned experts in their fields, including a retired FBI agent, a practicing Assistant U.S. Attorneys, a Special Deputy U.S. Marshal, former assistant general counsel from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and a host of others pioneering work in the field of sexual exploitation.

     This intensive three-day seminar was hosted by the Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center, a non-profit organization serving Tennessee’s Fourth Judicial District, including Jefferson, Grainger, Cocke and Sevier counties. Barry Fain, Safe Harbor’s board president, made the initial contact with the National Law Center to bring the seminar to the area. “One of our goals with Safe Harbor is to bring high quality training opportunities, like this seminar on child sexual exploitation, to our area for investigators and prosecutors to use in the field to combat severe child abuse and exploitation”, says Fain. “The more we can make available to them, the better they will be prepared to confront an ever changing threat. A significant focus of this seminar dealt with the constantly evolving threat of online enticement of children.”

     Law enforcement and prosecutors are also able to use the training received at this seminar to count toward their annual requirements for POST and MCLE, respectively.

     Post-seminar remarks by investigators include comments like “The training was very informative and covered many aspects that had not been covered at any of the trainings that I had gone to previously”, while another stated, “These sessions have been wonderful. They have been extremely informative and we’ve heard from some really great speakers with real experience about what they’re talking about. We’re definitely better prepared to deal with these kinds of situations now.”

     To learn more about Safe Harbor and their work to help combat child sexual abuse and other forms of severe abuse and neglect, visit their website at www.SafeHarborCAC.com or call their offices toll-free at (866) 774-1778. To learn more about the National Law Center for Children & Families, visit their website at www.NationalLawCenter.org or call (703) 548-5522.

     How does one go about investigating and prosecuting perpetrators for some of the most horrific types of offenses – those against innocent children?  That is precisely the skills that area investigators and prosecutors have the opportunity to hone in May, thanks to a ‘free’ intensive three-day seminar by the National Law Center for Children & Families and being hosted by theSafe Harbor Child Advocacy Center.  Sexually-related crimes against children can be some of the most daunting to investigate and prosecute but, still yet, all victims, especially children, deserve justice.

And, for these reasons, Safe Harbor has worked for months with the National Law Center (NLC) to bring this national training curriculum to our area, the first time it has ever been offered in Tennessee and, more specifically, in East Tennessee. 

“We are very excited about the opportunity to host the NLC and its staff in our district”, says Barry Fain, a founding member and President of Safe Harbor’s Board of Directors.  “NLC has served as an agent of change and education for years in the area of child sexual exploitation, advocating for laws and law enforcement agencies across the nation.  And, we are certainly grateful for their willingness to join us here in East Tennessee”, adds Donna Koester, also a founding member and Executive Director for Safe Harbor.

     NLC is a non-profit law center formed in 1991.  TheNational Law Center has played a major role in congressional efforts to strengthen protections for children and families against pornographers who exploit computer technology. NLC attorneys advised the sponsors of nearly all major bills of the last 15 years, including the Communications Decency Act of 1996, Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996, Child Online Protection Act of 1998, Children’s Internet Protection Act of 2000, Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, and PROTECT Act of 2003, and assists on child sexual exploitation and obscenity-related legislation on the state and federal level. NLC staff members have also been called as witnesses before congressional committees. 

     “Barry was able to work closely with some of NLC’s associate counsel, Keely Knipling and Tiffany Richards, to design the curriculum for this rigorous three-day seminar”, notes Koester.  “Some topics will have breakout sessions specific to participants’ individual roles as either investigator or prosecutor, to give them insight into their unique aspects of a child exploitation case.  Other topics will be joint sessions to further the team approach for successful investigation and prosecution of child sexual exploitation cases”, adds Fain.

     Investigators and prosecutors will whet their skills in areas including, but not limited to: Obscenity investigation and prosecution; Child pornography investigation and prosecution; Internet forensics for obscenity and child pornography; On-line enticement; Identifying trafficking; Child victim/witness interviews; Basic computer forensics; The Adam Walsh Child Protection & Safety Act of 2006; and Various other child sexual exploitation issues. 

     “We’ve had a solid response from law enforcement agencies in our district”, adds Fain.  “We hope that area prosecutors are able to find time to register for this seminar and take advantage of this unique training opportunity.  It is filling up very fast.  In just over a week’s time, we were at about 50 registered participants, roughly half of our total number for the seminar.  I suspect that, in about another week, we will be at capacity and closing enrollment, except for a standby list, if someone has to withdraw their registration for unforeseen reasons.”Not only has this nationally recognized seminar been brought to our area free-of-charge, law enforcement and prosecutors will likely have the opportunity to receive credit for annual training requirements they must fulfill.  NLC has submitted the seminar curriculum to the Police Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission and the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education (CLE) and Specialization for training credit for investigators and prosecutors, respectively. 

     Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center is a non-profit organization serving child-victims of sexual abuse and other forms of severe abuse and neglect in Tennessee’s Fourth Judicial District.  To learn more about their efforts to serve child-victims in Jefferson, Cocke, Grainger, and Sevier counties, visit their website at www.SafeHarborCAC.com or call their offices toll-free at (866) 774-1778.  “It should never hurt to be a child”, concludes Koester. “Everyone can help make the lives of innocent child-victims better with their time, talents and/or money.  We all have something to offer, even if we don’t immediately realize it

Our book signing fundraiser in Jefferson City at Carson-Newman College on 3/29/07 was a huge success.  Over a hundred people turned out to hear Dr. Bass, Jon Jefferson and Art Bohanan speak and autograph books.  The day after, I had people dropping by my office at work to tell me how people that had been there were talking about how great the evening was. 

We would especially like to thank Dr. Bass and Jon Jefferson for doing this event with us again this year.  An evening with them is always entertaining and insightful.

I would also like to think Dr. Bill Blevins for arranging the location and refreshments for the event at Carson-Newman College.

Dr. Bass and Jon Jefferson will be doing a similar event on 4/3/07 in Sevierville at the Sevier County Courthouse Annex in the 3rd floor meeting room from 5:00-8:00pm.  Admission will be $10 for adults and $5 for students.  Books-A-Million will be present with copies of the authors’ works for sale and a portion of those proceeds will also go to Safe Harbor.

Safe Harbor, in conjunction with Amber Alert, the USDOJ, Fox Valley Technical College and the Sevierville Police Department will be hosting a seminar for law enforcement and prosecutors from the 4th Judicial District and other areas on “Forensic Response to Missing & Abducted Children” February 21-22, 2007 in Sevierville, TN. 

This is the first time this training by the Amber Alert team has ever been offered in East Tennessee, let alone East Tennessee.

On December 9th and 10th, Lucas Francis Studio of Dandridge hosted the Clinky Classic 2, an art show featuring equine art from around the continental United States.  Paul and Kristina Francis, co-owners of Lucas Francis Studio auctioned several items of Kristina’s own equine art.  Auction items alone brought in over $1,000.00 in proceeds for Safe Harbor from the event.  And, according to Paul, it looks like their studio will hold a similar show next year to benefit Safe Harbor and our mission to serve child-victims of sexual abuse and other forms of severe abuse and neglect.

Greetings, Safe Harbor friends and supporters! 

On October 21st, Safe Harbor will be partnering with Johnson’s Brewing Station in Jefferson City, TN for an evening of music and fun to raise funds and, hopefully, a few dollars. 

The evening will feature the acoustical sounds of several local bands from around the area, covering the genres of classic rock, contemporary Christian and soul. 

There will also be face painting for the kids, limousine rides, crafts and more to enjoy for the evening.  Admission is $5.00 in advance, with tickets available at Johnson’s Brewing Station and room 200A of the Baker Building on the Carson-Newman College campus.  Tickets will also be available at the door on the night of the vent for $7.00.

Come out and enjoy us for an evening of music and fun over specially prepare coffees and foods.

Proceeds from ticket sales and a portions of the evening’s sales directly benefit Safe Harbor and our work with child victims of severe abuse and neglect.

We hope to see you there!

Sincerely,

Barry Fain

September 1st has arrived and we are preparing for the swearing in of our new office holders around the Fourth Judicial District.  We would especially like to welcome our new District Attorney General, James B. “Jimmy” Dunn, aboard. 

General Dunn has been prosecuting cases for many years in our district and has even spoken on behalf of his former boss, retiring District Attorney General Al Schmutzer, at training efforts that Safe Harbor has hosted for the CPITs (Child Protective Investigative Teams) in our area.

I also feel it proper to wish Mr. Schmutzer well in his semi-retirement.  We hope that his family and he get to enjoy some well-deserved time together in the coming years.

Sincerely,

Barry Fain, President