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From YouTube: St. Charles County Pinwheel Ceremony 2019
Description
St. Charles County hosted a Pinwheel Garden Dedication Ceremony in recognition of National Child Abuse Prevention Month.
A
Good
morning,
I'm
Steve
Elmen,
the
County
Executive
ever
want
to
welcome
you
to
your
courthouse
first
of
all.
Secondly,
I
want
to
thank
all
of
you
out
there
to
my
side
here
and
everyone
that's
been
involved
in
this
effort.
You
know
st.
Charles
County.
We
were
ranked
number
one
again
as
the
healthiest
county
in
the
state
and
when
people
tell
me
that
I
give
a
lot
of
credit
to
the
people
themselves
for
making
good
lifestyle
decisions.
But
you
know
even
with
us
doing
that
we
still
have
problems
in
this
county.
A
We
still
have
alcoholism
and
we
still
have.
We
still
have
drug
problems
and
we
still
have
child
abuse,
but
it's
not
as
bad
as
some
other
places
because
of
the
efforts
of
people
like
yourselves,
but
just
because
it's
not
as
bad
as
some
other
places
doesn't
mean
we
could.
We
should
sit
back
and
congratulate
ourselves.
We
should
thank
all
of
you
for
what
you
do
and
then
rededicate
ourselves
to
doing
an
even
better
job.
Now
we've
got
some
people
up
here,
they've
been
doing
the
job,
and
my
part
in
this
is
very,
very
limited.
A
What
I
do
is
take
your
tax
dollars
and
myself
and
the
County
Council
we
appropriated
and
give
it
to
some
of
these
people
to
do
the
work
that
they
do
so
I've
got
a
whole
list
of
accomplishments
that
they
have
had,
but
I'm
gonna
go
ahead
and
leave
it
up
to
them
to
tell
you
about
them
and
once
again,
thanks
to
each
of
you
out
there
for
what
you
do
for
this
cause.
Thank
you.
B
Thank
You
mr.
almond,
captain
David
T
from
Roma
to
st.
Charles
County,
please,
foreign
child
maltreatment
is
a
public
safety
issue
that
plagues
communities
across
the
country.
Every
day,
law
enforcement
agencies
open
new
investigations
into
unimaginable
cases
of
physical
and
sexual
child
abuse,
as
well
as
neglect
cases
in
which
child
are
deprived
of
access
to
basic
necessities
such
as
food,
shelter,
clothing
and
education.
Often,
these
victims
are
from
environments
fractured
by
domestic
violence,
substance,
abuse,
poverty
and
caregiver
stress
those
issues
alone
or
when
combined
can
compromise
a
child's
development,
confidence
and
security.
B
Although
we
addressed
the
issue
of
child
maltreatment
with
education
and
critical
prevention
resources,
the
alarming
truth
is
there
are
many
child
children
who
remain
at
risk.
All
st.
Charles,
County
law
enforcement
agencies
are
dedicated
to
the
fight
against
child
abuse
and
neglect.
We
work
in
partnerships
with
social
service
agencies,
schools,
hospitals
and
community
to
identify
and
respond
to
suspect
it
and
known
cases
as
law
enforcement
officers.
When
we
respond
to
these
cases,
it
breaks
our
hearts.
B
B
We
are
here
at
this
dedication
for
one
reason,
and
that
is
to
raise
awareness
for
child
abuse
and
neglect
think
of
each
pinwheel
in
this
garden.
As
the
face
the
face
of
an
innocent
child
I've
been
in
rooms
with
some
of
these
faces,
I've
seen
their
tears
and
I've
seen
their
bruises
every
time
a
child
has
mouse
mouths,
mistreated,
abused
or
neglected.
There
is
an
adult
who
has
not
done
their
part
as
law
enforcement
officers.
B
B
That's
an
increase
of
58
cases
last
year
and
close
to
one
report
of
child
abuse
and
neglect.
For
each
day,
we
have
a
shared
responsibility
to
ensure
our
children
are
safe
from
and
removed
from
a
toxic
environment.
The
first
step
to
prevention
is
speaking
up
on
behalf
of
the
vulnerable
and
the
voiceless.
B
B
C
Morning,
I'm
Sean
rothermund
detective
with
the
wind
field,
Police
Department
I
was
asked
to
give
a
speech
about
what
our
what
our
team
does
when
I
say,
team
I
mean
our
multidisciplinary
team,
our
MDT,
it's
start
from
beginning
here.
Six
years
ago,
I
was
assigned
to
the
detective
bureau
and
shortly
thereafter,
I
started
investigating
cases
involving
children.
Maybe
you
have
ever
done
that
when
you
first
started
it's
well,
it's
terrifying!
C
Excuse
me,
with
child
center
Department
of
Family,
Services
prosecutors
and
other
law
enforcement
officers
that
could
reach
out
to
and
speak
with,
say,
hey.
This
is
the
case.
We've
got
we
meet
together.
We
discuss
these
cases
and
when
you
know
as
hard
as
it
is
you're
not
alone,
because
you
have
people
that
you
can
rely
on.
These
are
amazing
people
that
do
this
job
day
in
and
day
out.
These
are
real
superheroes
they
get
through
and
help
these
children
and
their
worst
worst
circumstances
most
vulnerable
population.
C
These
children,
we
take
them
out
of
these
situations
and
we
try
to
make
it
better
for
them.
We
don't
always
succeed,
but
we
fight
our
hardest.
Every
time.
I
could
not
do
the
job
I
do
without
the
assistance
of
my
team.
It's
unbelievable,
the
camaraderie.
That's
there,
we
it's
it's
a
family,
sometimes
a
dysfunctional
family
but
I'll
be
at
a
family
nonetheless,
and
we
do
our
very
best
every
day
to
protect
these
children.
St.
Charles
County
is
incredibly
lucky
to
have
the
people
that
we
do
from
the
child
center.
C
Who
takes
not
only
takes
these
kids
and
takes
them
out
these
bats.
It
helps
take
them.
You
know
from
a
bad
situation,
sit
down,
make
them
feel
safe
and
get
them
to
talk
about
these
absolute
horrible
things
that
have
happened
to
them.
That's
just
one
small
step.
They
also
go
into
schools.
They
educate.
You
know,
kids
about
here,
you
know
here
are
some
danger
signs?
Here's
what
you
need
to
do
if
something
bad
is
happening
to
you
come
talk
to
somebody.
C
C
You
know
work
on
gay,
these
kids,
the
help
they
need
and
gave
the
parents
help
they
need
we,
the
prosecutors,
who
make
sure
that
if
there
are
criminals
that
have
done
something
to
harm
a
child
they
pay
for
it
legally
and
that
we
have
law
enforcement
officials
who
are
in
the
enforcement
arm
of
that
who
would
do
the
investigations
every
one
of
them
is
a
piece
of
the
puzzle
that
has
to
work
together.
We
can't
do
that
without
each
other,
every
part
of
its
a
cog
machine
that
has
to
work
together.
C
D
Good
morning
my
name
is
Amy
Robbins
and
I
supervise
our
forensic
services
team
at
the
Child
Center,
which
is
the
local
Child
Advocacy
Center
that
serves
the
children
in
st.
Charles
County.
We
are
happy
to
be
here
today
in
our
break
to
type
silence
t-shirts
to
support
the
over
400
children
that
we
saw
this
year
through
our
Center
for
a
forensic
interview.
D
Detective
Rosser
spoke
of
our
amazing
multidisciplinary
team
response
that
we
have
amongst
our
law
enforcement,
who
does
everything
that
they
can
to
make
sure
that
children
never
stand
alone
in
that
courtroom.
Our
children's
division,
who
assures
that
all
children
in
our
community
are
safe
and
Tim
Lamar
is
amazing,
Special
Victims
Team,
who
are
not
afraid
to
believe
children
and
show
this
every
day
by
taking
cases
to
trial
that
most
jurisdictions
will
matter.
D
Their
reputation
stands
for
itself
by
being
almost
50
percent
higher
than
the
national
average
and
their
charging
rate
and
still
having
a
high
conviction
rate.
I
hope
that,
as
we
stand
here
today,
none
of
you
are
in
need
of
the
services
of
the
Child
Center.
However,
the
truth
is
is
that
one
in
four
girls
and
one
in
six
boys
will
fall
victim
of
sexual
abuse
before
the
day
they
turn
18.
D
When
those
children
fall
victim
to
a
crime.
The
child
center
and
the
multidisciplinary
team
that
stands
here
amongst
us
today
will
be
there
to
help
them
put
the
pieces
together
to
find
their
voice
and
also
seek
justice.
There
is
no
easier
victim
to
work
for
than
these
innocent
children.
I
often
get
asked
what
it
is,
that
I
do
for
a
job
and
I'm
proud
to
give
them
an
abbreviated
response
of
I
interview,
kids,
who
have
been
victims
of
crime
for
police
prosecutors
and
Child,
Protective,
Services
and
quickly.
The
conversation
stops
there.
D
The
conversation
goes
to,
oh,
my
goodness,
I,
don't
know
how
you
could
do
this
work
and
every
day
always
our
response
always
is
how
could
we
not?
It
is
the
easiest
job
that
we
could
ever
do,
because
our
job
is
not
the
hard
part.
The
hard
part
is
when
those
children
have
to
speak
up
and
find
their
voice
about
the
people
who
are
supposed
to
love
and
support
them
and
instead
victimize
them.
D
We
have
had
to
see
children
who
have
been
sexually
abused
at
the
hands
of
someone
that
they
love
young
children
who
are
beat
every
day
and
doesn't
know
any
different
from
life
or
someone
who
has
witnessed
being
murdered
by
a
small
child
who
should
have
never
ever
had
to
see
that
most
people
stop
the
conversation,
because
it's
not
a
topic
that
the
general
public
wants
to
even
acknowledge
exists
or
occurs
in
our
community.
However,
it
does,
and
most
people
say
thank
you
for
what
you
do
in
order
to
stop
abuse.
D
We
must
first
acknowledge
it
that
it
occurs,
and
we
must
stop
saying
thank
you
for
what
we
do.
We
need
people
to
get
involved
to
speak
up
to
take
action.
This
is
our
community,
our
children,
and
it
is
time
that
we
all
speak
up
and
let
our
children
know
that
we
will
not
stand
for
abuse,
not
in
our
community
and
not
for
our
children.
Thank
you.