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PrintWOODBURY – The Cannon County Child Protective Investigative Team hosted a gathering of community supporters at the Cannon County Child Advocacy Center Feb. 17 to meet with Rep. Mark Pody to discuss concerns about state budget cuts.
Attending the meeting were Rep. Mark Pody, Assistant Debbie Stephens, Juvenile Court Judge Susan Melton, County Executive Mike Gannon, Youth Services Coordinator Catherine Player, Cannon County Sheriff's Detective Anthony Young, Department of Children’s Services Team Coordinator Doris Denton, CPS Team Leader Peggy Bratcher, Case Managers Cassell Galligan-Davis, Alicia Cantrell, and Jackie Powell, Child Advocacy Center Cannon County Coordinator Susan Lankheet and Forensic Interviewer LaToya Nelson.
Judge Melton thanked Rep. Pody for his support. Melton expressed the importance of the Child Advocacy Center to the community. Detective Young discussed the increase in sexual crimes against children and the important role that the Child Advocacy Center plays in protecting children in the community.
Gannon expressed the county's support of services to child abuse victims, as evidenced by the donation of the facility and utilities to the Child Advocacy Center by the county. Bratcher expressed the need for a forensic interviewer and identified Nelson as one of the best interviewers in the state.
In the last four years, the Cannon County Child Protective Investigative Team, consisting of the Child Advocacy Center, Department of Children’s Services, law enforcement, and the District Attorney’s Office have investigated and prosecuted over 300 child abuse, child sexual abuse and drug endangered children cases.
Rep. Pody expressed his gratitude for the services provided to the children in Cannon Countyand spoke of his support for the Child Advocacy Center.
Nelson and Galligan-Davis gave a tour of the center.
For more information about the Child Advocacy Center and services to child abuse victims, please contact Lankheet at (615) 563-9915.
