"The Family Advocacy Center of Northern Minnesota is a serene environment in which children are examined and interviewed following instances of maltreatment and abuse. We talk with the executive director to get an idea of what the center does, and how predators “groom” their victims....
"“I think that first we need to become cognizant of the fact that child sexual abuse doesn’t discriminate,” Trudeau says. “It knows no boundaries. It knows no socio-economic status, no race, no sex....
"The hallway sits just inside a glass door, tucked into the corner of a building not far from Lake Bemidji. It leads children to a room with trucks and dolls. Color-splashed walls serve as an art gallery. A table not more than 2 feet high offers a workbench for the child artists; its centerpiece, a box of markers and crayons, colored pencils and pens.
"This is the playroom. It is a place for children to be children, and nothing else. The work of discovering the abuse takes place elsewhere...."
Comments (0)