Subjects Speakers Location/Accomodations

The Preventing Abuse Conferences brings together people and groups from across the political and social spectrum. He sets forth that the focus is the saving of lives, not personal and group agenda.

MEDIA: Mr. Nassif produced television talk shows on public policy and the Preventing Abuse Conferences. He’s written and distributed numerous articles and books, nationally and globally. He was interviewed on hundreds of radio and television programs discussing public policy, human trafficking and more. Some include Family News in Focus from Focus on the Family, Today’s Issues from American Family Association, Trinity Broadcasting Network, Cornerstone Television Network, , FOX NEWS, VOICE OF AMERICA international, and more.

SERVICE: Mr. Nassif represented the organization serving on the Los Angeles Task Force on Human Trafficking and Child Prostitution, the Los Angeles County Unity Coalition, the Los Angeles Metropolitan Task Force on Human Trafficking. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Enough is Enough Campaign to protect children and families from online pornography.

He worked with U.S. State Department personnel on human trafficking and was a guest at the White House when President George W. Bush signed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act reauthorization.

NOREEN GOSCH

On September 5, 1982, Noreen’s son Johnny was delivering his Des Moines Register Sunday edition paper, when two men approached him. He was thrown into a vehicle and kidnapped.

Noreen founded “THE JOHNNY GOSCH FOUNDATION”, a month after the kidnapping and developed a program called “IN DEFENSE OF CHILDREN”, which she has presented eight

hundred speeches all over the United States, reaching thousands of people. She wrote the “JOHNNY GOSCH BILL”, which was passed into law in Iowa on July 1, 1984. A year later, Missouri as well as several other states adopted the bill and passed it into law. This law, which is still called “THE JOHNNY GOSCH LAW”, provides the immediate investigation.

She has been featured in the following:

Good Morning America, Today Show, Charles Kuralt Show, HBO Documentary Movie,

Documentary for the Country of Japan, Phil Donahue Show, Joan Rivers Talk Show, Geraldo RiveraTalk Show, Gary Collins Talk Show, Leeza Gibbons Talk Show (3 times), ABC Morning & Evening News Specials, CBS Morning & Evening News Specials, ABC 20/20, Inside Edition, 48 Hours,

America’s Most Wanted (five episodes), Sally Jesse Raphael Show, Lifetime/Vanished,

Noreen was featured in articles in the following: New York Times, Washington Times, Chicago

Sun Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, People Magazine, Ladies Home Journal, Red Book, Missing, Newsweek and Time Magazines.

In August 1984, Noreen testified at the “ORGANIZED CRIME SENATE HEARINGS”, with Senator Specter, during hearings she shared the information gathered by her and private

investigators. She testified before the U.S. Justice Department the result was the Justice Dept. allocating the first ten million dollars to establish the “NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN” in Arlington, Virginia. Noreen was invited by President Reagan to the White House for the opening and dedication of the National Center. The State Department arranged for her to do a documentary on “AMERICA’S MISSING CHLDREN” for the country of Japan. This was shown throughout that and other countries over and over.

DREW AND HEATHER COLLINS

In 2012 Elizabeth Collins and her cousin were abducted.   For months her parents Drew and Heather prayed and hoped for their safe return,   Their anguish was made worse when the cousins were not found alive.

Drew and Heather will tell their story as never been told before.  

GOVERNOR TERRY BRANSTAD of IOWA

TANIA

Tania Fiolleau is the Foundress of Save The Women Ministry International based out of Vancouver British Columbia, Canada. As the founder and on behalf of Save The Women, we endorse the work of The Preventing Abuse Foundation and its efforts to bring awareness to a deep dark problems of human trafficking and threats against the nation, women, children and families

Over the past few years I have become a major public voice in the media abroad as an expert on  human trafficking and the flesh trade both internationally and globally. Save The Women advocates the eradication of human trafficking, domestic violence, and sexual exploitation while providing the means by which this huge task can be accomplished.

Over the past three years Save The Women has been carrying out our ministry in venues such as federal prisons, speaking to the homeless, counseling women in distress and mentoring women that we have endeavored to rescue from brothels, the clutches of their pimps and from the dark streets through which they travel every day mentally or physically. We have been working in conjunction with global organizations while assessing women who are escaping the flesh trade and finding them suitable placement. I educated the public through televised

interviews, radio, news and public speaking. I also authored the book “Souled Out!”

I am currently a minister in a leadership position in my local church, working on a one-on-one basis with men and women who suffer from the sequels of abuse in all sorts of circumstances, including domestic violence and human trafficking.

Our goal and successes reside in our ability to give people hope, when there was no more hope, to walk with them down the path of faith, which will ultimately lead them to enter the Kingdom of God. Our desire is to see the poorest of poor reaching salvation through Jesus Christ.

LIEUTENANT OSCAR MEJIA

Oscar Mejia has been employed as an Inglewood Police Officer for over 23 years. I have worked in various assignments which include: the Anti Crime Team, the street level narcotics team, and the Major Narcotics unit. In 1995 I was deputized as an FBI agent for several years and concentrated on investigating large scale drug trafficking organizations that were operating across the United States. I also worked on a number of these investigations in an undercover capacity. In 2000, I was deputized as a DEA agent and was assigned to the Southern California Drug Task Force, which is a federal drug task force in Los Angeles.

During this time, he travelled to various parts of the country in pursuit of suspects who were involved in large scale illegal drug trafficking and human trafficking operations. I currently hold

the rank of Detective Sergeant and oversee the Robbery, Assaults and Homicide sections. In 1995, I received the Medal of Valor for intervening in a murder in progress, which was the result of a drug deal gone bad.

In 2011, Oscar appeared as a guest speaker on the radio talk show “Hear Women Talk” as well as the “Slavery No More” conference to speak on the correlation between

drug trafficking, human trafficking and use of shrines.

During this time, he travelled to various parts of the country in pursuit of suspects who were involved in large scale illegal drug trafficking and human trafficking operations. I currently hold

the rank of Detective Sergeant and oversee the Robbery, Assaults and Homicide sections. In 1995, I received the Medal of Valor for intervening in a murder in progress, which was the result of a drug deal gone bad.

In 2011, Oscar appeared as a guest speaker on the radio talk show “Hear Women Talk” as well as the “Slavery No More” conference to speak on the correlation between

drug trafficking, human trafficking and use of shrines.

During this time, he travelled to various parts of the country in pursuit of suspects who were involved in large scale illegal drug trafficking and human trafficking operations. I currently hold

the rank of Detective Sergeant and oversee the Robbery, Assaults and Homicide sections. In 1995, I received the Medal of Valor for intervening in a murder in progress, which was the result of a drug deal gone bad.

In 2011, Oscar appeared as a guest speaker on the radio talk show “Hear Women Talk” as well as the “Slavery No More” conference to speak on the correlation between

drug trafficking, human trafficking and use of shrines.

BAZ

He’s got an unusual name and an even more unusual vocation. He clandestinely rescues those missing children that authorities can’t find or have given up trying to reunite with their

custodial parent.

Bazzel Baz has long operated in the shadows since 1991. He has been dubbed The Patron Saint of Missing Children by journalist Diane Dimond and is the founder of The Association For The Recovery of Children. The Association for the Recovery of Children (ARC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization comprised of former and active Intelligence, Military, and Law Enforcement personnel, dedicated to the recovery of missing and exploited children, foreign and domestic. In recent years that has included the fight to stop human trafficking.

Baz is a former CIA officer who takes on the most impossible cases. And he doesn’t charge the heartsick family of the missing a penny. With volunteer help from other retired intelligence

officers, Baz travels all over America and the world, covertly getting in and out of countries some of us can’t even pronounce.

His goal is getting children back to where they belong. So far, Baz and the boys have a 100% success rate. They’ve safely brought home 53 children. You can read more about ARC on the website at www.AssociationForTheRecoveryOfChildren.Org.

RIC LUMBARD

Ric Lumbard is the Chief Executive Officer of the WFM Missions Base, an international missions organization based out of the Midwest but with operations abroad. Ric Lumbard and

his wife Christie are founders and senior leaders of the WFM Missions base with its operations launching from a 45 acre ministry facility with over 200 enlisted staff during this current ministry year.

This base also serves one of the primary locations where WFM Client Services focuses attention on the client/victims of human trafficking and severe forms of abuse. This also in

cooperation with Operation Refuge, a statewide resource collaboration system, services people in need, both locally, statewide and nationally.

With a highly trained staff of restorative staff, the WFM Missions Base and the efforts of it’s National TIP-ID Program (Trafficking in Persons Identification Program) help implement

restorative processes in and out of the faith based community.

With over 26 years of ministerial experience, Ric has focused the last 13 years specifically toward the restoration of individuals from emotional, physical and spiritual trauma. With teams specializing in training for emotional and spiritual restoration, the WFM Missions Base serves as a house of restoration, having served hundreds of clients with thousands of hours of client impact.

In 1995, Ric was invited as a restorative subject matter expert for a national conference on Human Trafficking. He was requested to assemble processes and programs tailored for the restoration of the child victims of trafficking.

As a result the “WHO” Task force was established shortly there after in 1996, and the results of this task force quickly gained momentum and The Center to Restore Trafficked and Exploited Children was formed and launched. CRTEC was established as a national voice of TIP Client restoration, advocacy and as a key tool in the equipping and raising up of a grass roots movement to prevent trafficking through advocacy and programs to rescue and restore the lives of children. In 2011, CRTEC was fully acquired and absorbed into the WFM Client Services operation of the WFM Missions Base and was able to expand with additional staffing and needed resources.

Ric is a clarion and challenging voice across the nation, not just to the secular community, but specifically in calling the faith community to action to step into their role in the restoration of children.

Cathy O’Keeffe

Breaking Traffic

Cathy first became passionate about fighting human trafficking five years ago while living in China, where sex trafficking was often out in the open. Having a Chinese daughter, this horrific crime hit close to home, as many orphaned girls in China end up on the streets once reaching adulthood, with little education and no family to protect them.

Upon returning to the United States in 2011, Cathy joined Braking Traffik to eradicate this form of modern day slavery from the Quad Cities community and to give a voice to the hundreds of thousands of American women and children who fall victim in our country each year.

Braking Traffik is dedicated to eradicating sex trafficking in the Quad City area of Iowa and Illinois. We strive to achieve this goal through:

Education
We provide training on sex trafficking to organizations which respond to and care for victims. We provide general awareness training to community, civic and religious organizations.

Legislative Advocacy
We work to continually strengthen Illinois, Iowa and federal laws which provide justice for victims.Community Partnerships
We coordinate efforts among social service providers, medical personnel, law enforcement and faith-based groups to ensure victims receive the holistic care they need

JIM ROTHSTEIN

Born in St. Martin, Minnesota, in 1941, and graduated Paynesville High School in1959. I joined the United States Navy and served aboard the USS Essex, CVS9. In 1963, I began working at Chase Manhattan Bank in New York City developing the electronic check and security systems for electronic checking. Then in February, 1965, I joined the New York City Police Department and, upon graduating from the Police Academy,

I was assigned to the 16th Precinct in Times Square. In 1967, I was assigned to investigate prostitution and pedophilia. In 1976, working as a detective for the NYC Police Dept., I was

assigned by Governor Kerry to the New York State Select Committee on Crime to investigate the effects these crimes had on society. In 1980, I was retired from the NYC Police Dept. I

then began independently researching and consulting in this field. Currently I am working on the Central Minnesota Human Trafficking Task Force in St. Cloud, Minnesota. I am the

Mayor the St. Martin, Minnesota.

PASTOR CHARLES DAUGHERTY---

President, Serve the City Resource Group, Inc.

Serve The City has roots back to 1981. Many individuals have been used by God to shape what
was incorporated as Serve The City in July of 2004. Our records demonstrate that we have
served the people of this region with over 50 collaborative efforts since 1998.

This ministry coalition was formed to reflect our belief that God is calling His children together in a new way to love our community to Christ.

KIM HISCOX

NATIONAL CHILD SAFETY COUNCIL

National Child Safety Council is perhaps best known for its efforts to address the nationwide tragedy of missing and abducted children. It was discovered that in most incidents of abduction, the children were being taken out of state, and oftentimes across the country. In December of 1984, NCSC initiated the first nationally coordinated Missing Children Milk Carton Program, which within weeks, was implemented by over 700 independent dairies across the nation through the cooperation of milk carton manufacturers,

Kim Hiscox has 30 years of experience in child safety, substance abuse and crime prevention training.  She has worked with sheriff’s offices and police departments in Iowa and Minnesota equipping them with resources published by the National Child Safety Council, www.nationalchildsafetycouncil.org.  These materials are developed by a team of experts in elementary and secondary education to use for safe-child education
programs in public and Christian schools across the nation.  She coordinates the efforts of law
enforcement agents, school administrators, business leaders and service organizations to put on community service programs that are custom designed to meet the concerns of local families.  She is a public speaker and fund raiser who is known throughout the Midwest for her commitment to the welfare of our nation’s youngest citizens.

Miss Hiscox has supported the work of several international organizations that rescue at-risk children from abusive homes and take in homeless children.  One such institution is Touched Romania that serves children and teens who would rather run away and live in the sewers of Bucharest than stay in their homes.  She has also assisted in the care of such children at one of the largest orphanages in the world, The Lillian Trasher Orphanage is Assuit, Egypt by providing  polio vaccines for more than 600 children and widows through her connections with The
Rotary Foundation International. 

She has gone through the training as a victim’s advocate at Children and Families of Iowa and as a result has facilitated support groups and counseled individual women so they can function as
productive, confident members of their communities.

Miss Hiscox has served on the U.S. Attorney General of Iowa’s Work Group on Human Trafficking since its inception.

Donna Rice Hughes, President

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

Donna Rice Hughes is the world expert on Internet safety appearing on all major networks, and talk shows.

Enough Is Enough®; (EIE), a non-partisan, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, emerged in 1994 as the national leader on the front lines to make the Internet safer for children and families. Since then, EIE has pioneered efforts to confront online pornography, child pornography, child stalking, sexual predation, and other forms of online victimization. By leveraging its expertise, growing national partnership network, and positive reputation among the public, media, law enforcement, and Internet industry, EIE continues to advance innovative initiatives and effective communication strategies to protect children online.

The Enough Is Enough® mission is to Make the Internet Safer for Children and Families

EIE has a three-pronged, preventative approach to create and sustain a safe, entertaining, and informative Internet environment, free from sexual predators, the intrusion of unwanted sexual material, and other harmful and exploitative online threats by:

Education: Raising public awareness of the threat of illegal pornography, sexual predation, and other Internet dangers in order to empower and equip parents and other child caregivers to implement safety measures;

Industry: Encouraging the technology industry to implement viable technological solutions and family- friendly corporate policy to reduce online threats; and,

Enforcement: Promoting legal solutions by calling for aggressive enforcement of existing laws and enactment of new laws to stop the exploitation and victimization of children using the Internet.

In September 2005, EIE received support from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice, and other partners to begin a new program--Internet Safety 101--to educate and empower parents, guardians, and other adult caregivers to implement Internet safety rules and software tools (Rules 'N Tools) and provide communities with information and resources to support local action to markedly increase the safety of children online.

The Internet Safety 101 multimedia program was created to prevent Internet-initiated crimes against children through educating, equipping and empowering parents, educators and caring adults with the knowledge and resources needed to protect children from online pornography, sexual predators and cyber bullies, as well as cyber security risks and dangers related to social networking, online gaming and mobile devices. The proven evidence-based curriculum motivates and equips adults to implement both safety rules (non-technical measures) and software tools (technical measures) on youth's Internet enabled devices.

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Location and Accommodations

 Kirkwood Hotel

 7725 Kirkwood Blvd S.W

    Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52404

PARKING IS FREE

Preventing Abuse Conference

Hotel Rate Available for a Limited Time

For hotel room reservations please call:   

319-848-8700  or  877-751-5111