The Shadow
The Alleghany County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office helped organize and present a regional multidisciplinary child fatality and abuse training held September 13-16 in Staunton.
Those who completed the program included Lt. R.C. Fridley and Sgt. David Williams of the Alleghany County Sheriff’s Office, Sgt. Kenneth Duncan of the Covington Police Department, and Amber King and Trista Dooley of the Alleghany-Covington Department of Social Services.
The four-day seminar addressed issues faced by prosecutors, law enforcment officers, social workers and medical personnel who handle these difficult cases. Experts from across the Commonwealth, including internationally-recognized child abuse specialist Dr. Suzanne Starling, served as faculty.
Alleghany County Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Ann Gardner began working on this project nearly three years ago in order to make quality child abuse and fatality training accessible to our area and others in the western part of the state. Prosecutors in Richmond and Norfolk joined Gardner in the effort to gather speakers and draft a curriculum.
The Department of Criminal Justice Services, through a grant from the Children’s Justice Act, dedicated thousands of dollars to fund the program and provide reference books for each participant. The Commonwealth’s Attorneys’ Services Council in Williamsburg served as program coordinator.
