Ted Poe: “While walking home from school, an innocent 7-year-old girl was abducted and assaulted. Thankfully, the girl was found…”

“While walking home from school, an innocent 7-year-old girl was abducted and assaulted. Thankfully, the girl was found; but because of the trauma she experienced, she was not able to tell the police what happened to her. With the help of the Children's Assessment Center, the expertise they had at the center and their child-centered approach, she was able to disclose her experience, and the perpetrator was caught, arrested, and sent to jail. The Children's Assessment Center in my hometown of Houston, Texas, has served over 50,000 children since 2000 under the leadership of the executive director, Elaine Stolte. Children's Advocacy Centers, like the one in Houston, provide a place for the evaluation and treatment of abused children in a safe and friendly environment housing experts in various fields so the young victims are not retraumatized by the system. As a former prosecutor and judge, I have seen firsthand the damage caused by sexual assault on children. I commend the Children's Assessment Center in Houston and the Children's Advocacy Centers throughout the country for their work in healing children and their families. And that's just the way it is. ____________________”