Local Phoenix man brings hope and healing to survivors of child sexual abuse at Examiner.com

Paul McLaughlin, founder of S.C.A.R.S. Photo courtesy of ABC News.

I would like to share my most recent Examiner.com article about a personal friend and a Hero in my book. What he has done in his life is AMAZING but what he is doing now is a BLESSING to many! Please read about Paul McLaughlin's inspirational story and why he founded the new nonprofit S.C.A.R.S. I encourage you to support this agency making a difference in so many lives. ♥


Please click the link to read more Local Phoenix man brings hope and healing to survivors of child sexual abuse

May 25th, National Missing Children's Day - CBS KPHO News Interview

Julie Patz, mother of Etan Patz who vanished May 25, 1979. 

Kym Pasqualini talks to Catherine Anaya, news anchor with KPHO News 5 in Arizona about the history of National  Missing Children's Day, May 25th.

Missing 33 years, police arrest the now 51-year-old, Pedro Hernandez for the kidnapping and murder of  6-year-old Etan Patz.

My heart goes out to every family that must endure a minute, let alone years not knowing where their precious child is. ~Kym L. Pasqualini

Crime Victim Advocate SPEAKS OUT ABOUT RAPE

I wish people really realized the effects of child rape! Absolutely life-altering for the child - and if you think life just bounces back to normal for the victim let me tell you behind the smile they try to show on the exterior - inside is confusion, self-blame, anger, and despair . . . a darkness no parent wants to see. To add to the victim's hopelessness, creating doubt they CAN make it through the experience, we live in a society where teens think it acceptable to further torment a victim as if they somehow deserved being raped by adults. Bullying is traumatic enough without having to suffer being bullied after such a traumatic event.

If you think rape only affects the victim . . . let me let you in on something. Rape affects every facet of the family core - the victim suffers emotional and psychological trauma, fear, lack of trust, and potential self-harm, just to name a few. As parents it is our instinct to protect. Attempting to keep the family core stabilized in the aftermath of crime is made more difficult by magnified external pressures and speaking as a single parent we don't have the resources or buffer that allows us one bit of wiggle room. We are forced to focus on maintaining stability and a safe place to come home to because bills don't allow you a leave of absence to deal with trauma - but if you can't focus on the healing of the victim you may not have a child who will be coming home. I don't wish this experience on anyone.

To the State of Arizona, you bring tears to my eyes. You not only abandoned us when we needed crime victim relocation when I BEGGED that my child's life be protected from adult perpetrators who just so happen to be affiliated with a dangerous group on the FBI GANG list . . . and why? Because some well-paid employee of the state has FAILED to pass the resolution that sits on someone's desk that already INCLUDES crime victim relocation costs! 


Now, you fail to help me as a single parent in the aftermath. Loss of work is also an impact of crime (especially in a single parent household). I can't afford to lose more work . . . but when your child is suffering, a parent doesn't have any choice but to take whatever time and effort necessary to save their child's life! Life doesn't simply go back to normal or I wouldn't be exhausted and up at 4:00AM. Bills could care less if you are on watch because the pain your child is experiencing is too much to bear.


You know what? I'm sure many crime victims would agree we wouldn't care if we had to pay the state back for crime victim benefits to maintain the basic stability we had before the crime so we don't risk losing our child's life to the sick predators who already tried to murder their soul! Yes I'm pissed!!


Respectfully,


Kym L. Pasqualini
Founder
Nation's Missing Children Organization, Inc. & National Center for Missing Adults

Recipient of the 2005 Arizona Attorney General Award for Distinguished Service to Crime Victims and Leadership

A Crime Victim's 'Shout Out' to the Arizona Criminal Justice System and State Leadership

2005 Award for Leadership and Distinguished Service to Victims of Crime presented by Attorney General Terry Goddard.

This is the letter I posted to The Arizona Attorney General and the Maricopa County Attorney's Office FB pages because life just doesn't bounce right back to normal, the effects of crime can be life-altering and long-lasting. Our story has not ended and we do face continued struggle. I vowed with every ounce of energy I have left in me that this would not happen to another family! 

When a child has been the victim of a violent sexual crime and there exists police recorded death threats to the child's life, crime victim relocation in order to protect their child's life becomes the family's only option. Currently Arizona Crime Victim Compensation does not cover financial assistance with costs associated with relocation to safety though I am aware of a resolution that 'sits' waiting to be passed that could have helped my family re-stabilize.

In already tough financial times for many of us, we certainly do not put away a savings in anticipation of becoming a crime victim. At a time when a victim family should be able to deal with the emotional trauma and focus on reclaiming their lives in the aftermath of crime, they should not have to face additional financial burden, relocation expense, and even loss of income as a direct result of crime.

As a crime victim advocate for nearly twenty years, I have served this state and the nation to ensure crime victims received services they needed unique to each family's circumstances. We are not only feeling the emotional and psychological effects of my daughter becoming a victim of a violent crime in the state of Arizona, continued fear for safety, and added financial burden; but now the feeling of abandonment from the very state I served for two decades of my life. Please tell me where the justice is in this and what your office will do to prevent this from happening to another family. I appreciate your attention to this matter.
Thank you.

Kym L. Pasqualini

Founder of Nation's Missing Children Organization & National Center for Missing Adults

Recipient of the 2005 Arizona Attorney General's Award for Leadership and Distinguished Service to Victims of Crime, presented by Terry Goddard.

Parent’s worst nightmare followed by torture of public scrutiny

Sergio and Becky Celis, parents of Tucson missing child make plea for daughter's safe return.

My Examiner.com article about the difficulty the parents of Isabel Celis are experiencing as they become target of public debate. 


With every investigation of a missing child, law enforcement must investigate everyone - including the family. Sadly, public figures and members of social networking sites begin to draw conclusions and target their speculation publicly. While there is a little six-year-old child missing, this only hinders the investigation and further traumatizes a famiy desperately pleading to have their child returned safe.


Read the Examiner.com article and find out what we can do as a nation to help find Isabel.

Click here to read the article http://www.examiner.com/article/tucson-missing-child-is-parent-s-worst-nightmare-worsened-by-public-scrutiny