Diocese unveils safety program Children taught to spot abusers

BANGOR – The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland unveiled Friday a new program designed to keep children safe from sexual predators and abusers.

More than 75 religious educators, priests and lay leaders gathered at the St. John’s campus of All Souls Catholic School to learn about the Child Lures Prevention program.

Created 20 years ago by a Vermont man, the curriculum is designed for children in kindergarten through grade 12 to increase sexual abuse awareness and prevention, said Bishop Richard J. Malone, who attended the session.

The program, to be implemented in Catholic schools and parish religious education programs throughout the state during the next school year, is expected to reach nearly 20,000 Catholic youth.

“I think people see it not only as a necessary program for abuse prevention in our schools and parishes,” Malone said Friday, “but I think they see it as a sign of us moving forward. Maybe, somehow, spiritually it’s almost an element of repentance … for what has happened in the life of the church.”

Malone emphasized that the program would be an ongoing effort that would continue to be evaluated and revised over the years.

The program is the second abuse prevention program implemented since the sexual abuse scandal rocked the Catholic Church three years ago.

An overall safe environment program called “Protecting God’s Children” – which includes an ethics policy, mandatory background checks and sex abuse prevention training of all church employees and volunteers who work with children – has been in place in Maine since June 2002.

More than 4,800 people have been trained and undergone background checks, according to diocesan spokeswoman Sue Bernard.

Child Lures Prevention was chosen as the best program to reach children, according to Malone, because it’s not about just sex abuse prevention.

“The program covers a range of child safety issues that we’re all concerned about in terms of child safety from sex abuse to Internet safety to bullying to drugs,” Marcia Diamond, principal at All Souls Catholic School, said Friday.

Key elements include:

. Emphasizing the dignity and the rights of children.

. Explaining the warning signs of sexual abuse.

. Teaching adults what actions to take if children tell them they have been abused.

. Teaching children how to defend themselves in potentially unsafe situations.

Non-Catholic community members will be welcome at parish training sessions, Bernard said Friday.

In addition to Bangor, training sessions have been held in Scarborough and Caribou. The program will be introduced in the Lewiston-Auburn area after Easter, Malone said.