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Teresa Moore, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, introduced the annual Crystal Kipper & Ali Kemp Memorial Award to Rasta, a courtroom remedy canine, and the golden retriever’s handler and proprietor, Jennifer Vernon.
The award, introduced yearly throughout National Crime Victims’ Rights Week (April 21 to 27), honors the recollections of Ali Kemp and Crystal Kipper, each of whom have been deadly victims of tragic crimes. This is the twentieth yr for the award, which acknowledges the excellent work of an individual or organization in recognition of a valued contribution to stopping and responding to the exploitation of youngsters.
“Every dog lover has had the experience of being comforted by their devoted canine friend,” Moore stated. “This year we are recognizing Rasta’s invaluable contribution of a calming influence for traumatized children during stressful, sometimes intimidating, legal proceedings. By helping to reduce the anxiety of these vulnerable victims, Rasta contributes to our goal of achieving justice for them. And by presenting Rasta with this award, we hope to encourage the use of court therapy dogs in more settings.”
Rasta supplies emotional help to assist young victims and witnesses converse as much as describe in truth and precisely what occurred to them. The scientific proof for the bodily and psychological calming results of appropriately bred and skilled dogs is overwhelming, in keeping with the Courthouse Dogs Foundation, and consists of each bodily and psychological results.
Rasta, a skilled remedy canine, initially labored in hospice in addition to working alongside Vernon, the Director of Child, Youth, and Family Clinical Services at Synergy Services, Inc. Rasta has offered consolation to youngsters at Synergy who skilled trauma, to homeless and traumatized teenagers, and even to the grownup employees at Synergy. In 2019, following some further coaching, Rasta went into the courtroom for the primary time. He sat within the witness field with a teen abuse survivor throughout his first trial expertise in Platte County Circuit Court.
Since then, stated Vernon, Rasta has labored at extra trials, depositions, and different hearings. Sometimes he’s current to offer consolation to survivors earlier than and after testimony.
Moore introduced the Crystal Kipper & Ali Kemp Award alongside Anna Kipper Rea, the mom of Crystal Kipper, and Jill and Bob Leiker of the Ali Kemp Educational Foundation, an organization based by the late Roger Kemp, the daddy of Ali Kemp.
The theme for the 2024 Crime Victims’ Rights Week is “How would you help? Options, services, and hope for crime survivors.” There is a concentrate on creating protected environments for crime victims to share what occurred to them and provide help, choices for life-saving companies, and most significantly, hope.
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