Earlier this month, Ben David, district attorney for Pender and New Hanover County, presented plans for the establishment of a new Carousel Child Advocacy Center, which he describes as a “one-stop-shop” for swiftly gathering forensic interviews, collecting DNA samples, and providing therapy for children who are survivors of sexual assault.
“You're dealing with a five or six year old child who can't really advocate for themselves. We need the silent witnesses that scream the truth… That's how we take these worst cases and prove them beyond a reasonable doubt," David said.
Now, officials are moving ahead on those plans, with matching funding from the HopeStar Foundation, a Charlotte-based organization that addresses children’s needs.
The Pender County Carousel Center will co-locate multidisciplinary teams specializing in child advocacy, domestic violence and rape crisis, and it will be housed at the former Burgaw Medical Center near the Pender County Sheriff’s Office.
David said he and his team are a few weeks away from being able to perform their first compulsory medical examination there. Their next goal is to get the center nationally accredited, and they plan to have provisional accreditation before September.
Site for the Pender County Carousel Center:
