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National Missing and Exploited Children's Awards
Every year the National Center for Missing & Exploited
Children honors law-enforcement officers for their outstanding work
in cases involving missing and exploited children by bestowing them
National Missing or Exploited Children’s Awards.
The 2005 awards were presented at the
Tenth Annual Congressional Breakfast and National Missing and Exploited
Children’s Awards ceremony held Wednesday, May 18, 2005 in Washington,
D.C.
From Left to Right: Sheriff Ben
Espey, Nodaway County (MO) Sheriff’s Department; Sergeant
David Merrill and Corporal Jeffrey M. Owen, Missouri State Highway
Patrol; Special Agent Kurt Lipanovich, Federal Bureau of Investigation;
and Investigator Randy Strong, Maryville Department of Public Safety
were named the 2005 Officers of the Year for their work on the search
and recovery of Victoria Stinnett. (Steve Loftin/NCMEC) |
2005 Officers of the Year Award
Sheriff Ben Espey of the Nodaway County, Missouri,
Sheriff’s Department; Corporal Jeffery M. Owen
and Sergeant David Merrill of the Missouri State Highway
Patrol; Investigator Randy Strong of the Maryville,
Missouri, Department of Public Safety; and Special Agent Kurt
Lipanovich of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in St. Joseph,
Missouri, were honored by Congressman Sam Graves (MO) for their swift
recovery of Victoria Stinnett, a new born that was brutally taken from
her mother’s womb.
2005 National Missing Children's Awards
Lieutenant Michael J. Boyle, Detective Manuel
Gonzalez, Detective David Thomas, and Detective
Kimberly Stone of the Philadelphia Police Department were honored
for their investigation that led to the recovery of Delimar Vera, a
child abducted at 10-days-old but believed to have died in a house fire.
After seven years, she was reunited with her mother. Senator Rick Santorum
(PA) recognized the officers for her recovery.
Deputy Micah W. Smith and Corporal Michael
Harmon of the Linn County, Oregon, Sheriff’s Office were
honored by Congresswoman Darlene Hooley (OR) for the swift recovery
of Tanner Kahn, an 11-year-old boy who was abducted by his mother’s
38-year-old boyfriend.
2005 National Exploited Children’s Awards
Lieutenant Kenny Wynns of the Midwest City, Oklahoma,
Police Department was honored by Congressman Bud Cramer (AL) for successfully
dismantling a ring that sexually exploited children, identifying numerous
child victims, and apprehending more than one hundred predators.
Supervisory Special Agent Susan M. Cantor, Supervisory
Special Agent Peter C. Fitzhugh, and Senior Intelligence
Specialist Peter Buchan of the U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement in Newark, New Jersey and Fairfax, Virginia; Special
Agent Maria A. Reverendo of the Internal Revenue Service in
Springfield, New Jersey; Detective Kurt Jones and Detective
Michael A. Boymer of the Jacksonville, Florida, Sheriff’s
Office; Deputy Chief Carlos F. Ortiz and Assistant
U.S. Attorney Mark McCarren of the U.S. Attorney’s Office,
Martinsville, New Jersey; Postal Inspector John Johnson
of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Newark, New Jersey; Assistant
U.S. Attorney Kevin O'Dowd, U.S. Attorney's Office, District
of New Jersey; and Ben Vernia and Sheila Phillips,
Trial Attorneys at the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the
U.S. Department of Justice, were honored by Congressman Mark Foley (FL)
for their outstanding collaboration in Operation Falcon, an investigation
that led to the dissolution of a child pornography business, and the
arrests of hundreds of sexual predators worldwide.
Postal Inspector Lisa Holman of the U.S. Postal Inspection
Service in Charlotte, North Carolina; Investigator Joanna S.
Morton of the Hickory, North Carolina, Police Department; and
Special Agent Lori D. Shank and Special Agent
Ginger Hutchinson of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation,
were honored by Congressman Howard Coble (NC) for dismantling a child
pornography ring and arresting three dangerous sexual predators.
2005 National Courage Awards
NCMEC presented a National Courage Award to Brittany Fish,
a seven-year-old girl from Syracuse, New York, who was abducted while
on her way to a friend’s house. Brittany mustered the courage
to endure 20 hours of being separated from her family as well as assisting
law enforcement in creating a sketch of her abductor. Brittany’s
case was brought to justice last month when 32-year-old Kevin Schaus
was arrested and charged with her abduction. Senator Charles Schumer
(NY) and Congressman Jim Walsh (NY) presented the award to Brittany,
along with John and Revé Walsh.
NCMEC also presented a National Courage Award to Charice Burwell,
a 12-year-old from Creve Coeur, Illinois, who was abducted from her
bus stop by two men. She escaped, ran for an hour to find help, and
led authorities back to her abductors’ location so they could
be arrested. John and Revé Walsh were joined by Congressman Danny
Davis (IL) to present the award.
Generous support from the following companies and individuals made the
awards possible: Canon U.S.A., Inc., Honeywell, RadioShack Corporation,
America Online, Inc., LexisNexis, BMC Software, Computer Associates International,
Inc., SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT, Time Warner Inc., Wal-Mart Foundation,
Yahoo!, Inc., ADVO, Inc., Family Circle, Microsoft Corporation, National
Association of Broadcasters, OnStar, PG&E Corporation, SafeAssured
ID, Stonebridge Life Insurance Company, Sun Microsystems, Inc., Advance
Polybag, Inc., Cox Communications Inc., CTIA-The Wireless Association,
Martin and Lauretta Lerner, Lifetouch National School Studios, Lockheed
Martin Corporation, National Research Center for College & University
Admissions, and Nextel Communications, Inc.
2004
Awards
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