On the Job 

The safety of children has always been my number one priority. In the Attorney General’s office, my staff works hard to assist law enforcement agencies and prosecutors with investigations, prosecutions, training and technology.
 
For example, I created our Crimes Against Children Unit and a rapid response team specifically to help local agencies in investigating those who prey on Ohio’s young people. There is nothing more valuable than our children, and I want to make sure that those who harm them are held accountable for their actions. In 2014, the unit worked 150 cases in 46 Ohio counties, executed 24 search warrants and made 19 arrests.
 
We also updated the Child Abduction Response Team (CART) model last year and chose an Ohio CART coordinator to make sure the response is always quick and efficient when either an Amber Alert or Endangered Missing Child Alert is issued.
 
Once local authorities make the call, CART is ready to advance quickly to any corner of the state to help find a missing child.
 
Last year, 18,097 children were reported missing in Ohio. Of those, 17,826 were recovered safely. For the children who are still missing, we must never stop pursuing leads and never give up the search.
 
This issue of Criminal Justice Update touches on just a few of the things that the Attorney General’s Office has done to protect Ohio’s children. Our lead story takes a look at the unified response that occurs when an Amber Alert is issued.
 
Our second cover story deals with sexual violence on college campuses and the efforts of my office to improve advocacy programs with $3 million in grants, investigation and training classes, and memorandums of understanding for communities to use.
 
Inside this issue is a story about the U.S. Supreme Court case Ohio v. Clark, which involved the reporting system for child abuse. A team from our Appeals Section wrote an award-winning brief in the case, and the court unanimously agreed with Ohio’s position. The ruling preserves Ohio’s strong reporting system for protecting children from abuse.
 
My office has worked tirelessly to help safeguarding children, because nothing is more important.
 
Very respectfully yours,
 
Mike DeWine
Ohio Attorney General