The Rutherford County District Attorney General's office is supporting the 19 Days of Activism program that helps prevent abuse and violence to youth.

"The District Attorney's Office is committed to aggressively prosecuting crimes against our community's youngest and most vulnerable crime victims - child abuse and child sexual abuse victims," stated District Attorney General Jennings H. Jones.

The "19 Days of Activism for the Prevention of Abuse and Violence toward Children and Youth" is an international public awareness campaign to highlight the plight of child abuse victims. The District Attorney's Office for the 16th Judicial District is partnering with the Child Advocacy Center and other local organizations that serve children to raise awareness about child abuse in Rutherford and Cannon Counties.

"The DA's Office reviews 50-60 new child abuse cases per month with the Child Protective Investigative Team and aggressively prosecutes every case where there is evidence to prosecute," said Jones. "The DA's Office is often involved at every stage of the process from providing guidance to police as they conduct their investigations to prosecuting child abusers in circuit court after they have been indicted." General Jones stated that "the DA's Office strives to remain accessible and supportive to those victims and their families as cases work their way through the judicial system - a process that, to someone who has never experienced it before, can seem protracted and uncertain" said Jones.

"Effective January of 2015, Hugh Ammerman joined the office as the new Child Abuse prosecutor for Rutherford County. Hugh is a veteran trial lawyer with 10 years of experience with the Nashville DA's Office wherein he focused his professional efforts on the prosecution of crimes involving domestic and sexual violence and was therefore well-equipped to take on his new responsibilities. Hugh is passionate about working with victims and dedicated to keeping the children of our community safe," said Jones.

General Jennings Jones concluded, "As a community it is our responsibility to do everything we can to prevent children from being abused. The District Attorney's Office supports the Child Advocacy Center's 'Darkness to Light' Program. 'Darkness to Light' is a nationwide initiative to teach parents and grandparents how to protect their children from child sexual abuse and what to do if a child reports abuse to them."

To bring a Darkness to Light training to your church, school, PTO, business, non-profit agency, or civic group, please contact the Ryan Wallace at the Child Advocacy Center of Rutherford County (615) 867-9000 or Amanda Pruitt at the Cannon County Child Advocacy Center (616) 563-9915.