Manitoba is once more looking to its criminal property forfeiture fund in an effort to better address incidents of child abuse across the province.
Thousands of dollars from the fund will go to the RCMP, addressing various crime prevention measures and victim supports — specifically toward the installation of specialized technology in interview rooms at the Toba Centre for Children and Youth.
The move, according to major crime service Insp. Tim Arseneault, is intended to equip the Toba Centre with the best equipment and interviewing processes. He added that the technology would make it so that children of such crimes don’t have to relive their experiences by retelling their accounts to various agencies.
“Interviewing anyone in relation to a traumatic incident is a stressful situation, and for children it is especially so,” said Arseneault. “Obtaining an accurate account of what has happened is critical to the investigative process, and to determining the needs of each youth.”
From the funding, $145,000 will be used to purchase specialized audio and video recording systems to equip the centre’s interview rooms. The centre, according to the province’s July 21 release, provides “services for child-abuse survivors with an initial focus on forensic interviewing to minimize trauma and ensure best practices.”
Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen added that the work done at the centre supports victims and families in their healing process.
“We know that when a young person is abused and when that’s discovered, that really begins the journey towards healing,” said Goertzen. “The ability to take evidence, as done by the RCMP, in an environment like the Toba Centre is very helpful in starting that journey towards healing.”
The RCMP is also slated to receive $27,000 to fund resources in combating cybercrime. The purchase of cryptocurrency tracing software would help trace “illegal financial cyberspace activities, locate offenders and facilitate (the) recovery of stolen victim assets.”
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