St. Germaine Children’s Charity held its Cocktails & Conversations on April 10, 2024.

Another important function in addition to our fundraising efforts to prevent and end child abuse, SGCC raises public awareness of the escalating crisis faced by our children through our C&C events.

Traditionally, our C&C events host speakers from some of our supporting agencies.  For the first time, we chose a three-speaker panel format to discuss the topic for our Spring 2024 C&C:  human trafficking and internet crimes against children.  The impressive panel educated the audience by providing a better understanding of the big picture of what is happening to our vulnerable population, what is being done to protect them, and what we the public can do to keep our children safe from on-line predators.

Thank you Deputy District Attorney, Carolyn Matzger, who is the Chief of Sex Crime and Human Trafficking Division, for educating us about the “grooming” and “boyfriending” process used by the traffickers targeting school children.

Thank you Detective Sgt. Garrick Nugent, Task Force Commander of San Diego Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC), for educating us on the heart-wrenching problems of “sexting” and “sextortion” that can escalated and force middle- and high-schoolers to physically hurt themselves and animals, that in some cases has resulted in the kids taking their own lives because they feel trapped.

And thank you to Wendy Waddell, SD Police Foundation’s SafetyNet Program Manager, for educating elementary, middle- and high-school children, of the dangers they face on-line and how to recognize the signs to avoid being “groomed” and “boyfriended” by on-line predators.

Last but not least, a big thank you to our hosts, Lacey and Tim Barzal, for their generosity and for hosting our C&C events — not just once but twice!  We are forever grateful.