waichingliu81
07-23-2007, 03:53 PM
Madeleine father in US for child protection talks
Staff and agencies
Monday July 23, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
The father of the missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann has travelled to America to discuss the country's policies on child abduction with the US attorney general, Alberto Gonzales.
Gerry McCann is on a four-day visit to learn about the work of specialist agencies in preventing child trafficking and sexual abuse.
Despite a high-profile campaign launched by Mr McCann and his wife, Kate, there have been no confirmed sightings of Madeleine since she disappeared from a holiday apartment in the Portuguese town of Praia da Luz on May 3.
Mr McCann, who flew to the US yesterday, will spend most of the day in talks with American child protection bodies.
Accompanied by the family's campaign manager, Justine McGuinness, he will meet experts from the national and international centres for missing and exploited children.
A McCann family spokesman said: "They want to deepen their knowledge of the legislative position in the US.
"Part of what they are thinking is that, looking further down the track, they want to try and persuade various European authorities, both at the national level and the EU level, that they should look to a more integrated process similar to that in the US.
"The laws in each EU member state are all different. Given the trafficking aspect of the issue, they would like to find a template which they could then encourage the EU member states and the EU itself to adopt."
The national and international centres for missing and exploited children were established in 1984 and 1998 respectively after six-year-old Adam Walsh was kidnapped from a department store in Florida and murdered.
The case led to a review of child abduction cases in the US and legislation passed last year was named in his honour.
The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act significantly strengthened America's nationwide sex offender registration system and introduced harsher penalties for child sex offenders.
Tomorrow, Mr McCann and Ms McGuinness have meetings scheduled with US senators, congressmen and a senior staff member of the first lady, Laura Bush.
Mr McCann said in a statement: "We hope our efforts will help make the world a little bit safer for all children.
"Kate and I believe there is a strong, public feeling that crimes against children, wherever they may occur, are totally unacceptable."
Mrs McCann remained in Portugal with the couple's two-year-old twins, Sean and Amelie.
Meanwhile, posters of Madeleine were being displayed at booksellers in more than 200 countries around the world after the Harry Potter author, JK Rowling, asked stores selling the final instalment in the boy wizard series to publicise her case.
Madeleine was four days short of her fourth birthday when she vanished from the bedroom of her parents' holiday apartment while they ate dinner in a nearby restaurant.
She was apparently taken from her bedroom while her two-year-old twin siblings slept beside her.
is it just me, or does anyone else think it is looking increasing likely that maddie mccann will not be found?
Staff and agencies
Monday July 23, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
The father of the missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann has travelled to America to discuss the country's policies on child abduction with the US attorney general, Alberto Gonzales.
Gerry McCann is on a four-day visit to learn about the work of specialist agencies in preventing child trafficking and sexual abuse.
Despite a high-profile campaign launched by Mr McCann and his wife, Kate, there have been no confirmed sightings of Madeleine since she disappeared from a holiday apartment in the Portuguese town of Praia da Luz on May 3.
Mr McCann, who flew to the US yesterday, will spend most of the day in talks with American child protection bodies.
Accompanied by the family's campaign manager, Justine McGuinness, he will meet experts from the national and international centres for missing and exploited children.
A McCann family spokesman said: "They want to deepen their knowledge of the legislative position in the US.
"Part of what they are thinking is that, looking further down the track, they want to try and persuade various European authorities, both at the national level and the EU level, that they should look to a more integrated process similar to that in the US.
"The laws in each EU member state are all different. Given the trafficking aspect of the issue, they would like to find a template which they could then encourage the EU member states and the EU itself to adopt."
The national and international centres for missing and exploited children were established in 1984 and 1998 respectively after six-year-old Adam Walsh was kidnapped from a department store in Florida and murdered.
The case led to a review of child abduction cases in the US and legislation passed last year was named in his honour.
The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act significantly strengthened America's nationwide sex offender registration system and introduced harsher penalties for child sex offenders.
Tomorrow, Mr McCann and Ms McGuinness have meetings scheduled with US senators, congressmen and a senior staff member of the first lady, Laura Bush.
Mr McCann said in a statement: "We hope our efforts will help make the world a little bit safer for all children.
"Kate and I believe there is a strong, public feeling that crimes against children, wherever they may occur, are totally unacceptable."
Mrs McCann remained in Portugal with the couple's two-year-old twins, Sean and Amelie.
Meanwhile, posters of Madeleine were being displayed at booksellers in more than 200 countries around the world after the Harry Potter author, JK Rowling, asked stores selling the final instalment in the boy wizard series to publicise her case.
Madeleine was four days short of her fourth birthday when she vanished from the bedroom of her parents' holiday apartment while they ate dinner in a nearby restaurant.
She was apparently taken from her bedroom while her two-year-old twin siblings slept beside her.
is it just me, or does anyone else think it is looking increasing likely that maddie mccann will not be found?