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Thread: DuPage County dedicates Jeanine Nicarico Children's Advocacy Center

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    DuPage County dedicates Jeanine Nicarico Children's Advocacy Center



    DuPage County's new child advocacy center will be named after Jeanine Nicarico, a 10-year-old Naperville girl who was abducted from her home and murdered more than 27 years ago.

    State's Attorney Joe Birkett made the announcement Monday, saying the project is meant to “pay tribute to Jeanine Nicarico and the difference she has made in the criminal justice system.”
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    “It is my hope that by naming the new center after this beautiful little girl whose life was cut far too short by a serial killer, we will raise awareness of the center and the extremely important work that they do,” he said in a statement.

    A DuPage County jury sentenced Jeanine's killer to the death penalty late last year, marking the end of a decades-long legal saga dating back to her abduction on Feb. 25, 1983.

    Jeanine's mother, Pat, said by phone Monday that she and her husband Tom were “very honored and touched” to have the child center named after their daughter.

    She said the memorial will supplement an ongoing literacy fund in Jeanine's name to help children who have difficulty learning to read.

    “Jeanine always cared about other children and their feelings, and always looked out for them,” Pat Nicarico said. “Just as the literacy fund has been able to help children in school, hopefully this will help children who have been abused or are victims of other crimes.”

    The DuPage County Children's Center investigates cases of sexual abuse and severe physical abuse, and also works with children who witness violent crimes.

    Birkett said he consulted with former Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan, who established Illinois' first such center in DuPage County, as well as Jeanine's parents, the center's board of governors and the county board in naming the facility.

    Officials said construction is expected to begin next year. The center will be just north of the youth home on the county government campus at County Farm and Manchester Roads in Wheaton.

    http://www.dailyherald.com/article/2...ews/711239887/

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    DuPage County dedicates Jeanine Nicarico Children's Advocacy Center

    As DuPage County advocates work to seek justice and healing for the youngest victims of crime, they now will do so in the name of Jeanine Nicarico, whose life was cut short by violence.

    The county on Tuesday dedicated the Jeanine Nicarico Children's Advocacy Center in Wheaton, which will help children who have been abused or witnessed violent crimes.

    DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin applauded the Nicarico family's strength and said the name of Jeanine, the "10-year-old girl with an endearing dimpled smile and sparkling eyes," will become a legacy.

    Jeanine is "a beacon of light in times of darkness instilling hope and dignity in each child that is reached here and each case where justice is served," Cronin said.

    The Naperville schoolgirl was 10 in 1983 when she was abducted from her home, sexually assaulted and slain. Bringing her killer to justice was a drawn-out saga. Two men were convicted, then freed. In 2009, Brian Dugan was convicted of killing Jeanine and sentenced to death, although his sentence was later commuted to life in prison after the state abolished the death penalty.

    The children's center that bears Jeanine's name will allow criminal investigators and Department of Children and Family Services workers to interview young victims of abuse and those who have witnessed violent crimes in a child-friendly setting.

    "With its advanced interview rooms and videotaping capabilities, this building will not only help minimize the stress for victims and their families created by the investigative and judicial process, it will help our prosecutors obtain justice in these difficult cases," State's Attorney Robert Berlin said.

    There were 400 of those cases last year alone and thousands more in the previous center, which opened in 1987 and was no longer functional, officials said.

    The new 15,000-square-foot building's $5.6 million cost was funded in part by a Community Development Block Grant and fines from the Circuit Court. It also houses the DuPage Family Center.

    Jeanine's mother, Patricia Nicarico, said she and her husband Tom are "touched and honored" by the county naming the center after their daughter and hope she will be remembered in a positive way.

    "It's really unfortunate that there's such a need in this country, in this world for this type of facility, but thank God there are people like you that are willing to work with these children and help them and bring justice for them," Patricia Nicarico said. "And I just hope having Jeanine's name on this building will help them get through and know there is a future for them and they also can be happy, bubbly little children like she was."

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...,4282677.story
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