NCJ Number
170832
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 58 Issue: 3 Dated: (June 1996) Pages: 84
Date Published
1996
Length
1 page
Annotation
Susan Jones, a Canadian juvenile probation officer, helped crack a sex ring that was victimizing some of her clients.
Abstract
A client, who had not reported to her as required for several weeks, called her and requested a meeting to discuss an unspecified problem. Jones agreed to meet with him and promised not to turn him in. During the meeting, the teen told her he had been drugged and videotaped by some men in sexually provocative situations. The men had circulated the videotapes, which featured boys as young as 12 years old in sexual situations. The youth told Jones the men's names and addresses, as well as the location where the videotapes were hidden. Jones called her colleagues with Project P, a team of police officers formed to investigate child pornography rings in the Toronto area. The youth was reluctant to reveal more information, but Jones convinced him to assist the police, who then began collecting evidence and preparing for a raid. During this period of evidence collection, Jones received another call from her client, reporting that one of the perpetrators, suspecting him of being an informant, had punched him in the face and threatened him. Jones and some follow officers rushed to the client's house where they found the perpetrator and arrested him. Because of her instrumental role in the seizure of nearly 3,400 child-pornography videos and the convictions of three offenders, Jones received the Civilian Citation Award by the Metropolitan Toronto Police Force on March 30, 1995. Jones is committed to a dual role in her work with 16- and 17-year-old offenders; she monitors compliance with court orders, but she also provides in-depth counseling for her clients.