A vision to protect children

Tuesday, March 7, 2006

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Jessie's Place would help children apply what they learn in the classroom about safety.

We've seen the impact of the death of Citrus County's Jessica Lunsford, a 9-year-old who was kidnapped, raped and murdered in 2004.

There are new laws and bills working through Congress that aim to protect the most innocent Americans like Lunsford.

Now, the Citrus County Sheriff's Office is working on a safe haven for children, which will be called Jessie's Place in honor of Lunsford when the 15-acre site is built.

"It was a vision of Sheriff [Jeff] Dawsy to bring a safety town to Citrus County," Lt. Doug Dodd said. "As a part of that we'd also include a child advocacy center as well as a program called Enterprise Village.

"A lot of great things that we can teach kids, some of those common-sense dangers that young children will face."

Like the safety town in Pasco County, a child-sized town would be built to give kids hands-on experience about safety.

"It will give the kids an opportunity, a chance to apply what they learned in the classroom in regards to safety and their surroundings," Rock Crusher Elementary School Principal Nancy Simon said.

It will also provide a location for children in the county to go if they are abused, neglected or victims of crime.

"There's only about half the counties in Florida that have child advocacy centers," Dodd said. "And we feel like we could really benefit from that center here in Citrus County."

All that's left is the location to fit the dream. The sheriff's office likes the spot just north of Rock Crusher Elementary if the school board will donate the land.

The sheriff's office hopes to finalize the location at a school board meeting in April. The cost of the project is estimated at almost $1.5 million.