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Radio PA Roundtable – April 25, 2014

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On this week’s Radio PA Roundtable, F&M College political analyst Dr. Terry Madonna stops by to talk about the final weeks of the Democratic primary race for governor and how a maverick challenge on the Republican side could foreshadow Governor Tom Corbett’s November election fate. Also, April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Radio PA’s Rick Becker speaks with the PA Coalition Against Rape about how the Jerry Sandusky scandal changed everything.

Radio PA Roundtable is a 30-minute program featuring in-depth reporting, commentary and analysis on the top news stories of the week.

Click the audio player below to hear the full broadcast:

PSU Partners with PCAR, More Scrutiny

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Penn State will tap its share of this year’s Big Ten bowl revenues to fund a new partnership with the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape.  PSU has committed $1.5-million dollars for the partnership, which will focus on everything from professional development for employees to developing research on child sexual abuse.  “Our own experience shows that child sexual abuse greatly impacts individuals and entire communities,” university president Rodney Erickson said in a statement.  “It is now our responsibility to assist in raising awareness and in helping fight this insidious and often secret crime.” 

PCAR reached out to Penn State almost immediately after the news of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal broke.  PCAR CEO Delilah Rumburg is pleased with the new partnership.  “It shows strength to take a tragic situation and turn it into an opportunity to grow and learn,” she says. 

News of the new partnership comes amid continued scrutiny of Penn State.  Auditor General Jack Wagner, Wednesday, said he wants to ensure that taxpayer dollars aren’t used in the defense of any individuals charged in the sex abuse scandal:WAGNER4

 

Human Trafficking Response Team

PA’s First Human Trafficking Response Team Announced

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Police, prosecutors and non-profit groups have joined forces to announce the state’s first Human Trafficking Response Team.  It will cover a five county area in Central Pennsylvania, according to Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico.  “Just as we’re a major pass through for commerce, we can also be a thoroughfare for human trafficking,” Marsico said at a Wednesday news conference.  Marsico is also president of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association (PDAA), which made the announcement alongside the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape (PCAR).

PCAR’s Criminal Justice Specialist, Krista Hoffman, says human trafficking does occur in Pennsylvania.  “Every year between 100,000 and 300,000 US kids… are trafficked for prostitution within the United States,” she says.  Human trafficking became a criminal offense in Pennsylvania in 2005, and it occurs when a person is forced, coerced, threatened or deceived into performing labor or prostitution.  Hoffman notes that it does not have to involve travel.    

A grant from the Department of Health and Human Services will help to train a multidisciplinary team to respond to potential crimes of human trafficking in Dauphin, Adams, Cumberland, Perry and Franklin Counties.   But, officials see room for expansion.  “[It can] become an example of a best practice for the rest of Pennsylvania, and others throughout the country,” Marsico says.  Hoffman echoed those thoughts after the news conference: “If we can take our model of the five-county human trafficking task force and then expand it and really roll it out to the rest of Pennsylvania, I think it would be very effective.”