by Cris Italia
It only took one meeting to convince professional fund-raiser Jeffrey Anlyan to join the Child Abuse Unit. Anlyan met with Chief Jeff Mackston at Ben's Deli in Forest Hills, Queens, in February 2001. He had heard of the unit's struggles through Jay Parker, a member of the unit's board of directors and the sole owner of their meeting place.
"They explained it to me, and I thought, Is this really a big problem?" Anlyan recalled. Minutes later his questions were answered. "Jeff [Mackston] went online right there in the deli, and within five minutes we were talking to several pedophiles."
Anlyan was shocked. He had never seen or thought of anything like this. Up to that point Anlyan, 36, of Albertson, was strictly a political fund-raiser. "After what I saw, they pretty much sold me right there," he said. "I've been on board ever since."
Now came the hard part: the daunting task of convincing others that this was a worthy charitable organization. But as fellow fund-raiser Janine Picchione explains it, people would rather not know too much about the subject.
"Let's face it," Picchione said matter-of-factly. "This is not a topic people want to know or talk about." She believes that most people feel that if they don't know it's out there, they are immune to it.
Picchione, 39, of Commack, is a mother of a 5-year-old, and says her child was a big reason why she came aboard. "When I talked to Jeff [Anlyan] I just thought it was something I really wanted to be a part of," she said. "Of all the organizations looking for funding, this had the most appeal. I don't want this happening to my child."
With Anlyan's contacts in the government, he didn't waste any time reaching out to those whom he has helped many times before. Unfortunately, he hit dead ends everywhere he turned. Even his uncle turned him down.
"All of government officials say the same thing: 'We're broke,' or they just have nothing to give," Anlyan said. "It was frustrating, because I've been in politics a long time. My uncle is a state senator in New York, and he told me he couldn't help."
His uncle, state senator Frank Padavan (R- Bayside), has been in office over 20 years. After his nephew told him about project, Padavan regrettably informed him that his hands were tied. "He sent me a letter telling me that Albany had no more money," Anlyan said. "There was nothing he or anyone could do."
So with the government out as immediate help, Anlyan went back to his roots. He put together a team of fund-raisers that would help jump-start a campaign that seemed to be going nowhere. Valentina Janek, 51, of West Hempstead took an immediate interest in the unit's goal to keep children safe on the Internet.
Janek had a personal interest. Her 12-year-old niece could have been a victim if it weren't for a curious older brother. "She was engaged in a conversation through a chat room," Janek said. "The person was someone a lot older, and she was just innocently looking to talk to someone."
Dialogue between her niece and the alleged pedophile lasted for a few weeks, but "thankfully," she says, her nephew saw what was transpiring one day. At first her niece was punished, but eventually her parents realized that their child was a victim of the modern era of computers.
Anlyan also sought the help of Karen Martin, a 36-year-old account executive for WHLI (K-Joy) radio on Long Island. She met Anlyan and Janek through a Rotary Club and was intrigued by what she heard and saw. In addition to a presentation by investigator Paul Hamilton, she also had a personal connection. With three children, all of whom are active on the Internet, she was concerned when her oldest daughter, 11, typed in www.whitehouse.com for a school research project. To her surprise, she was directed to a pornography site.
"Thankfully she's never been approached by a pedophile," Martin said. "But I was concerned that at any point my kids can punch in a Web site address and, without knowing, be connected to a porn site."
With the safety of her children in mind, Hamilton's presentation put her over the top. "I was horrified," she said. "What was worse is that it can be anyone talking to your kids ... But it just goes to show you what a different world this is, and it's so important to educate ourselves."
With a staff involved in several different aspects of the business community, the Child Abuse Unit put together a plan of attack. They offered DNA kits to parents in case one day they might be needed. Over the summer the unit held a successful golf outing that featured big names in the sports world such as hockey Hall of Famer Pat LaFontaine and Villanova basketball coach Jay Wright.
"That was great, just to have so many people involved and not only raise funds, but spread the word," Anlyan said. In addition to the fund-raiser, the unit received some much-needed help when Frank Farrier of the Fraternal Order of Police stepped in to make a big contribution. "That was a big boost -- it gave us some breathing room," Anlyan said.
Needing $300,000 simply in order to operate, the unit has had a difficult time finding it. That amoung of funding helps the unit stay afloat, but CAU's intentions are to expand and buy equipment that will help make the unit more efficient and add more trained officers to fight pedophiles. When the unit falls short, it's the members who try and make up the difference.
"We dig into our pockets all the time," Anlyan said. "We have to -- this is something we believe in. We want to see this succeed."
Chief Mackston echoed those sentiments. "From the outset we supported ourselves," he said. "[The campaign] is moving like a turtle right now." Mackston said one reason for the slow progress is the part-time help. "You have to realize that all of these volunteers have to work, but if we could just concentrate on this, of course we'd be a lot further," he said. "But we'll get there."
Without the help of volunteers, Mackston says, the unit would be in a much worse position. "If we didn't have their help we would still be stagnant," he said. "Once we get a cash flow we can get full-time help. People like [Anlyan, Janek, Martin and Picchione] just don't exist anymore. They are people that are few and far between."
Realistically, the fund-rasing team of Anlyan, Janek, Martin and Picchione, along with several other volunteers, is looking for corporate sponsorship, ideally from computer technology companies.
"We need big tech corporations to step up to the plate," Anlyan said. "They need to take responsiblity for this other world they created. It's their Internet monster. They made it, and they need us to police it."
For more information on how you can help, log onto www.childabuseunit.com, or call (866) STOP-ABUSE.
*************
The LISPCC's Child Abuse Unit will present Swinging in the '50s and '60s, a holiday cocktail reception, Tuesday, Dec. 7, from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. at the VFW Hall, 155 Searingtown Road in Albertson. To sponsor or buy tickets for the event, call (516) 562-7415. For more information, log onto www.childabuseunit.com
***********
