Brian McConaghy (born 1963) is the founder of Ratanak International and a former

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

forensic scientist Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal ...

who left the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

(RCMP) in order to dedicate all his energies to ending child abuse and human trafficking in

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...

. He had already founded

Ratanak International Ratanak International (previously The Ratanak Foundation) is a Christian charity founded by Brian McConaghy in 1989 that works exclusively in Cambodia helping the country rebuild after decades of revolution, civil war and genocide. Ratanak, which ...

, in 1989, a Christian charity dedicated to helping the people of Cambodia rebuild their country that for decades had been torn apart by civil war, revolution and genocide. From 1990 onwards McConaghy and Ratanak partnered on projects that built clinics, hospitals and schools, opened orphanages, provided shelters for the elderly and AIDS victims and ran and initiated emergency food distribution programs in response to droughts and flooding in Cambodia. In 2004, these relief projects continued, yet Ratanak's work also took on a whole new dimension by beginning to work on the front lines in Cambodia on projects that rescue and rehabilitate children sold into sexual slavery. McConaghy named the organization Ratanak, which means 'precious gem' in Khmer, after he watched an 11-month-old

n baby called Ratanak die because of a basic lack of medical aid in

John Pilger John Richard Pilger (; born 9 October 1939) is an Australian journalist, writer, scholar, and documentary filmmaker. He has been mainly based in Britain since 1962. He was also once visiting professor at Cornell University in New York. Pilge ...

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

''Cambodia Year Ten''. Since watching this video McConaghy and Ratanak have been dedicated to preventing such needless suffering and death in Cambodia. McConaghy grew up in Northern Ireland and his family emigrated to Canada in 1978. He used to work for the Vancouver Forensic Laboratory as a firearm and tool-mark examination specialist. After founding Ratanak International, he continued to help the RCMP as a consultant, providing them with crucial information about the identity of the

child sexual abuse Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in sexual activities with a child (whet ...

victims in the case of Donald Bakker. He also did forensic work on the women murdered by

Robert Pickton Robert William "Willy" Pickton (born October 24, 1949) is a Canadian serial killer and former pig farmer. He is suspected of being one of the most prolific serial killers in Canadian history. After dropping out of school, Pickton left a butcher ...

, testifying that Andrea Joesbury, Sereena Abotsway, and Mona Wilson had all been

decapitated Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the i ...

with a

reciprocating saw A reciprocating saw is a type of machine-powered saw in which the cutting action is achieved through a push-and-pull ("reciprocating") motion of the blade. The original trade name Sawzall is often used in the United States, where Milwaukee Electr ...

. McConaghy was the guest speaker at the 2011 Manitoba Prayer Breakfast. He lives in Vancouver with his wife and two children, both adopted from Cambodia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McConaghy, Brian 1960 births Living people Canadian Christians Canadian philanthropists Charity fundraisers (people) Canadian forensic scientists Northern Ireland emigrants to Canada Scientists from Belfast Scientists from Vancouver 20th-century Canadian scientists 21st-century Canadian scientists