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Child Focus (or the European Center for Missing and Sexually Exploited Children) is a Belgian foundation that supports prevention and investigation of missing children,
abducted children
Child abduction or child theft is the unauthorized removal of a minor (a child under the age of legal adulthood) from the custody of the child's natural parents or legally appointed guardians.
The term ''child abduction'' includes two leg ...
sexually abused
Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assau ...
and exploited children, along with psychological and legal support to the victims. They also follow their cases and sometimes ensure they are treated with due care by the persons in charge. Finally, they help and spread the information about missing children by publishing their pictures and descriptions in
newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...
s,
magazine
A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...
s, etc.
Since 1998, Child Focus has treated 3,000 cases a year, and closed 70% of them within the year.
History
Child Focus was created on
Jean-Denis Lejeune
Jean-Denis Lejeune (born 1959) is the father of Julie Lejeune, who was abducted along with Mélissa Russo in Belgium on 24 June 1995, and imprisoned in Marc Dutroux's cellar. She was eight years old at the time. She died, probably of starvation, ...
's initiative in June 1996, one year after the abduction of his daughter Julie and her friend Melissa by
Marc Dutroux
Marc Paul Alain Dutroux (; born 6 November 1956) is a Belgian convicted serial killer, serial rapist, and child molester. Initially convicted for the abduction and rape of five young girls in 1989, Dutroux was released on parole after just thre ...
.
Lejeune had learned about the existence of the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is a private, nonprofit organization established in 1984 by the United States Congress. In September 2013, the United States House of Representatives, United States Senate, and the Pres ...
in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
and went to visit it in order to study its structure. During the ''White March'' in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
on October 20, 1996, he asked
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Jean-Luc Dehaene
Jean Luc Joseph Marie "Jean-Luc" Dehaene (; 7 August 1940 – 15 May 2014) was a Belgian politician who served as the prime minister of Belgium from 1992 until 1999. During his political career, he was nicknamed "The Plumber" and "The Minesweep ...
for help in creating a similar organization in Belgium. Its honorary president is her Majesty Queen Paola.
On March 31, 1998, Child Focus was fully operational, and in July 1997,
Daniel Cardon de Lichtbuer
Daniel, Baron Cardon de Lichtbuer (16 November 1930 – 26 July 2022) was a Belgian businessman, mainly active in the Belgian banking sector.
Education
He obtained a PhD degree in Law (1953) and a MBA degree (1955) from the Catholic Universit ...
became the first Chairman of the organization.
See also
*
Michel Fourniret
Michel Paul Fourniret (4 April 1942 – 10 May 2021) was a French serial killer who confessed to killing 12 people in France and Belgium between 1987 and 2003. After he was arrested in June 2003 for the attempted kidnapping of a teenage girl in ...