SPEAKERS

Sasha Neurlinger, Keynote 

Sasha Joseph Neulinger (B.A in Film Production at Montana State University) is the founder and President of Voice For The Kids, LLC and the co-founder and Head of Production at Step 1 Films, LLC.  He has worked behind the scenes on National Geographic's award winning series, "America, The Wild" as an assistant editor and has produced, directed, and edited films for corporate and non-profit clients nationally. He is currently directing his first feature length documentary, “Rewind," an autobiographical film about his life surviving multigenerational child sexual abuse.  Sasha also travels nationally as a public speaker, advocating for reforms in child advocacy and child abuse prevention. On March 27th, 2015, Sasha presented at TEDxBozeman. His presentation was titled "Trauma Is Irreversible. How It Shapes Us Is Our Choice." Since it was released to the public on May 20th, 2015, Sasha’s TEDx Talk has been viewed over 200,000 times to date, reaching survivors internationally. Sasha was the Survivor Keynote Speaker at the 28th Annual Crimes Against Children Conference, where he spoke to over 4,200 men and women representing all 50 states and 28 other nations in the fight against child abuse. In June 2018, Sasha had the honor of being a Plenary Speaker at the 2018 National Children’s Alliance Leadership Conference in Washington, DC. To learn more, visit Sasha at www.voiceforthekids.com.

Dr. Tanisha Knighton, Plenary

Tanisha L. Knighton, holds a B.A., M.C.J. and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. Dr. Knighton is an independent consultant and national trainer with over 15 years of experience as a Social Worker with Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services and over 4 years in the Missing Persons Unit for the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department. Dr. Knighton is an active member of the Human Trafficking Task in her area and a number of other agencies that address issues that affect missing persons. Dr. Knighton designs curricula and provides training on different topics for a variety of agencies and national conferences.

John Cleere, Seneca County Undersheriff

John Cleere joined the Seneca County Sheriff’s Office in 1986. Prior to Undersheriff he served as   a uniform officer, an investigator, and then as Chief Deputy. John holds certifications as a police instructor with a specialty in domestic violence; police supervision; crime scene technician; homicide, and all types of child abuse. He is also an Advanced Juvenile Officer and an instructor for Crisis Intervention and Mental Health Police Academy curriculums..

John has received special congressional recognition for a child predator case, as well as recognition from the Seneca County Board of Supervisors for taking down a multi county child sex ring. He has received the Sheriff’s Department Personnel of the Year Award, and numerous other commendations for child abuse and major crime cases. He has appeared on several national and international television network T.V. shows related to a high profile murder investigation..

Dr. Graham Hill

Dr Graham Hill is a Criminologist and a subject matter expert in relation to the behaviour of child sexual abusers and non-familial child abductors. He is a former senior detective and was the founder and first Head of Behavioural Analysis for the UK Child Exploitation Online Protection Centre (CEOP). Graham’s investigative career and research background gives him a unique perspective of sexual crimes against children and he lectures internationally on a wide range of interrelated subjects.  He is a member of the British Society of Criminology and a Visiting Research Fellow at Leeds University School of Law in England.

Michael Hockwalker, FBI Task Force Officer

Tara Hughes, LSCW-R and Julie Butkowski—Navigating the Crossroads: Opioid Use and Human Trafficking

Tara received her BA in Psychology from Boston College in 1988 and her Masters of Social Work and Family Therapy Certification from Boston University in 1992.  She has worked in the mental health field with families and children in crisis in many different capacities since that time. She is the immediate past-Coordinator for Trafficking Services at the International Institute of Buffalo, where she coordinated multiple programs providing intensive case management to US and foreign-born survivors of labor and sex trafficking.  She regularly presents information regarding human trafficking to professionals and the general public, including as a speaker for HEAL Trafficking.  She has been a speaker and panel facilitator for the Freedom Network USA annual conference, and served on the Freedom Network Policy Committee, specifically focusing attention on federal and state policy matters that impact youth.  In her capacity as Program Coordinator, she was an active member of the Western District of New York Human Trafficking Task Force, working directly with law enforcement and legal professionals to prosecute traffickers and serve survivors.  Tara was an Adjunct Professor at the University at Buffalo School of Social Work from 2004--2019, focusing on treatment of survivors of trauma. In previous positions, she has worked in agency settings and private practice concentrating on crisis/trauma response and family interventions. She has extensive experience working in communities where violence is the norm, and has responded to a variety of community-wide traumatic events. Tara is the owner of Invicta Crisis Solutions, a nationwide consulting group aimed at assisting communities to prepare for and respond to direct victims and families after mass casualty events.  She is an OVC TTAC Mass Violence Consultant, and has a lengthy history of leadership roles in responding to natural and human caused events with the American Red Cross.

Aaron Mango, Assistant United States Attorney 

Aaron Mango has been an Assistant United States Attorney in the Western District of New York since November 2007, and handles a wide variety of cases, with an emphasis on child exploitation cases and environmental crimes.  In October of 2008, Aaron was given the Attorney General’s Award for Outstanding Contributions by a New Employee.