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Twelfth Judicial District opens Children’s Advocacy Center in Jasper, Tennessee

Staff photo by Ben Benton / Gina Presto, of the Marion County Children's Advocacy Center in Jasper, Tenn., talks about how the interview room at the center helps make alleged child victims comfortable enough to talk to investigators. Staff photo by Ben Benton / Gina Presto, of the Marion County Children's Advocacy Center in Jasper, Tenn., talks about how the interview room at the center helps make alleged child victims comfortable enough to talk to investigators.

By Ben Benton June 3, 2021 6 min read

Officials in the six-county 12th Judicial District on Thursday celebrated the opening of a Children’s Advocacy Center in Jasper, Tennessee, becoming the last judicial district in the state to open such a facility.

Until now, alleged victims in child abuse and sex crime cases in Bledsoe, Franklin, Grundy, Marion, Rhea and Sequatchie counties had to be taken to centers in Bradley, Hamilton and Coffee counties for interviews, medical exams, counseling and after-care services, according to the new center’s director, Kelli Craig.

“We’ve waited on this for a very long time,” advocacy center board president Gina Presto said during dedication and grand opening activities on Thursday.

“We’re finally here, and I appreciate all of you,” she told board members, government officials and supporters.

Besides the satellite offices already planned in Rhea and Franklin counties, Presto said Sequatchie County now also will have a center in Dunlap.