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	Area Catholics, Church Officials Meet Times of Trenton March 24, 2007 http://blog.nj.com/timesupdates/2007/03/area_catholics_church_official.html Trenton — Prayers mixed equally with videos of child sex abusers talking about their methods at a meeting Friday night of church officials and area Catholics at the diocese's Pastoral Center. Bishop John M. Smith was scheduled to speak to volunteers who run "Protecting God's Children," a church-run workshop teaching adults to recognize the warning signs of child sex abuse and how to respond appropriately, but sent his representative, Msgr. Gregory Vaughan, the vicar general, instead. Vaughan is the diocesan response officer who hears any complaints about priest sex abuse and turns the information over to civil authorities. Also speaking at the meeting was Paul Ashton, a psychologist who specializes in child sexual abuse prevention and healing. "We're watching everybody who works with our kids because we didn't do this before — we trusted everybody. Those days are over," Ashton said. The diocese requires adults who have regular contact with children to undergo a criminal background check and to complete the safe environment workshop. They've conducted background checks on more than 17,000 clergy and laity who work as parish staff and volunteers. About 13,000 people have taken the safe environment workshops since they began in 2003.
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