Key Note Speaker

Sayeh Rivazfar

NYS Trooper, Canandaigua, NY 

Sayeh Rivazfar is the oldest of six children, and is a Trooper with the New York State Police.  She has been a board member of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children since 1996.  In Sayeh’s early childhood, she, her sister Sara, and brother Arash became victims of mental and physical child abuse at the hands of their biological mother who lived in Pensacola, Florida.  Sayeh’s mother had various men in and out of their home, along with alcohol and drug abuse. 

On September 22, 1988, Sayeh, then age 8 and Sara, age 6, were kidnapped from their home during the late night by a man known as Raymond Warfield Wike, one of their mother’s boyfriends.  Ray had taken the girls to a nearby wooded area, raped Sayeh for hours, and then lacerated both girls’ throats leaving them for dead.  Sayeh feared she would be attacked again, so she pretended to be deceased until Ray drove away and left the area.  She checked on her sister, Sara, and discovered that Sara’s neck was nearly decapitated.  She walked out of the woods onto a dirt road and waved down a truck.  The trucks occupants took her to a nearby store to call for an ambulance.  Sayeh had suffered severe damage to her neck and vagina.  She survived the brutal attack, identified the man who had committed these horrific crimes, and, after a few days in the hospital, testified against him.  Sayeh testified not only during the trial, but also for the two sentencing phases (due to technicalities within the judicial system), and appeared at the several appeals given to Raymond Wike. 

Raymond continued to victimize Sayeh from Prison in Florida by sending her threatening letters while she lived in New York with her biological Father.  Raymond was sentenced to death in 1989, and had not yet been executed as of 2004.  In July of 2004, another family member residing in Florida notified Sayeh and her family that Raymond Warfield Wike died in Prison from natural causes.

As a result of her experiences, Sayeh has become the voice for other victims.  She has shared her experiences with several various entities including victim’s families, parents, children, peers, politicians, Law Enforcement agencies, and many different communities in hopes that this would show others hope for prevention, intervention, and/or comfort.  Sayeh has conducted several media interviews and appeared on talk shows to educate others of her past experiences in hopes of reaching those who are in need or will listen.  Sayeh has worked with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, providing them with presentations, speeches, and one on one sessions with victims.  She also participates in the many events that take place supporting the Center.  Sayeh has successfully completed her education, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice, and has successfully pursed her goal of a career in Law Enforcement working with the New York State Police since 2003.  Sayeh is doing very well and is happily living in Rochester, New York where her family and loved ones reside. 

Plenary Speaker 

Robert Farley

MS, Consultant in Crimes Against Children, Retired Cook County Sheriff

Robert Hugh Farley was the Commanding officer of the Cook County Sheriff’s Police Child Exploitation Unit in Chicago. As a highly decorated Detective, Unit Supervisor and Deputy U.S. Marshal, he has had over 28 years’ experience investigating and supervising all aspects of child abuse crimes – from sexual abuse to child homicide.  As an internationally recognized child abuse expert, consultant and author, he has conducted child abuse training seminars for tens of thousands of professionals in all 50 states for the U.S. Department of Justice and in 22 countries for INTERPOL. In 2007, he supervised the sexual abuse investigation at Oprah Winfrey's School for Girls in South Africa. In 2011, he became the first police officer to conduct a child sexual abuse seminar for the clergy at the Vatican – Rome. In 2012, he collaborated with the Boys Scouts of America following the court ordered release of the ineligible volunteer or so called “perversion files.” In 2015, he returned back to Rome to speak for the clergy administration in the Vatican – Rome.

Rod Reder

Vice President, National Institute of Crime Prevention, Retired Hillsborough County Sheriff

Rod Reder is the vice president of the National Institute of Crime Prevention. He served with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office in Tampa, Florida for 29 years. He retired in 2006 as a Captain-Uniform Deputy Commander. Rod was the Domestic Violence Coordinator for the Sheriff's Office for seven years. He was also the Public Information Officer for five years. He has conducted training for Florida State University, the University of South Florida, KY Attorney General’s Office, and the U.S. Army. He was also part of a training team that established the first domestic violence training program for police in Almaty, Kazakhstan. He currently serves on the Florida Attorney General’s Fatality Review Team.

Rod is recognized nationwide as a teacher, lecturer, and expert in the field of domestic and sexual violence. He has received numerous awards, such as the Florida Governor's "Peace At Home" award and The Spring’s “Hands of Peace” award. As a member of the Florida Governor’s Domestic Violence Task Force he helped to write many of Florida’s domestic violence statutes. He is the past chair for the board of directors for the Hillsborough County Family Justice Center. He has appeared as an expert on the NBC Today Show, MSNBC News, Investigation Discovery Channel, Court TV, Inside Edition, and Fox’s, The O’Reilly Factor.  Rod is a certified State of Florida CPTED Practitioner. Rod is an honors graduate of the 109th Session of the Southern Police Institute's Administrative Officer's Course in Louisville, Kentucky. He also holds a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology from the University of South Florida.

Anne Lenane

Ann Lenane, MD, Golisano’s Children’s Hospital, REACH Program Medical Director

Ann Lenane received her M.D. and Pediatric residency training from Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, NY.  She received fellowship training in Emergency Pediatrics at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Her initial faculty position at the University of Rochester was in Emergency Pediatrics but in response to a community need, she and two of her colleagues started the REACH (Referral and Evaluation of Abused Children) Program in 1993. She currently serves as the program’s medical director. The REACH Program provides medical evaluations for child victims of physical abuse and sexual abuse for Monroe County and surrounding counties.

Ashley Hennecky 

Supervisor, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Child Victim Identification Program (NCMEC/NY)

Ashley Hennekey is a Supervisor with the Child Victim Identification Program (CVIP) at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia.  Ms. Hennekey has been with NCMEC since 2006, where she started as a call center specialist.  Since then, Ms. Hennekey joined the Exploited Children Division as a CVIP analyst and also relocated to the Rochester, NY branch office where she continues to work for the Child Victim Identification Program.  Ms. Hennekey is responsible for the daily operations, including managing a team of approximately twenty analysts.  This program allows NCMEC to assist law enforcement agencies and prosecution teams with child pornography cases across the country, as well as locate and identify unknown child victims featured in sexually abusive images.  As CVIP serves as the clearinghouse for identified victims within the United States, the program works closely with Interpol and its member countries. Ms. Hennekey has participated in numerous investigative training programs on online child exploitation. She has provided extensive technical assistance to law enforcement in the United States as well as abroad on cases of child sexual exploitation.

Pam Weaver

Deputy Executive Director, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC/NY)

Pam Weaver is the Deputy Executive Director for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, New York Regional Office (NCMEC/NY). She has presented abduction and sexual abuse prevention safety education programs for over 21 years, throughout New York State. These programs include utilizing the NetSmartz Workshop, teaching Internet safety and KidSmartz real world safety to youth, teens, parents, teachers, and law enforcement. Pam also is an authorized facilitator for the Darkness to Light Stewards of Children, child sexual abuse prevention training.

Barry Couch

FBI Special Agent, Federal Child Exploitation Task Force (Rochester, NY)

FBI Special Agent Barry Couch facilitates the Federal Child Exploitation Task Force in Rochester, NY, consisting of both Federal and State/Local Law Enforcement.