Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
OGDEN — In fighting crime, the focus shouldn't solely be on the perpetrators, says Reed Richards.
"It's important to punish the violator, but more important, I think, to help that victim recover," said Richards, an outspoken advocate for victims' rights who served as Weber County attorney in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
To that end, he helped usher in significant improvements starting in the 1990s in how child witnesses and victims are handled and on Thursday helped mark the opening of the new Weber-Morgan Children's Justice Center. The $6.5 million structure replaces the old center at 2408 Van Buren Ave., serving as the principal space where young victims of physical and sexual abuse, internet exploitation, and other crimes meet with police investigators and get medical exams.
"You'll notice that this is designed to look a lot like a house, not like an office building," Richards said. "It's open, it's airy, it's friendly. It is decorated in a way that will be appealing to young people and children. That makes it easier for them to tell their story."
State and local officials, including Utah Attorney General Derek Brown, participated in Thursday's ceremony. The 19,000-square-foot facility, serving Weber and Morgan counties, becomes the newest of the 25 children's justice centers around Utah. Construction started in early 2024 with support coming from state and local government, the private sector and the public.
"This building is essentially our effort to create a new era in how we work with children," Brown said. "This is, in effect, kind of the gold standard. This will be our crown jewel, and from here on out, this will set a new standard for what children's justice centers do, what they look like and how they operate.
Likewise, Tracey Tabet, director of Utah's Children's Justice Center Program, stressed the importance of Children's Justice Center facilities and their focus on working with child victims. "We exist because children should not be interviewed in police stations. They should not have to drive hours to a hospital. They should not have to navigate the many agencies involved in their case. They should have one place just for them," she said.
Dawn Winter and Andrea Lithgow, two women who were served as children in the 1990s at an earlier incarnation of the Children's Justice Center in Ogden, also addressed the ceremony. They stressed the importance of such facilities and those who work inside.
Seeing improvements over the years in the care and attention child victims get "has been very healing because what you do here, and how you do it matters and makes an enormous difference in the lives of the children that have to come through here," Winter said.
Lithgow said Utah's slew of Children's Justice Centers serve a vital role in helping children during what can be one of the most painful moments of their lives.
"You built more than walls. You built a safe haven of trust. You're creating a place where voices are honored, where their healing can begin and where the possibility of wholeness is kept alive. For some of us that's the first real step toward becoming who we were always meant to be," she said.
Rod Layton, who served for many years as director of the Weber-Morgan Children's Justice Center, championed efforts to build the new facility at 1845 Jackson Ave. The Van Buren Avenue building, a large converted mansion, was too small, dark and foreboding, he said, calling the move to the new site another step in efforts over the years to improve how authorities work and interact with child victims.
"We've improved tremendously over the last 20, 30 years. We've come a long, long ways and we'll get better," he said.
