Woman Who Spearheaded Megan's Law Passage Makes Plea for Help

By Myra Ruiz
WYFF
February 15, 2017

http://www.wyff4.com/article/woman-who-spearheaded-megans-law-passage-makes-plea-for-help/8804216

A woman whose sexual assault case inspired the country's first sex offender registry spoke at a luncheon on Tuesday to benefit the Julie Valentine Center.

Allison Black Cornelius, who was sexually assaulted by her Sunday school teacher at the age of 7, was the keynote speaker at the annual Julie Valentine Luncheon at the T.D. Convention Center.

Cornelius came forward when she was in her 20s, after learning that her offender was working as a youth pastor.

"That ended up with a trip to the Supreme Court," Cornelius said. "We won that case against him in criminal court. It was the oldest rape ever convicted in the United States."

Cornelius went on to spearhead the passage of Megan's Law in 36 states.

"At the end of the day, I believe a family's right to know that an offender is living near them trumps whatever cost -- whatever we have to do," Cornelius said.

The Julie Valentine Center, formerly known as the Greenville Rape Crisis Center, was named, in part, for an unidentified baby girl.

"Twenty-seven years ago, there was a gentleman out picking wildflowers for his wife the day before Valentines Day, and he found a (deceased) infant who had been abandoned," Shauna Galloway-Williams, executive director of the Julie Valentine Center, said.

Galloway-Williams said the baby was wrapped in newspaper and in a vacuum cleaner box.

Instead of calling her Jane Doe, law enforcement officers named her after a victim's advocate at the Greenville County Sheriff's Office, and after the holiday that led to the discovery of her body.

"She has really become a symbol of hope and inspiration for us and for our community to ensure that that never happened to another child and that no caregiver ever feels that that's the only choice they have to make," Galloway-Williams said.

More than 900 people attended the luncheon, which serves as a fundraiser for the nonprofit.

The Julie Valentine Center serves about 2,700 victims of child abuse or sexual assault each year.

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