The annual Crystal Kipper & Ali Kemp Memorial Award was presented to Rasta, a Northland courtroom therapy dog, and the golden retriever’s handler and owner Jennifer Vernon.
The award, presented each spring, honors the memories of murdered teens Ali Kemp and Crystal Kipper. Kipper was an 18-year-old Gladstone resident killed after her car ran out of gas on Interstate 29 in 1997. Kemp, who has the stage in Smithville’s Courtyard Park named in her memory, was 19 when she was killed in 2002 while working at a neighborhood swimming pool in Kansas.
The award recognizes “the outstanding work of an individual or organization in recognition of a valued contribution to preventing and responding to the exploitation of children,” states a release from the Department of Justice.
“Every dog lover has had the experience of being comforted by their devoted canine friend,” U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri Teresa Moore said. “This year we are recognizing Rasta’s invaluable contribution of a calming influence for traumatized children during stressful, sometimes intimidating, legal proceedings. By helping to reduce the anxiety of these vulnerable victims, Rasta contributes to our goal of achieving justice for them. And by presenting Rasta with this award, we hope to encourage the use of court therapy dogs in more settings.”
Rasta provides emotional support to help young victims and witnesses speak up to describe what happened to them. The scientific evidence for the physical and mental calming effects of appropriately bred and trained dogs is overwhelming, according to the Courthouse Dogs Foundation, and includes both physical and psychological effects.
Rasta, a trained therapy dog, originally worked in hospice and alongside Vernon at Synergy Services, Inc.
“Rasta has provided comfort to children at Synergy who experienced trauma, to homeless and traumatized teens, and even to the adult staff at Synergy,” reads the release. “In 2019, following some additional training, Rasta went into the courtroom for the first time. He sat in the witness box with a teen abuse survivor during his first trial experience in Platte County Circuit Court.”
