Anna is a qualified social worker and has worked within statutory front line child protection and specialist services as a practitioner and manager throughout her career. She specialised in child sexual abuse work, acting as an expert witness in the family courts on CSA cases. She was previously the CSA Centre's Practice Improvement Advisor for Social Work and, before that, the practice development lead for CSA within the local authority and contributed to local and regional service and policy development. Anna developed and led a multi-disciplinary specialist sexual abuse team, which provided assessments, interventions, supervision, consultation and training. Anna is an Associate Tutor at the University of Sussex and is currently the Editor of NOTA News, the quarterly magazine for members of the National Organisation for the Treatment of Abuse.

Dr Peter Yates is a Lecturer in Social Work at the University of Edinburgh. He is a qualified social worker with particular experience of working within a specialist service supporting children and young people who have displayed harmful sexual behaviour. He has published a number of papers on the subject of sibling sexual abuse and is co-author of Yates, P. and Allardyce, S. (2021) Sibling sexual abuse: A knowledge and practice overview, Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse, and Allardyce, S. and Yates, P. (2018) Working with children and young people who have displayed harmful sexual behaviour, Dunedin Academic Press.

Dr Sam Warner (B.A. hons; M. Clin. Psychol.; PhD; AFBPs) is a chartered and consultant clinical psychologist and honorary senior lecturer in the school of health and society at Salford University, UK. Sam works as a consultant, expert witness, psychotherapist, public speaker, strategic adviser, trainer, writer and academic. Sam has about thirty-five years’ experience of working with children, young people and adults who have complex mental health and safeguarding needs. Sam has specialised throughout her career in working with the impact of abuse-trauma on the mental health of clients, focusing on sexual violence, child abuse and neglect, and domestic abuse. Sam has led a variety of specialist sexual violence therapy services in the third sector, mental health, child protection, and in respect of residential services for girls at risk of sexual exploitation. Sam also works as an expert witness in childcare proceedings, and designs and delivers bespoke therapeutic services for children who area looked after, and their parents and carers. Sam works with both victims and perpetrators. She has written books, papers and reports on these issues. In her capacity as an expert in sexual violence, Sam has advised at national (e.g. Department of Health) and international levels (e.g. British Government, Stabilisation Unit). Sam has a particular interest in the interface between Sport, safeguarding and therapy, for example, acting as the mental health consultant for the Frank Bruno Foundation: a physical and mental wellbeing charity. Sam is committed to multi-agency working and is the chair of the Association of Child Protection Professionals charity.

Kairika Karsna

Senior Research and Evaluation Officer, the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse (CSA Centre)

Kairika has been involved in the CSA Centre’s research on the scale and nature of child sexual abuse for the past five years. She has been a co-author of the CSA Centre evidence reviews of the scale and nature of child sexual abuse with Prof. Liz Kelly since the first edition published in 2017. In addition to analysing data on the scale and nature of child sexual abuse, her work has focused on improving data on child sexual abuse, both in agency records and surveys. Prior to joining the CSA Centre, Kairika spent 10 years as a researcher and evaluator of charity and public sector services either as a consultant or an in-house researcher.

Marcella Leonard

Is Director of Leonard Consultancy and qualified as a social worker in 1989. Marcella has specialised in assessment and treatment in the fields of sexuality, sexual deviancy and trauma with both victims and perpetrators. Marcella co-ordinated the management of sex and violent offenders in Northern Ireland and has worked with several jurisdictions to establish their statutory management of sex and violent offenders. As Director of Leonard Consultancy, Marcella works internationally including Abu Dhabi, Gibraltar, Australia, New Zealand, Norway as well as throughout UK and Ireland. She delivers specialist safeguarding training to sports, criminal justice, religious, educational, social care, voluntary and statutory organisations which includes assessing and managing sexual and violent risk, consultancy, strategic and safeguarding policy development. She undertakes Case Management Reviews for organisations, training safeguarding officers and assisting organisations strategically and operationally to have robust safeguarding for children and adults at risk. Marcella’s practice, as a therapist with victims and survivors, is grounded in a trauma informed humanistic approach which is also embedded in her training and consultancy work.

Marcella has written several book chapters and co-authored articles in relevant professional journals and regularly provides expert opinion to media outlets as well as expert advisor to several documentaries for television productions. She is co-author of the AIM3 Adolescent Model of Assessment with Professor Simon Hackett and the CASP-R Ability to Protect and Supervise – Risk assessment model with Gareth Mc Gibbon.

Marcella is currently a panel member of the Northern Ireland Historical Institutional Abuse redress scheme assisting in the analysis of the harm caused to people when they were children whilst resident in child care and criminal justice institutions.

Marcella has been appointed as the lead social work panel member to review Historical Clerical Child Abuse throughout Northern Ireland on behalf of the Northern Ireland government.

Marcella is the Chair of the Commonwealth Games Federation Safeguarding Panel

Marcella has been awarded NSPCC and Association of Child Protection Practitioners UK Child Protection Trainer of the Year 2019

www.leonardconsultancy.co.uk

Dr Michelle Cutland

Health Practice Improvement Advisor, the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse (CSA Centre)

Michelle is a consultant paediatrician with over 17 years’ experience in children’s health and has a special interest in safeguarding and child sexual abuse. She has had roles within both general acute paediatric and child sexual abuse assessment specific services including a prior role as a named doctor for safeguarding children. Michelle continues to work in the NHS as a Clinical Director for a Children’s Sexual Assault Referral Centre in South-West England.

Director of Lucy Faithfull Foundation with responsibilities for Stop It Now! Scotland, Stuart qualified as a social worker in 1998, working for the next two decades with children and young people who have displayed harmful sexual behaviours as a practitioner, manager and trainer. Currently vice chair of NOTA UK and Ireland (National Organisation for the Treatment of Abuse) and honorary researcher at Strathclyde University. Trustee of White Ribbon Scotland and Associate at Centre for Youth And Criminal Justice. Co-author of ‘Working with Children and Young People Who Have Displayed Harmful Sexual Behaviour’ (Dunedin Press, 2018), ‘Sibling Sexual Abuse: A Knowledge and Practice Overview’ (Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse, 2021) and ‘Sibling sexual behaviour: A summary guide to responding to inappropriate, problematic and abusive behaviour’  (Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse, 2023).