By SARAH THOMACK
St. Joseph Post

A tree planting ceremony is held each year in Maryville in recognition of victims of crime.

Crime Victims’ Rights Week is held every year and various events are held nationwide in recognition of it. The 1984 Victims of Crime Act addressed things such as the right of the victim to be in court hearings and to be notified of court hearings.

Tom Seipel is District Administrator of the Parole Office at the Maryville Treatment Center. Seipel said the center opened in December of 1996, and the superintendent at the time asked him to help organize an event for Crime Victims’ Rights Week in 1997.

“Victims needed to be recognized, they were an integral part of the criminal justice system and it seemed like all too often they were being re-victimized or were being forgotten,” Seipel said. “As Mozingo Lake was being developed, (I) talked to the city (of Maryville) and the city gave us basically a selected area and told us to utilize that area. So every year, we’ve continued to plant a tree there in recognition of the victims.”

The keynote speaker at the tree planting will be Missouri Department of Corrections Director Anne Precythe. The Maryville High School Spectrum choir and the American Legion will also be a part of the event and there will be a proclamation by Mayor Rachael Martin.

The tree planting will take place at 10 a.m. on Friday at the Mozingo Lake Recreation Park at the Kiwanis Shelter.

A tree is donated each year for ceremony by Walmart or Sutherlands.

For more information about National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, click here.