Members of Jones County’s Interagency Support Committee may be partnering with a unique group of individuals to ensure the safety of abused children.

At least a half dozen motorcyclists visited Gray Saturday morning to meet with committee members to offer the help of Bikers Against Child Abuse (BACA). The group is non-profit and is now international. BACA exists to provide aid, comfort, safety, and support to children who have been sexually, physically, and/or emotionally abused.

The Interagency Support Committee was represented by Operation Early Intervention, the Department of Juvenile Justice, River Edge Counseling Center, Law Enforcement, and the Department of Family and Children Services.

The meeting was held in the training room of the Jones County Sheriff’s Department.

BACA members adopt road names, and the speakers at the Oct. 17 meeting were Buck Shot, Slippery, Badger, and Road Angel.

Operation Early Intervention coordinator Donald Black said that BACA contacted the committee through DFCS.

“We are bikers, not a vigilante group,” Slippery began. “Statistics show that children are abused, and we want to help stop that abuse. Our purpose is to empower these children not to be afraid of the world in which they live.”

The group was shown a video that explained the group’s purpose. BACA was founded by John Paul ‘Chief’ Lilly, who is a licensed clinical social worker, a registered play therapist/supervisor, and part-time faculty at Brigham Young University.

According to the organization’s website, www.bacausa.com, Lilly has been in practice for 20 years, most of which has been spent in the treatment of abused children. He became aware that, while the system was able to offer much in the way of helping the children to heal, there were gaps that needed to be filled.

One of the greatest and unique assets of BACA for the children is its biker family attitude. When a child is adopted by BACA, he or she becomes a member of that family, and bikers are a tightly knit group. After children have been adopted into thefamily, they are not helpless or powerless anymore.

BACA members provide for the children by attending court proceedings and parole hearings with them, escorting them to and from school or errands if necessary, and many other ways to ensure that the children are free from fear and can return to their previous level of adaptive functioning.

Members of BACA come from all walks of life. They are attorneys, law enforcement officers, warehouse workers, business owners, schoolteachers, retired teachers, clinical therapists, construction workers, secretaries, farmers, newspaper editors, radio personalities, and general laborers.

Buck Shot said two contacts are assigned to each child accepted by BACA.

“We make a physical presence in the neighborhood. Our relationship starts on the superficial level, but as trust develops, the child feels safe,” he said.

The biker said that the average pedophile perpetrates over 400 victims in his lifetime.

“We need to take them off the street,” he said.

The group visiting Jones County consisted of members of the Lake Oconee Chapter. BACA is in 34 states, Canada, Australia, Africa, and is going into Europe.

“We want you to know we are here to help your county,” Slippery said.