Brian McConaghy (born 1963) is the founder of Ratanak International and a former

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

forensic scientist Forensic science combines principles of law and science to investigate criminal activity. Through crime scene investigations and laboratory analysis, forensic scientists are able to link suspects to evidence. An example is determining the time and ...

who left the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

(RCMP) in order to dedicate all his energies to ending child abuse and

human trafficking Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

Ratanak International

He had founded Ratanak International, in 1989, a Christian charity dedicated to helping the people of Cambodia rebuild their country that for decades had been torn apart by civil war, revolution and genocide. From 1990 onwards McConaghy and Ratanak partnered on projects that built clinics, hospitals and schools, opened orphanages, provided shelters for the elderly and AIDS victims and ran and initiated emergency food distribution programs in response to droughts and flooding in Cambodia. In 2004, these relief projects continued, yet Ratanak's work also took on a whole new dimension by beginning to work on the front lines in Cambodia on projects that rescue and rehabilitate children sold into

sexual slavery Sexual slavery and sexual exploitation is an attachment of any ownership rights, right over one or more people with the intent of Coercion, coercing or otherwise forcing them to engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activities. This includ ...

. McConaghy named the organization Ratanak, which means 'precious gem' in Khmer, after he watched an 11-month-old

n baby called Ratanak die because of a basic lack of medical aid in

John Pilger John Richard Pilger (; 9 October 1939 – 30 December 2023) was an Australian journalist, writer, scholar and documentary filmmaker. From 1962, he was based mainly in Britain. He was also a visiting professor at Cornell University in New York. ...

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

''Cambodia Year Ten''. Since watching this video McConaghy and Ratanak have been dedicated to preventing such needless suffering and death in Cambodia. McConaghy grew up in Northern Ireland and his family emigrated to Canada in 1978. He used to work for the Vancouver Forensic Laboratory as a

firearm A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...

and tool-mark examination specialist. After founding Ratanak International, he continued to help the RCMP as a consultant, providing them with crucial information about the identity of the

child sexual abuse Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in Human sexual activity, sexual activit ...

victims in the case of Donald Bakker. He also did forensic work on the women murdered by

Robert Pickton Robert William Pickton (October 24, 1949 – May 31, 2024), also known as the Pig Farmer Killer or the Butcher, was a Canadian serial killer and pig farmer. After dropping out of school, he left a butcher's apprenticeship to begin working full- ...

, testifying that Andrea Joesbury, Sereena Abotsway, and Mona Wilson had all been

decapitated Decapitation is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and all vertebrate animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood by way of severing through the jugular vein and common ...

with a

reciprocating saw A reciprocating saw is a type of handheld, small, machine-powered saw, in which the cutting action is achieved through a push-and-pull ("reciprocating") or back-and-forth motion of the blade. The original trade name, Sawzall, is often used in th ...

. McConaghy was the guest speaker at the 2011 Manitoba Prayer Breakfast. He lives in Vancouver with his wife and two children, both adopted from Cambodia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McConaghy, Brian 1960 births Living people Canadian Christians Canadian philanthropists Charity fundraisers (people) Canadian forensic scientists Emigrants from Northern Ireland to Canada Scientists from Belfast Scientists from Vancouver 20th-century Canadian scientists 21st-century Canadian scientists