Kristin Kanner to Head Up Florida Sexually Violent Predator Program

On Friday, the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) announced Kristin Kanner, a veteran Broward County prosecutor, will head up the state Sexually Violent Predator Program starting on Nov. 4. For more than two decades, Kanner has been an assistant state attorney and led her divisions Sexually Violent Predator Unit for almost a decade.

After seeing Kristin testify in front of the Legislature last month during hearings on sexually violent predators, I knew she was the right person to lead the program, DCF Interim Secretary Esther Jacobo said on Friday. This is the first time in the programs 14-year history that it will be led by a former prosecutor who brings an intimate knowledge of each stage of the process and an increased emphasis on public safety.

Greg Venz, who had been heading up the Sexually Violent Predator Program on an interim basis, will head back to the DCF General Counsels office.