Victor I. Vieth

Victor I. Vieth | Victim Rights Legend Award
Zero Abuse Project
Lewiston, Minnesota

Victor Vieth is the Chief Program Officer of Education and Research for the Zero Abuse Project, a 501(c)(3) public charity based in St. Paul, Minnesota. Zero Abuse Project is committed to education, training, and survivor support to eradicate child abuse and remedy its resulting harms. 

Mr. Vieth first gained national recognition for his work in addressing child abuse as a prosecutor in rural Minnesota. As a result of this work, he was named to the President’s Honor Roll of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children. 

He then served as the Director and Senior Attorney of the American Prosecutors Research Institute’s National Center for Prosecution of Child Abuse and as the Director of the National District Attorneys Associations’ Child Abuse Programs. Mr. Vieth spearheaded the implementation of 23 state and international forensic interview training programs. 

He has trained thousands of child-protection professionals domestically and internationally on numerous topics pertaining to child abuse investigations, prosecutions, and prevention. He founded the National Child Protection Training Center (now part of Zero Abuse Project, along with the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center) and also served as President of the Academy on Violence & Abuse. 

Mr. Vieth was instrumental in developing Child Advocacy Studies (CAST) undergraduate and graduate programs, now implemented at more than 75 colleges, universities, law schools, medical schools and seminaries nationwide. He serves on the board of directors for GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment), and Sacred Spaces, which partners with Jewish Institutions to prevent and respond to sexual abuse and other abuses of power. 

He has published countless articles related to the investigation, prosecution, and prevention of child abuse and neglect. He is author of “Unto the Third Generation,” an initiative outlining the necessary steps we must all take to eliminate child abuse in America in three generations. 

In 2012, Mr. Vieth was awarded the Pro Humanitate Award from the North American Resource Center for Child Welfare, and in 2018, he received the Heritage Service Award from the National Partnership to End Interpersonal Violence (NPEIV). 

Mr. Vieth graduated magna cum laude from Winona State University; earned a J.D. from Hamline University School of Law and earned an M.A. from Wartburg Theological Seminary.