DOWNEY - Father Con, a convention aimed at inspiring current and future fathers, will be coming to Downey next week.

The convention will take place from 9 a.m. to 2:30 at Warren High School.

According to Patrick Erlandson, who founded the event, Father Con was born out of his work with the Long Beach Human Trafficking Taskforce.

“I work on the prevention side,” said Erlandson. “With my work, I kept looking farther and farther upstream; why do we have girls so vulnerable that they can be sucked into the sex trafficking that’s so prevalent, and also why do we have boys that are growing up thinking it’s okay to pay for sex with an 11-year-old autistic girl. That, to me, deserved my attention,”

Erlandson came to the conclusion that the problem stemmed from fathers who were disengaged, abusive, or otherwise absent.

“That was something I wanted to address,” said Erlandson. “Father Con is really a response to that. It’s meant to be like a conference, but also like a conversation. We really need to start having a conversation about ‘What’s the significance of fathers.’ What is the role? What is the impact that we really have on kids? What is it that really makes us happy as men and as fathers?”

The con strives to raised awareness to “things some people aren’t really aware of” says Erlandson, including the “cyber experience of children online.”

“Pornography, for example, is now impacting up to 500,000 divorces a year, just because it’s so prevalent,” said Erlandson. “It’s so stimulating to the brain; it’s actually changing the brain.”

Erlandson says that being a father in the 21st Century requires more engagement than before, and is a “whole different game.”

“You’ve got to be on top of things,” said Erlandson. “The FBI says that there’s up to 900,000 predators online at any given time hunting for children who will talk to them…Kids are not that wise in how they conduct their online life. The more that fathers understand that and understand how to deal with the things your kids are going to…the more they can become a role model and participate in a child’s growth.”

While attendees at the past several cons have varied across the spectrum, the con primarily targets the “middle group” of fathers, who may just be realizing that something is missing from their role as a parent and is seeking improvement.

Speakers at the con will include experts, victims, and even a reformed trafficker.

“[Attendees] are going to be made aware of a lot of things that should be encouraging,” said Erlandson. “The intention is to come out of there feeling much more encouraged to become better fathers and appreciate what it means to be a father.”

Those interested can register for free at Eventbrite.com.