I realize that this is a very disturbing topic so I would encourage some of you before I get into my post not to read it if it bothers you. This post has to do with me and how it happened to me as a young child. If I can save one child from being a victim of this, then this will have been worth it.
It's not easy for me to talk about this as this is very personal stuff. But somewhere down the line when you get older you learn to talk about it and accept that this was never your fault.
You see when I was a young boy, my parents were very industrious people. They both had a full-time jobs and I would end up being babysit by my grandmother. My grandmother had many kids, in fact she had 18 of them. Being raised a catholic it was encouraged back then to have big families. It was good for church membership and the donation plate.
So you see I come from a big family with lots of uncles and aunts. Unfortunately it was when my mom was gone to work and I had to be babysit by my grandma that all of this happened. One of my uncles use to lure me as a young child. He would start out by isolating me and inviting me in the garage to play pool with him. Then he would take advantage of me.
This went on for some time till my mom stopped work and was able to stay at home with myself and my brothers and sisters. Thank God for that.
One thing my mom observed from me after picking me up from grandma and she later told me later on in life, is that I was a very clingy child and would hold her and not let her out of my sight when she would pick me up from my grandmother. I was a very insecure child and very emotional.
I was to afraid to tell anyone as my uncle would threatened me if I told anyone about what he was doing to me.
Now my uncle never was or been a JW. I didn't start studying and become a JW till my teens. But what he did to me was no excuse.
One day I confided to one of my relative who is close to me about what had happened and my relative could hardly believe it. It was suggested that I approach my uncle and talk to him. Well when I tried that, he threw me out of his house and I have my relative as a witness as we both were there.
Never did I hear back from my uncle but I did hear back from his wife and was told by her. " It doesn't matter what happened back then, my husband is a good husband."
Now one thing I found about about my uncle later on in life is that I wasn't the only one that was molested by him. I also have 2 cousins that I'm aware of, and everything that I know of them matches the same patterns and places that my uncle use to carry on his deviousness.
I can honestly say that how it affected me later on in life was with low self esteem, lots of guilt and you don't know why, problem with male authority.
So to conclude I want to say that by the time a child molester gets known and caught, it will not have been his first time to molest a child.
So I hope you don't think I'm a basket case because of mentioning this about me because I'm not, I've worked hard at overcoming my problems and have a comfortable level of peace. I just wanted to tell you that child molestation can happen in the org. and does happen as we have seen a post on this board already, except it seems the brothers and sisters take the view that we should never talk about it and want it brushed under the rug.
So I just want to say to you parents to watch over your little children, because it is an inheritance from Jehovah and pray that swift justice come upon those who abuse their authority.