This
is an older Posting of Mine from February but I just received a
wonderful comment from a reader I'd truly like to share with you all -
10-15% of all sexual assault cases fall within the category of
"Stranger Danger" and definitely can't be discounted. Although our
story is about Incest and it's affects, an incredible friend of mine,
like this reader, was abducted, held for days and raped at the young
age of 16 - unfortunately for her, 30 years later they still don't have
any arrests or prospects because the police lost the DNA evidence she
had taken immediately after the assault (guess times were different in
the 1970s)...still she lives in constant fear like this reader.
THANK
YOU so very much for sharing your story with me and best to you, your
book and your web site - I KNOW you will help others with your story at
www.meninmytown.wordpress.com.
As a secondary survivor of Child Sexual Assault, and as a parent
suffering to understand the whys and hows, I have put together an
online chat / message board with resources, books, and other
information for those needed support and help and ideas for coping for
both you and your children. It has been a long hard road for us and I
know the roller coaster will continue as the years pass by but since i
was unable to find much help for myself I thought i'd use our
experience to maybe help other parents along their journey.
Would
love your input as well ... I know there are others who have traveled
this path before us and more who will follow so feel free to share what
you think may help.
Thank you and God Bless -
MESSAGE BOARD / RESOURCES
OUR STORY
A LETTER TO OTHER PARENTS
My
name is Keith Smith. I was abducted, beaten and raped by a stranger. It
wasn't a neighbor, a coach, a relative, a family friend or teacher. It
was a recidivist pedophile predator who spent time in prison for
previous sex crimes; an animal hunting for victims in the quite,
bucolic, suburban neighborhoods of Lincoln, Rhode Island.
I
was able to identify the guy and the car he was driving. Although he
was arrested that night and indicted a few months later, he never went
to trial. His trial never took place because he was brutally beaten to
death in Providence before his court date. 34 years later, no one has
ever been charged with the crime.
In the time between the night
of my assault and the night he was murdered, I lived in fear. I was
afraid he was still around town. Afraid he was looking for me. Afraid
he would track me down and kill me. The fear didn’t go away when he was
murdered. Although he was no longer a threat, the simple life and
innocence of a 14-year-old boy was gone forever. Carefree childhood
thoughts replaced with the unrelenting realization that my world wasn’t
a safe place. My peace shattered by a horrific criminal act of sexual
violence.
Over the past 34 years, I’ve been haunted by horrible,
recurring memories of what he did to me. He visits me in my sleep.
There have been dreams–nightmares actually–dozens of them, sweat
inducing, yelling-in-my-sleep nightmares filled with images and
emotions as real as they were when it actually happened. It doesn’t get
easier over time. Long dead, he still visits me, silently sneaking up
from out of nowhere when I least expect it. From the grave, he sits by
my side on the couch every time the evening news reports a child
abduction or sex crime. I don’t watch America’s Most Wanted or Law and
Order SVU, because the stories are a catalyst, triggering long
suppressed emotions, feelings, memories, fear and horror. Real life
horror stories rip painful suppressed memories out from where they
hide, from that recessed place in my brain that stores dark, dangerous,
horrible memories. It happened when William Bonin confessed to
abducting, raping and murdering 14 boys in California; when Jesse
Timmendequas raped and murdered Megan Kanka in New Jersey; when Ben
Ownby, missing for four days, and Shawn Hornbeck, missing for four
years, were recovered in Missouri.
Despite what happened that
night and the constant reminders that continue to haunt me years later,
I wouldn’t change what happened. The animal that attacked me was a
serial predator, a violent pedophile trolling my neighborhood in
Lincoln, Rhode Island looking for young boys. He beat me, raped me, and
I stayed alive. I lived to see him arrested, indicted and murdered. It
might not have turned out this way if he had grabbed one of my friends
or another kid from my neighborhood. Perhaps he’d still be alive.
Perhaps there would be dozens of more victims and perhaps he would have
progressed to the point of silencing his victims by murdering them.
Out
of fear, shame and guilt, I’ve been silent for over three decades, not
sharing with anyone the story of what happened to me. No more. The
silence has to end. What happened to me wasn't my fault. The fear, the
shame, the guilt have to go. It’s time to stop keeping this secret from
the people closest to me, people I care about, people I love, my
long-time friends and my family. It’s time to speak out to raise public
awareness of male sexual assault, to let other victims know that
they’re not alone and to help victims of rape and violent crime
understand that the emotion, fear and memories that may still haunt
them are not uncommon to those of us who have shared a similar
experience.
For those who suffer in silence, I hope my story brings some comfort, strength, peace and hope.
My novel, Men in My Town, was inspired by these actual events. Men in My Town is available now at www.Amazon.com
For additional information, please visit the Men in My Town blog at www.meninmytown.wordpress.com
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING KEITH - God Bless - together maybe our voices CAN make a difference!
There
are actually a couple…My favorites are definitely the interviews and
the interactions with the authors off my blog. I got the chance to
interview famous historical romance author Amelia Grey and excited that
she’ll be coming back as a guest post this coming fall. Cheryl Brooks,
paranormal romance author was a hoot and I’m still trying to convince
her to write a sex commentary for her Cat Star Chronicles! lol And I
was very touched with Kimberly Elliott’s book 
