Recommended books for child sexual abuse
My Body Is Private by Linda Walvoord Girard and Rodney Pate (1992)
Please Tell!: A Child's Story About Sexual Abuse by Jessie Ottenweller (1991)
Something Happened to Me by Phyllis E. Sweet (1985)
It Happens to Boys Too by Jane Satullo and Russell Bradway (1987)
The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse (4th edition) by Ellen Bass and Laura Davis (2008)
Wounded Boys Heroic Men: A Man's Guide to Recovering from Child Abuse by Daniel Jay Sonkin and Lenore E. A. Walker (1998)
WARNING: Quotes from Predators
These quotes are from men who are convicted child molesters. They, too, are experts in the field of child maltreatment, and they also spell it out:
"Parents are so naive—they're worried about strangers and should be worried about their brother-in-law. They just don't realize how devious we can be. I used to abuse children in the same room with their parents and they couldn't see it or didn't seem to know it was happening."
"I was disabled and spent months grooming the parents, so they would tell their children to take me out and help me. No one thought that disabled people could be abusers."
"Parents are partly to blame if they don't tell their children about [sexual matters]—I used it to my advantage by teaching the child myself."
"Parents shouldn't be embarrassed to talk about things like this—it's harder to abuse or trick a child who knows what you're up to."
Parent Resources
Signs Of Child Molestation:
The younger the child, the more difficult it is to determine if your child has been or is being molested. As a teenager, or even pre-teen, they may just blurt it out, but then you have the problem determining if the accusation was motivated by something other than molestation. We've all heard of the false accusations that ruin the reputations of upstanding citizens. So, how can you know if someone is victimizing your child? Unless you witness it or someone admits it...you can't! Everything relies on your best guess based on the evidence you find. Obviously, you need to have very strong suspicions before formally accusing someone and needlessly damaging their reputation. A great tool to help you assess the possibility of molestation is the following Signs of Child Molestation produced by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Following the signs, we'll discuss some actions to take.
Signs of Sexual Exploitation in Children: Parents, grandparents, and guardians should be aware of the signs noted below that could indicate your child has been sexually molested. You should note that some of these behaviors may have other explanations, but it is important to assist your child no matter what the cause of these symptoms or behaviors.
- Changes in behavior, extreme mood swings, withdrawal, fearfulness, and excessive crying
- Bed-wetting, nightmares, fear of going to bed, or other sleep disturbances
- Acting out inappropriate sexual activity or showing an unusual interest in sexual matters
- A sudden acting out of feelings or aggressive or rebellious behavior
- Regression to infantile behavior; clinging
- School or behavioral problems
- Changes in toilet-training habits
- A fear of certain places, people, or activities
- Bruises, rashes, cuts, limping, multiple or poorly explained injuries
- Pain, itching, bleeding, fluid, or rawness in the private areas
This section includes websites and other parenting resources. We hope that parents, grandparents and guardians find them useful.
State Sex-offender Registry Websites
Visit the following sites to find lists of registered sex offenders in each state.
National Sex Offender Registry
http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/cac/registry.htm