By MICHAEL CARNES — Publisher

The Centers for Disease Control has found that 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys are sexually abused before their 18th birthday.

Here in my home state of Nebraska, if we were to plug those ratios into the current K-12 enrollment of every public, private and parochial school in the state, that means there would be an estimated 60,000 kids in Nebraska ALONE who will have been impacted by this horrible crime before they reach adulthood. To put that into perspective that a Husker football fan could understand, it would be like having Notre Dame fans invade Memorial Stadium and fill up two-thirds of the seats in a stadium Husker fans have filled to capacity for every game since 1962.

The sad reality of this is that many of these children do not speak out of what someone has done to them. They are threatened with some type of violence, whether on themselves or another family member. They are bribed with money and toys and given unusual attention by their perpetrators. Their family members or school administrators encourage them to remain silent about the crime, or try to dissuade them from talking about it and otherwise ignoring what has happened to them.

And as much as we talk about the concept of “Stranger Danger” and tell our kids to avoid contact with people they don’t know, the ugly truth of the matter is that more than 9 in 10 children who are abused are injured by someone they have some type of relationship with. Their attackers are their parents, their siblings, a relative, a coach, a priest or minister, the neighbor next door, the kid down the street – people that, you would think, would be people kids could trust to be around anytime, in any situation.

That’s why it’s time to break the silence and shine the brightest light on the darkest of secrets – it’s time to tell someone, anyone and everyone about child sexual abuse.

I was sexually abused at the age of 9, behind the swimming pool in the small town of Newman Grove, Neb., in the spring of 1976. My attacker was someone I knew – the older brother of a classmate. My attacker’s last words before he let me go was a very simple, blunt threat: “If you tell anybody, I will kill you.”

I was blessed with parents who didn’t take the situation lightly, but the aftermath of what had happened continued to haunt me, and follows me yet to this day. I’ve lived through drugs, depression, suicide attempts and negative self-esteem issues that have held back who I am and what I can offer to the world.

Over the last several years, I have worked hard – and continue working – toward dealing with the negative energy that this attack has had on my life. Every day is a war that is waged in my heart and soul, and it is one that I work very hard to be victorious in. I win much more than I lose, but it’s a battle I will have to keep fighting until God calls me to my final destination.

That’s why it’s important for me to speak out – and even more important – to encourage other survivors of child sex assault to break their silence and tell their stories. Keeping the anger and misery locked up inside serves no positive purpose, and I’ve found the best way for me to overcome all the negative energy this experience has created in my life is to speak publicly about it and encourage others to understand that they don’t have to live a victim’s life anymore. There is joy and comfort in being a survivor, which is why I prefer that word – survivor– in referring to those of us who have been through the experience.

This website is serving multiple purposes. It is my home for promoting my public speaking opportunities, as well as my current book, “Call Me A Survivor” and any other books I may pen on the subject in the future (and, yes, there IS a second book in the works . . . you’ll need to check back here for more details). It is also a home for information on legislation that is being created in the United States, as well as a home for links to groups or organizations who can help provide resources for survivors of sexual abuse.

When is NOW the time to tell the world about child sexual abuse? It is time to tell SOMEone, ANYone and EVERYone. I encourage you to do it today.