((Noelle)),

Unfortunately, there are people in society that are "bad" people, but they make it look like they are well educated and are responsible upstanding citizens. They are all around us in society and when they finally get caught, people are shocked at what they managed to conceal. Yes, there are people who are twisted that get into high social positions to where they have the kind of power where their victims feel helpless to speak up in fear that no one will believe them because of "who their abuser is".

These people tend to pick victims that are in a position where they are "very vulnerable" and powerless and that often is a "helpless child". Or, in a scenario that recently came out around where I live where a Doctor had been abusing female patients in a place where these patients that sought health care through a system set up to treat people who were low income. Finally, one of the patients was strong enough to speak up and finally others came forward who were also victims but had been too afraid to speak up.

While these predators get punished from time to time and people are shocked by the labyrinth of people around them that are in their web of deceit, there are still many that unfortunately manage to continue with their web of deceit and never get caught or be held responsible somehow. And often society allows that to take place because of who these people are or the kind of power they have. This could be in any "high" position, be it politics, a doctor, a religious leader, a top psychiatrist, a powerful business owner of a successful business, or a huge establishment that could stand to lose a lot if this one person's bad actions are revealed, for example the Sandusky case.

It's always very hard to believe that people like this exist, often society doesn't want to believe it, it's too hard to see the reality and unfortunately people often choose to disbelieve and look the other way. Often people want to disassociate from reality and pretend these bad things don't really exist. This is especially true if there is a social network where people are doing "well" in life around this "tainted individual or individuals". These individuals are "very, very smart" and are extremely charming and well spoken and very good at convincing people around them that they are "very good people".

I am very sorry that you had to be exposed to this kind of predator in a way that you had no choice because you were only a child. Unfortunately, you are not alone with this kind of challenge and it "is" hard to find a way to have a sense of self. However, even though it is hard, it is important to speak up and tell your story. Our society needs to finally learn how to spot these kind of predators and be strong enough to stand up to them. Society has to "demand" accountability no matter 'WHO" it is that is abusing in some way.

OE