When my son was almost 6 years old, he disclosed the sexual abuse he was suffering at the hands of a juvenile perpetrator (my stepson) - each night while the family was sleeping. It is a miracle that my son was able to tell us what was happening to him (especially since the tactics to silence him also included several attempts on his life by my stepson). When my son disclosed, I had the police remove my stepson from our home. Three months later my other son - who was almost 3 at the time - disclosed the sexual assaults he also experienced...

Usually, parents have no idea what to look out for as signs of potential juvenile and adult sexual predators. Most parents wonder if they are communicating the "right" way with their child to protect him/her. And once a child is violated, it is difficult to know how to support him/her.

I wrote A Child's Heart Speaks: Surviving Sexual Abuse because I could not find the answers I needed - and wanted those answers for myself and for other parents. I turned to adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse & my own 2 children who had been violated - for the answers.

A Child's Heart Speaks: Surviving Sexual Abuse is available at most on-line bookstores and at http://www.clairesilva.com

Claire