Should I do anything about this?

Question

From the ages of 3-6 I lived with my family on a caravan site (Scabby I know but it's not like I had a say in where I lived).

Anyhow years later and I now live in a house lol with my own family. I found out a year ago from one of my brothers that a man who used to to charity work for orphans on the site has been arrested in europe charged with sexual abuse to children. As you can imagine I was shocked but didn't think much else until yesterday when another of my brothers told me that there was a story in the Sun about this same man being a paedophile!

As I said, I was 3 when we moved to this place. How do I know if he touched me? I can't remember much at all from when I was that age. Shall I just leave it or should I try to find out if something happened to me? My thought at the moment is that say he did do something, it may well tear my life appart now knowing it so am i better off not knowing?

What would you do?

Answer 1

If he had touched you inappropriately you would remember; even children as young as 3 are aware of wrong behaviour towards them. it's basic animal instinct.  Anyway, you were probably looked after carefully and never left in a situation where anything of that sort could happen to you.  Just don't try to romanticise your past, be happy that you have a good and loving family who protected you from anything untoward.

Answer 2

In fairness pal you dont **** where you eat.

When you say a campsite and you mean a travellers site the etiquette is quite strict around those places and the society is quite ordered so I doubt he would have done anything.

I don't know from personal experience but I think abuse like this is something that would stick with you.

Answer 3

If you can't remember, chances are nothing happened. I don't trust hypnosis methods either as this can program false memories into your brain. If you are ok, and you have never had any suspicion that something happened, then you should carry on as normal, rather than spoiling what sounds like a good life.

Answer 4

You could go to a hypnotherapist a "freudian" and get hypnotised to find "lost memories".  However, it has been found that lost memories of child abuse are often made up in the mind due to suggestion.  If the memory does not exist at the moment it is due to a) the memory has been replaced by another b) the memory is degraded and cannot be retrieved c) the memory has been purposefully repressed.  Is it really worth the hassle of going through all the therapy to retrieve a memory and then further therapy to deal with any memories retrieved to do with any abuse...(which you may or may not have suffered).  If you genuinely do not remember then what is the point of trying to drag this up.  The guy is getting convicted anyway, maybe it would be best to leave this as it is.  Unless you are going to worry about this for the rest of your life (what if), in that case maybe you should see a therapist...just to put your mind at rest.  But just be weary of implanted memories, because they can be planted by a simple suggestion like "did that man touch you somewhere that you didn't want him to?".

Anyway, maybe you should try not to dwell on it, and count yourself lucky that you don't have the horrific scary memories like others who have had these hanous crimes acted out on them.

Good luck.

x*x

Answer 5

Ok so this guy's a bad one but you cant say it happened to you incase it didnt and it can be proved it didnt happen to you then your name's mud forever. You'll be branded jail bait always. You need to approach the police that are dealing with this and explain your situation to them, explain that you are unsure if this happened to you but you need to find out. They will be able to help you if all they can do is keep you updated on the court case. Unfortunatly wothout any proof in  your own mind theres nothing else you can do.