No matter the outcome of legal and internal investigations into the Penn State sex abuse scandal, people should remember the victims. That's according to officials from Peoria's Center for Prevention of Abuse.
Sara Dillefeld, who supervises counseling at the Center, tells WMBD's Greg and Dan, "The earlier children can report or disclose the abuse has happened to a trusting and caring adult who believes their disclosure, those children are going to do much better with reduced symptoms long term."
Dillefeld says some of those symptoms to watch for include, "Children who used to be active in school might become withdrawn and not want to participate in sports."
"Acting out behavior is another symptom," says Dillefeld. "A lot of time children who might not be comfortable sharing or disclosing the abuse are acting out in their behaviors in other ways. It might be poor school performance or getting into trouble at school."
Center for Prevention of Abuse Director Martha Herm says the important thing is to believe what children are telling you. "Most often children are telling the truth and you have to follow your gut," says Herm.
Long term effects of sexual abuse of a child could include depression, anxiety, sexual dysfunction later in life and post traumatic stress disorder.
Herm and Dillefeld say 80 percent of children who are sexually abused know their abusers.
