Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) - 1550

Tonight's special guest is Dave Beatty from Austin, Texas, a child abuse survivor who's particularly interested in raising awareness and breaking the silence over Domestic Violence. Dave grew up in a good family, but was at 5 1/2 years old he was sexually assaulted in a bathroom by a custodian at school. "I t was the worst pain I had ever felt in my life," he says. After he was finished the pedophile told him, "I know your parents and if you say anything at all I will kill them." Dave's teacher and his mother both knew something was wrong but assumed the child was coming down with something. "It changed my whole personality," Dave says. "I was scared to speak up anywhere. I felt like I didn't fit in. I felt alone even in a crowded room and to this day I have issues with it." He explains, "I have been silent about it all this time, and the shame and fear of telling anyone has played a big part of who I am today." Dave's struggled in his adult life with relationships, maintaining jobs and with raising his own children. Both he and his spouses experienced Domestic Violence, but Dave has a heart to help others. To do so, he started Riders Against Domestic Violence. Their mission is to organize and establish close community bonds, assist local centers and shelters get the funding they need to help the victims of abuse, and to bring awareness within the central Texas area of the seriousness of domestic abuse, and to encourage breaking the cycle. We're grateful Dave has chosen NAASCA to speak out about his own sexual assault for the first time.