Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) - 2508

Tonight's special guest is Kevin Barhydt from Niskayuna, New York, a child abuse survivor, activist and author. He is a YouTube creator where he creates a safe space for survivors of child sexual abuse, abandonment and addiction to explore the healing process, and the author of 'Dear Stephen Michael’s Mother'. Abandoned by his mother at birth, Kevin was enveloped in a labyrinth of adoption, addiction, and child sexual abuse. By age 20, a shell of the boy he once was, Kevin succumbed completely to a suicidal lifestyle of drug dealing and prostitution. "I was adopted at birth, and my childhood was stolen from me when I was molested at 9 years old, which led down a road of alcohol and drug abuse." Smoking at 10, drinking at 11, and overdosing on barbiturates at 12, Kevin was put in the back of a cop car at 13. He explains, "I was taken from my home when I was 14, lived in two foster homes, a group home, a detention center. I was raped when I was 15, my oldest daughter was born when I was 16, my youngest was born when I was 17." Kevin’s book, “Dear Stephen Michael’s Mother”, chronicles the unfolding of these stories. The interwoven perspectives offer an unflinching look at the myriad ways life can cloak us in darkness and helplessness yet still resonate with joy and recovery. Kevin's life is summed up with these eight words: to be of service to God and others. As a YouTube creator, actor, educator, and disability technology evangelist - as a son, husband, father and friend - he gives of himself with one expectation: that you can only keep what you have by giving it away.