As a survivor of child sexual assault: No, Defense Attorney Jaye Ann Duncan, the jury does not need to “sort perception from reality” (Monitor front page, May 21). Cognitively, young children lack the language skills and the understanding to describe the sexual assault exactly the same as they did at age 5 and then later at 17. They are not lying.
The amygdala of the brain maintains the memories of the assault, the pain, smells, emotions of fear, shame and, yes, what was on TV. It is as though the assault was tattooed in the brain. I know – my memories persist 72 years later. They are not as vivid but they remain, and thanks to trauma therapy the emotional pain has subsided. Sexual predators destroy childhood innocence and murder the soul of adults.
Parents, I beg you, please learn the grooming strategies of sexual predators. Learn how they manipulate parents to trust them, just to get access to your child. Never allow your child to be alone with others unless you have fully vetted them against the grooming techniques. And most of all trust your gut. Enough is enough!
PAULA C. LESMERISES
Concord