Molested By My Uncle

When I was 5 years old I lived in a house that shared property with my grandparents. My house was walking distance from theirs and I went over there often.

My uncle had recently been released from prison. He was 28 years old. He was in prison for theft. He had no place to live so he moved in with my grandparents. My older brother (9 years old at the time) loved to go over and play video games with my uncle. I, being the annoying little sister, liked to tag a long. We would sit in my uncle’s room for hours while he and my older brother played video games.

One day, while we were in his room, my older brother was playing video games and I was laying on the bed. My uncle shoved his hand down my pants and started rubbing me. I was unsure of what to do. I was afraid that he would be mad if I told him to stop.

Another time I went over to see him but it was just me this time. He told me he wanted to play “the lick game.” At the time I had no idea what was going on. Now looking back on it, I know he was performing oral sex on me. When I was younger I didn’t think he was actually licking me because I was so confused as to why someone would do that.

My uncle babysat my younger brother and I (he was 2 years old at the time) and he took off his pants and made me come sit on his lap while he was naked.

We also had a swimming pool and my uncle thought that it was time for me to learn how to swim. He gave me private swimming lessons. I remember him taking off his swim trunks in the pool and telling me to go underwater with my goggles on. He told me to grab what I saw while I was underwater. When I got uncomfortable, he grabbed my hand and forced me to touch him.

After my uncle moved out and into his own house he would come to visit my famly and I on Sundays for dinner. I was around 9 or 10 years old at this time and my uncle was married. Everyone was in the kitchen except for my uncle and I. He told me to come over and sit on his foot and he would bounce me on his foot. He told me that it would be fun. When I sat on his foot he shoved his toes inside me through my clothes. It hurt so bad.

When I was around 10 years my best friend was a guy. His older brother was around 12 years old and he also molested me. He told me that he needed to make sure my breasts were developing normally. He would put his hands under my shirt and grab my breasts. I was afraid to say anything because I didn’t want to make him unhappy. About a year later, I was at his house again with just him and his younger brother. I was looking for his younger brother but I stumbled across him in his bedroom. He was watching a really dirty movie and he wanted me to watch it with him. He pulled down his pants and told me to grab him but this time I ran off and found his younger brother.

I know that I was young when these events occurred but I remember them as if they happened yesterday. I’m mad at myself for not telling anyone. Growing up, I have always been uncomfortable with older men touching me, even family members. I am thinking that it stems from this.

— Natalie, age 17