As a young boy I was sexually molested by a relative. At that time I was told monsters weren’t real; little did I know that they are real and mine still haunt my dreams 40 years later.

I was molested by this man from the age of 6 until the age of 10. I started drinking and doing drugs daily at 13, trying to stop the nightmares. I tried to commit suicide for the first time at the age of 14 and continued this path of self-destruction for 15 years. I’ve since been in counseling trying to find inner peace and a way to stop the nightmares and suicidal thoughts I suffer with daily.

I decided the only way this was going to happen was to face this person in court. I have tried to get someone in law enforcement to arrest this man, but was told there was a statute of limitations, which would not allow them to prosecute cases that had happened in my situation before 1999.

I asked why this same statute didn’t apply to people who were prosecuting priests for acts 20, 30 or 40 years earlier and was told that was made possible by special legislation passed only for that situation because it was so widespread.

Why is one group of people allowed to prosecute pedophiles, while others are denied? If anyone has encountered this same problem, please contact your senator, congressman or the ACLU to see why people such as ourselves are not allowed equal justice to face our molesters in court.

Jeff Chambers

Smyrna Mills