I’ve never been able to let go of the pain of sexual assault

Unless letter writer Carolyn McNeill has been sexually assaulted, she has no right to preach to victims of this egregious crime (“Old sexual harassment claims are questionable,” Jan. 4). Telling victims, “You should report it at the time it happens,” and adding that “The Bible says a person can be forgiven” and “Women shouldn’t let themselves be put in a compromised situation in the first place,” only confirms the ignorance that exists about the shame victims feel decades after the incident.

I kept quiet for nearly 60 years before I finally shared my story with my wife. I choose to share it now because the “Me, too” protests by thousands of victims have brought back all too clearly that awful moment when I was assaulted after the perpetrator plied me with one cocktail after another until I nearly passed out.

As a man who was assaulted by another man who avowed to be a “friend of the family,” I tried to forget, but the lingering pain never goes away. I share my story now to stress that no one who hasn’t gone through such a harrowing experience can begin to understand its long-term consequences.

This story was originally published January 16, 2018 at 3:05 PM with the headline "I’ve never been able to let go of the pain of sexual assault."