Reply #67: I agree with you 100 percent...

[CoffeeCat]

It is most likely that this 12-year old boy was a victim of sexual abuse.

You reiterated what I've heard many therapists say. It is unnatural for a child to act out sophisticated sexual behavior. If children do it, it is a red flag, indicating that they were sexually abused.

It is true that many children are curious and will "play doctor" or an innocent game of "you show me yours, I'll show you mine." However, this is normal curiosity and certainly not sexual in nature. They're simply curious about their bodies and about others' bodies as well.

One therapist I talked to put it this way. All children dance. They all move, wiggle and jump around to music. However, children don't naturally know how to waltz. If you saw a child waltzing, you would know that they had been taught. Same with highly sophisticated sexual behaviors--such as intercourse, oral sex, etc. Someone taught this 12-year old these things--most likely an abuser in his immediate family.

Also, this child is using sex as a weapon--to power up on someone less powerful than himself. This is also typical with children who have been sexually abused by a more powerful figure. These child-victims find someone powerless (usually a younger child or an animal) and they repeat what was done to them.

Children are not born with the desire to rape, dominate and harm people who are less powerful than themselves. Those are learned behaviors.

I believe this 12-year old is a victim of sexual abuse himself. Most adult rapists, child molesters who are studied reveal horrid childhoods. I hope this 12-year old receives therapy and that his perpetrators are held accountable.