Rattigan: who are these children going to trust? They already had a trusted (usually) adult lie and abuse them. You have no idea the threats and the lies they are told.
In our case they were told no one would believe them. He was a well respected member of the congergation.
Also, he had spent years instilling fear of him in us. We were taught to view the authorities with suspicion. We were always threatened with being put in a state home. We were told horror stories about it.
Feeling Free: yes, we stopped it in time. The reason I started pressuring my sisters to tell was that he started wanting the little one to stay home with him during the meetings. I volunteered to stay in her place.
since my sisters told me what moves he would make , I was able to redirect him. He still made a pass but I did not go along. He then told me if I mentioned it to anyone he would say I was exaggerating.
I did not confront him because he can become violent.
I was at my wits end. I just knew it was wrong and not my sisters fault.