Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) - 316

Tonight's special guest is Jerome Elam, child abuse survivor writer for the Washington Times, Communities section. Mr Elam says, "I have struggled against many things in my life including childhood sexual abuse and somehow I found a way to survive." Raised in the South, he joined the United States Marine Corps at the age of seventeen and spent the next eight years seeing the world. After his enlistment was finished he attended college and graduated to work in the Biotechnology sector. Jerome continues, "Writing is my passion and it keeps me in touch with the wealth everyone holds deep inside their hearts and minds." Two recent samples of his writing can be found on the NAASCA web site under our Feature Articles section. One is entitled "The tragedy of youth suicide: Children searching for hope" in which Mr Elam discusses his own "successful" suicide. The second article "An end to silence: Child sex abuse victims speaking out" has an appeal that can often be heard from NAASCA members. It's directed to those of us who have survived child abuse being the voice for the still suffering children who have no voice.