Bracknell man speaks out over his child sexual abuse

Those are the powerful words of a man who claims he was sexually abused by his step-granddad when he was only 10-years-old.

Perry Power from Bracknell is encouraging people to "break the silence" and speak up about their abuse after he suffered in silence for more than 12 years.

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Speaking to the News, he revealed how his late step-grandfather's actions were strange at the time but didn't think anything of it as he thought it was a "different type of love" he was getting.

The 26-year-old said: "It never got to the height of rape but stayed at a constant level of like he'd put his hand down my trousers, I'd sit on his lap and he'd put his hand down my pants, play with me, he'd put his erection up against me. He'd grab my groin or stroke my face or breathe into my ear and I never knew that any of that was wrong.

"I thought that that was just a type of love that my step granddad was giving me that I never had from others. I never understand the weight of it until my stepmum caught it happening."

The sexual abuse ended when his step-mother witnessed it happening.

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Perry, who was 10-year's-old at time, was sat on his step-grandad's lap and recalls him having his 'hands down his pants'.

He said: "It happened to be one of the times where my step mum was sitting in the living room and then my step-grandad dropped his cigarette on the floor whilst I'm on his lap and she was like why 'is he not picking up his cigarette, its burning a hole on the carpet' and she looks up and sees his hands down my pants and she sort of jumped up and went out the room, calls me out and takes me home and then my dad questions me.

"I wasn't allowed to go round there ever again."

From that point on Perry - who has waived his anonymity to speak to the News - has remained silent for 12 years due to his dad telling him to keep the sexual abuse a secret.

The actor who now lives in Guildford decided to tell his then-girlfriend at the time about the alleged sexual abuse - she was the first person he told.

Two years later when his Dad died from a heart attack at the age of 64, Perry decided to break his silence and tell the world about the alleged sexual abuse.

He said: "I broke my silence and then only after that did I hear that there was four members of our family, my dad included that were victims of sexual abuse from that man. My dad was proud man, a man's man you know, you don’t show vulnerability. You're this strong core, captain of the ship and him talking about the abuse would have been suicide so he kept it secret and he never shared it."

When asked about feeling resentment for what his step-grandad allegedly did to him, Perry said: "I never forgave my step grandad for him, I wasn’t letting him off the hook I wasn’t going to give him a get out of jail free card, I was simply getting out of the hold that he had over me and that’s what forgiveness is truly about. It's not glorying anyone or making them a saint its just knowing our true worth."

The actor and author now spends his time telling his story on social media platform TikTok, after seeing the positive impact it had when he first shared a video about the alleged abuse on Facebook.

Shockingly since launching his TikTok account one year ago, he said he receives messages from five to 20 children everyday about them having similar experiences of being sexually abused.

Through this, Perry co-founded a charity in the US called We Rescue Kids, which aims to rescue and rehabilitate children who have been sexually abused or trafficked, and wrote a book titled Breaking The Silence.

The book discusses his own story, as well as 14 other survivors' experiences.

He said: "Sexual abuse and my dad's death are some of the best things that's ever happened to me and the reason why I say that is because I wouldn't have a charity today, I wouldn't have the book. None of that would be getting done if I never went through that.

"It has shaped me into the person who I am today, with this mindset of creating change and difference in the lives of those."

If you have been affected by this story or experienced sexual abuse, these organisations can offer you support

Help for Adult Victims of Child Abuse (HAVOCA)

Information and support for adults who have experienced any type of childhood abuse, run by survivors - havoca.org

The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC)

Supports adult survivors of any form of childhood abuse. Offers a helpline, email support and local services.

Call: 0808 801 0331
Email: support@napac.org.uk