New here and feeling desperately alone. I'm going on a long vent, because quite honestly I need to and have no one else to tell. Last summer I discovered my son was being sexually abused by his friend, the son of our neighbors (who were our friends as well). At first we thought they were just being typical little boys, comparing parts, but then my son disclosed that his friend had introduced him to a game involving "rubbing" and butts. The more details that he gave us made it apparent his "friend" was using him in a sexual manner. We still do not know how long it was going on, at the very least “months”, but could have been years.

We tried to do everything right, we tried talking to the parents, but they claimed their son said "nothing like that ever happened". Then we hotlined it, and the investigators alternated between making excuses for why they hadn't done anything, to flat out ignoring my calls, then refusing to give MY child help. I spent MONTHS making phone calls and demanding help, only to have the supervisor tell me that the case had closed over a month prior and that since the other child didn't admit to anything and in fact blamed it all on our son there was nothing they could do. I asked for the report repeatedly and it took more week’s time to get that. Then the office gal didn't want to give it to me because my child wasn't the one "reported". Finally got that only to discover everything we had told the other parents had been twisted to their side - blaming everything on us. They flat lied about a number of things, including what we told them the first day of discovery. It took more calls and demands for DFS to finally provide the victim help that we had asked for from the beginning (I had to call the therapy place myself to get that ball moving). From July to December I had NO help, no support and a child with nightmares, emotional outbursts, self harm, etc.

Finally got a therapist and she is amazing. She's absolutely confirmed everything my child told us, and even apparently chewed out the local DFS office for their failure to help him. She has helped my son get through most of his issues, and for the most part he is doing much much better.

But these people that caused this weren't just friends they are our neighbors. We were in a homeschool group together, a church (briefly), and share a fenceline. They have run us out of the homeschool group, and we can't find another because it's a small community, and when a new PE group was started THEY showed up and show up at other things.  My son wouldn't play baseball this summer because he was afraid they would be there. The people we have in common have all stayed friends with them, and don't seem to care about the damage they did to my child.  I have left the church because we disclosed to the pastor the situation and he and his family/friends are all still friends with them and kept inviting us to the same things. One man had the gall to tell us that family was hurting too - they won't even admit to what happened and how they hurt us.  They started building fence on our land and didn't even contact us before doing it, so now we have that issue as well. The dad keeps waving at me like nothing happened. The mother made a post on a mutual friend's page basically calling me a narcissist and all sorts of vile things, ending it with a scripture comment about what happens to people who hurt children.

I finally found another homeschool PE class in another town, only to discover my child was TERRIFIED of other children. He would talk to adults all day long, but it's taken almost a year for him to mumble hi to another kid. He's an only child, lonely, and he needs friends and I keep trying to reach out and find places for him, but now he acts so weird around other kids he is annoying them, which is making it that much harder.

I'm lonely. My mother is from the "Christian's must forgive all things" camp, so when I tried to vent about a particularly rough day she chewed me out for "wallowing", and now barely speaks to me. My best friends will listen, and are sympathetic, but each lives far from me and have their own traumas to deal with. The homeschool moms were my only other local

My husband would rather go forward like nothing happened. Doesn't want to talk about it - doesn't seem to understand exactly how much damage they did to our kid and me. Not just what the boy did, but the fact that he lost ALL his friends from the homeschool group. He chews me out if it's mentioned saying I "always bring it up and he'll never forget or move forward". Has fought with me on therapy – both doing it at all and then how it has proceeded. Now, I just try very hard NOT to talk about it around him at all. I bring it up with our son only as needed. In fact most days it’s not mentioned at all. But sometimes I need to talk about it and how angry I am.

This week was hard, first it’s fresh on my mind because it’s therapy week. Then we were asked about joining a new ball team for homeschoolers. Because the coach is a mutual acquaintance I told my husband he needed to ask if the neighbors were involved. He never did. Well of course I found out that they were involved in the new team. And I am angry, and needed to vent because AGAIN they are doing all the things, and my son has nothing and nobody left. And nobody seems to care except me.  And then I get chewed out for bringing it up.

I'm sorry for the long vent, just feeling especially low right now.