I would turn it in to authorities. If it hasnt been. God bless you

I would have turned the abusers in. I was set up to believe that what was happening to me was normal. My foster parent abuses me and then after he dies the neighbor across the street abuses. I would think as a child that that was normal behavior. Today I would have turned in my abusers and also confronted them on how they truly damaged me and every aspect of my life. Unfortunately all my abusers are dead so I cannot confront them.

like jeanette4 i though it was normal, i wish the police managed to find out, but i was always told if i did not do things then the police would lock me away.....

yeah, I'm not worried about what will happen to the guilty party, I'll make sure their delt with. :)
I just want to approach the little guy in the absolute best way possible.
Because dam, we all know how shitty it is to be there.

If I am understanding you there is a nine year old boy you know who is being abused>

If this is correct then without exception you need to report this. What is the best way. Not knowing the parties involve the way I would handle this and i have several times. (You can read on one detailed account in my journal under confusing day). May not be the best way for you. So i will leave it to your judgement to decide what is best for the child.

If you are close to the child and the family you need to make a choice to decide if you are confident enough in your relationship with the parents to approach them and discuss it with them. But believe me when i say this could end any good relationship with them or it may not. Keeping in mind what you have said i can say the safe play is to involve social services and in most states it is mandatory for an immediate investigation. I don't know of any Social services where you can't remain completely annomous (In not sure about that if it goes to court)

If you are not close to the child then the only thing to do is to involve social services or the police.

I was a first responder in another state so I know what I am talking about.

It sounds like you are doing a good job in exploring your options first and asking for advice.

I want to applaud you for your courage and wisdom. It sounds like it is up to you.
but you sound more than up for it.

I was eight and it went on for ten years. All i wanted was for some one anyone help end the abuse. How that happened didn't matter to me.
that was all i wanted.

There may be better ways to handle this but none of them will be good except for the nine year old.

good luck

I know I'm a little reactive on stuff like this but IMO you must report it whether you're legally responsible for doing so or not. That boy should not have to experience one more day of abuse if it can be prevented. That is the most loving thing you can do for this boy...again in my opinion. If your close to family and him by all means be there as a supporting person if it's wanted but your first obligation is to make sure the abuse stops...ASAP and if he's in regular contact with the abuser, he remains at risk. Please do whatever it takes to stop the abuse before worrying about anything else. Sorry if this sounds insensitive and too direct, I just feel passionately about it.

I would sit down with this boy and share a little bit of your experience. Nothing too specific - maybe how you were feeling when someone touched you oddly - how you didn't know what to do or say. If you can get him to identify with your feelings - he'll probably open up to you about how he is feeling. Once he is able to talk about it to someone he trusts because of the similarities in the experiences you have had, I think he will continue to share with you. Good luck and good for you for wanting to help this little guy. Lindajean

I reported a woman who was beating up her boy because he stole something in a store. She by the way was in a incest group I was involved in. She also had MS. I could not sit with the fact that she beat up her son and not do something about it. I called the Child Care Services and since they had to see bruises on the child, they could not do anything. So I called the school where this child went. I told the counselors of that school to please watch out for this boy. The little boy you know needs you to be involved right now. You could be the only person that could save his life and help him to help himself by telling. Please keep the group informed of what happened.

thanks for the feedback.
at my releif I found out last night that my little buddy's case is set for court next month. The authorities WERE allerted to his situaton.
(I know him through my girlfreind, and yes she knows the same happened to me)
I was pissed at my girlfreind for "forgetting" to tell me about that "part"
I was freaked out and wanted to rush to his aid.

WTF????
now all I need to do is comfort him and make sure he doesn't absorb the guilt and shame. and whatever else he might need me to assist with.