TRIGGER WARNING * SEXUAL ABUSE* ⚠️

I was the only girl in a group of boys and we were friends from around 5yo until now (40yo). There were around nine of them (some have since passed away) - we would go daily to the local park and ride our bikes, play on the swings etc. There was a man that hung out at the park that we were all warned to stay away from but no adult explained why. Anyway, we were around 8yo, this guy calls all my male friends into the men’s bathroom - they were taking forever and I was getting frustrated, So I decided to go in to look for them. I walked into my closest friends being molested and sexually abused by this paedophile. The looks on my friend’s faces are forever etched into my memory - pure pain, confusion and humiliation. We’ve never mentioned it again however they (the boys) do still make jokes about Mr X - I think humour is their coping mechanism.

By far the one thing I will never forget - the expression on their faces still haunts me.