PERRYSBURG, Ohio — Letters sent to Ottawa Hills school and sports parents highlighted the shock and surprise of the allegations against former employee Ronald Stevens. He is facing multiple counts of sexual misconduct including six counts of rape.
For some parents, officials said this may be a wake-up call to start having a conversation with their kids about sexual abuse.
Dr. Aimee Drescher, a clinical psychologist at Mercy Health, specializing in children and adolescents believes it's important for parents to remain calm but also to realize sexual abuse is a real threat. She added that you should talk to your kids about boundaries and what type of touching or behavior is acceptable in any situation.
"I think it’s really important for parents to talk about boundaries from a young age," she said. "If a person is invading a kid's personal space, we would want them to advocate for themselves, so I think it’s important for parents to teach them ways to respond and ways to problem solve if they feel like they’re in an uncomfortable situations."
Drescher stressed if your child comes to you as a victim, take it seriously and immediately begin listening.
"Often these situations involve people who are close to the family or friends or peers that children know," she said, "so it would be very important to take them seriously and make sure that you are doing what you can to gather the information you need in order to help your child and maybe potentially other children."
Sexual abuse is a difficult topic to touch upon, but Drescher said it's important for parents to start communicating about what is acceptable behavior from an early age.
"Knowing your kids and knowing what they need and being able to provide that for them," she said, "because it will be different and it differs across developmental levels, it differs across chronological age. What we want to do is raise adults who know how to advocate for themselves and know what is appropriate behavior and what is not."
Drescher said sexual abuse and maturity is still a sensitive topic for many families but it's a discussion that is 100% necessary.
She added that kids can sense whether you are comfortable talking about it and they will listen.