BATON ROUGE, LA — Child porn is not an easy subject to talk about, but Noel Andrus thinks it’s time we all start looking at the bigger picture.

“You hear of gateway drugs, people getting into gateway drugs that lead to bigger harder things, and it’s kind of a good thing to compare it to,” said Andrus. “There’s a term ‘grooming’ that you’re familiar with that a lot of sexual perpetrators will use to children to warm up to the actual physical act of sexual abuse.”

Andrus works at the Baton Rouge Children’s Advocacy Center. She helps families of sexually abused children deal with the pain of abuse.

“It turns everything upside-down for a moment and to come in and have someone really just listen to everything you have to say, and for the child to have that moment to have their time to tell their story,” said Andrus.

The Center works with other agencies like Prevent Child Abuse Louisiana to work on protecting the children in our state. Executive Director Amanda Brunson said since child porn is a form of sexual abuse, it’s something we all need to pay attention to.

Brunson said it’s up to each one of us to prevent child abuse.

“Learn the facts and minimize opportunities, so that means really looking to eliminate all opportunities for your child to be with one adult and one child, or your child to be alone with an older youth. Also, it’s important to talk to your kids about their bodies, about sex, about boundaries and pay attention to adults that may be paying extra attention to your child,” Brunson explained.

One out of every 7 children are abused by the age of 18, and one out of every 3 girls will be sexually assaulted by age 18.

To learn more about their initiative Darkness to Light Child Sexual Abuse Prevention, just click the link below:

To learn more about their initiative Darkness to Light Child Sexual Abuse Prevention, just click the link below:

www.d2l.org/L