When Women Molest Raped by His Mother - Show Recap

Monday, February 15, 2010

Oprah spoke with Gregg Milligan who was physically and sexually abused by his mother from the ages of 4 through 11.

One week after sitting down with four convicted child molesters to find out why and how they abused their victims to help parents protect their children, Oprah decided to expose another side of child abuse - when the molester is a woman. Many people picture child molesters as strangers lurking in the night, when in reality they and 90% of the time a trusted family friend or relative that can be either a man or a woman. Parents, siblings, extended family, friends, babysitters, or coaches. Today's episode proved that no matter how close a relationship is, when trust is gained it can be taken advantage of.

This episode featured the following highlights:

• Gregg Milligan, now 46, never knew his father and while he viewed his mother as the center of his world, he was physically abused at a very early age and sexually abused beginning at 8.
  
  
• Thinking and a young boy that this relationship was normal, Gregg still felt the blame and guilt when his body would respond to the abuse when he tried so hard to stop it.
  
  
• The abuse finally ended when Gregg and his siblings were removed from the house when he was 11.
  
  
• Gregg was able to take the time to work on healing, received his Master's degree, married and has a 23 year-old son.

Upon watching this episode and the in-depth discussion the prior week, the first point that comes to mind is that if this kind of abuse is happening to you or someone you know, tell and ask for help today. The building of trust and manipulation to get what they want is key to having a molester convince their victim that they enjoy the act and are in some way to blame for the situation. Gregg's story shows that while his childhood was horrific and unimaginable, he was able to rise up and find a way to love and trust a partner, and also raise his son free of violence with a real connection.