Episode 192: Should Spouses Report Abuse? It's Complicated

We know that mandated reporters must always report suspicions of abuse of a minor. But what about spouses of abusers? Oftentimes there is no "smoking gun" that creates a reportable incident, but there are oddities and red flags. Other times there may be a disclosure by a child of abuse but the fear of harassment, intimidation, or even death will keep spouses from reporting abusers. It gets a lot more complicated when the person who may be in the know is the spouse of the abuser. For decades, Clara didn't know that her husband was an abuser. It wasn't until she began to separate emotionally from him that she knew how manipulative he was. Then when her youngest daughter disclosed abuse to us, it became crystal clear. There was no question that he did it. We ended up reporting him, and he is serving a life sentence in prison for sex crimes against children. In this episode, Clara offers insight as someone who was the former wife of a serial abuser. These are important tips for spouses who are trapped in a high risk, high tension marriage or relationship. If your spouse is exhibiting certain behaviors that are troubling but you don't know how to properly interpret them, see this helpful checklist by Brenda Campbell: http://brendafindingelysium.blogspot.com/p/you-might-be-married-to-pedophile-if.html?m=1Jimmy’s book, The Devil Inside: How My Minister Father Molested Kids In Our Home and Church for Decades and How I Finally Stopped Himhttps://www.amazon.com/dp/1950948617/ref=cm_sw_su_dp Find us on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/jimmyhintonauthor https://www.facebook.com/SilentGriefSupport And Twitter:https://twitter.com/JimmyHinton12 https://twitter.com/clarahinton Intro-- Film Glitch by Snowflake (c) copyright 2017 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/snowflake/56350 Ft: reusenoiseOutro-- I Have Often Told You Stories (guitar instrumental) by Ivan Chew (c) copyright 2013 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/ramblinglibrarian/41284