They Believed Me. They Did Nothing. (Part 1) — Child Sexual Abuse, Patriarchy, and the Epstein Files

What do you do when you tell the truth — and the adults around you believe you, and still do nothing? In this first part of a two-episode conversation, Amy Prieb— licensed marriage and family therapist and survivor of childhood sexual abuse — tells the stories of every time she tried to get help as a child and was silenced. Not because people didn't believe her. They did. But believing a child and protecting a child turned out to be two very different things. Facilitated by Nikki Braaten, this conversation is honest, unflinching, and deeply informed by both lived experience and clinical understanding. Amy has done the work. She's not here to perform grief. She's here to name a system. In this episode, she walks through four specific moments: A boarding school disclosure at age 11, where her father minimized ongoing sexual abuse as "a few butt slaps" — and the adults accepted his version without question. A conversation at 15 with a trusted family friend who named mandatory reporting and then immediately steered her away from it, asking her instead to one day forgive her father at her wedding altar. A boyfriend at 16 who, upon hearing her disclosure, was overheard asking his friends how he could ever see her as a virgin now. And a CPS investigation that ended with a social worker slamming her notebook shut and citing the statute of limitations — while her abuser came home and began monitoring her every movement. Each of these moments is connected to what is happening right now with the Jeffrey Epstein files — the largest release of child sexual abuse investigation documents in American history. Because the playbook is identical whether the abuser is a missionary father in Thailand or a billionaire in Manhattan. Minimize. Redirect. Invoke forgiveness. Cite jurisdiction. Protect the men. Part 2 continues next week.   Content warning: This episode contains detailed discussion of childhood sexual abuse, institutional betrayal, religious coercion, purity culture, and the Epstein investigation. It does not contain graphic descriptions of abuse. If you or someone you know has experienced sexual abuse, RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline is available 24/7: 1-800-656-4673 or rainn.org   amyprieb.com insta: @amypriebtherapy facebook: amy prieb lmft