The following story is a dramatic retelling of a true story from the perspective of a victim of a sexual predator. 

“His face, his body was way too close to mine. ‘LOOK AT ME.’ he said. He grabbed my face, put his fingers underneath my chin and pushed his face towards mine. He’d just stare at me and stroke my hand.

“I wanted him to stop. I wanted him to give me some space, but I didn’t want to offend him.”

Sixteen-year-old Jane Smith* is a normal WJ student. She works hard in school, participates in extracurricular activities and loves to hang out with her family and friends. Her life was average, until a sexual predator left a scar on her life, forever.

“I started babysitting for his family in 2007, every Friday and Saturday, during the night. Because his wife and he came home late at night, I would sleep at their house and in the morning he’d drive me back home,” said Smith.

Smith loved her job at first. She got paid $10 an hour and the family, to her, seemed nice.

“It was almost like I was part of their family,” said Smith.

The scene began to change in 2008 when a strictly business relationship became personal.

“A couple of times in 2008 he asked me if I was ever thinking of dating,” said Smith. “And sometimes he’d come into my room without knocking.

“One time I was changing and he barged in. He didn’t close the door. He just stood there.”

The knocking incident wasn’t an isolated one. As the 2008 year came to a close, the 50-year-old man’s feelings for Smith continued to develop.

“One day, when I wore short pants, he bent over the seat to stroke my knee,” she said.

As much as she wanted to fight back, to stand up for herself, she couldn’t.

“I was creeped out; I figured that he was socially awkward, I didn’t think he was interested in me,” said Smith. “I just didn’t want to cause any tensions. I wanted to work so I could save money for college.”

Smith, looking back today, understands that she was blind.

“He always acted strange when we were alone in the car,” she said. “He would always pat my knee. Once I was wearing stretchy pants and he said, ‘Oh, those look soft.’

“Then, he stroked his hand up and down my thigh.”

“I didn’t tell anyone because I didn’t think it was that serious. I just thought that he didn’t really understand the concept of personal space.”

But it was the events that took place after two years working there that made it clear to Smith that she was a victim of a sexual predator.

It was the first day of the summer. No school, no homework, absolutely nothing for Smith to worry about.
If only she knew what that day had in store.

When the father picked her up, she walked to the car, sat in the front seat and was greeted by a huge grin.

“You look so hot. You look so beautiful! You look so sexy.”

He continued, ” Do you want to be my girlfriend?”

Smith, thinking the question was a joke, responded, “Ha, ha, ha, I’m too young.”

“Oh no, the age difference isn’t too bad,” he replied.

“No, I’m too young, in general.”

He, without hesitation, continued the uncomfortable interrogation.

“When do you think you’ll start dating?” he asked.

“I don’t know. In college.”

“Oh college, that’s not too far. That’s only two years. I can wait two years.”

Suddenly at the red stop light, he grabbed her hands and said,

“Promise me, promise me, that I’ll be your first boyfriend. You can’t date anyone, you understand? First you call me.”

“Ha, ha okay. . .” Smith tried to laugh it off even though his comment was not funny.

On the word “okay,” he turned the car in a different direction, off from the usual route.

“Where are you going?” Smith asked.

“I need to run a few errands,” he said.

Smith remained quiet. She wanted to get out of there and quit right away.

As she got out her phone, she came to the realization that she couldn’t contact her mom at the very moment.

“Whenever I text in the car, he always leans over my shoulder and reads my texts,” she said.

Within a few minutes, he had parked the car in front of Barnes & Noble. As he got out of the car, Smith said, “I’m tired. I’m going to stay in the car.”

He responded, “No, no, come. I want to show off my girlfriend.”

“No, no really,” Smith said.

However, the man refused to take no as an answer, and Smith reluctantly agreed to accompany him.

As she got out of the car, he put his arm around her and whispered into her ear, “You know, you’re going to be the first girlfriend I’ve ever had. Shhh, it’s a secret. Don’t tell anyone.”

After Barnes & Noble, on their way back to the car, the man said to Smith, “So, you’re going to be my girlfriend, but not right now, because that’s what they call ‘illegal,’ right?”

Smith responded,

“Yeah, they also call it pedophilia.”

There was a slight pause.

“No, no, that’s not right. Pedophilia is when an adult does sexual acts with a child, but we’re not having sex, right?” He then added, “I’d welcome it if you wanted to, though.”

Smith didn’t respond.

As they got into his car, the man said with great enthusiasm, “You know, now that we have a pool in our house, you should teach me how to swim.”

“Didn’t you say you already know how to swim?”

“Oh well, you can still teach me. I’ll pretend I don’t know how.”

On the way to his house, the man drove the car, while trying to hold Smith’s hands.

Finally, when Smith caught sight of his house, she hurried out of the car. The man opened the door for Smith as he and his wife left to go to a party.

After playing with the kids and putting them to sleep, Smith entered the guest room and was unable to fall asleep.

“I just kept re-playing the day over and over in my head,” said Smith. “I thought I was imagining it or making a bigger deal of it than it really was. I haven’t ever really been comfortable with older men.”

A similar incident had happened to Smith when she was 13 years old. She was at a jewelry store by herself and in the shop there was an 18-year-old worker who offered to let Smith put on jewelry. He put a long necklace around her neck, and it went down her shirt.

The jewelry worker said, “Oh no. The necklace went down. What should I do?”

Within several seconds before Smith could realize what he was doing, the jeweler had put his hands under Smith’s shirt, not to get the necklace, but rather to feel her breasts.

When Smith pushed the man’s hand away, the worker asked, “Why are you making such a big deal out of nothing?”

As all these incidents were playing in the back of Smith’s head as she was trying to fall asleep, she heard the husband and wife arrive home. She looked at the clock and it was nearly 3 a.m.

As Smith walked out of her room, the wife asked her, “What happened? You couldn’t sleep?”

Smith asked to talk to the wife in private.

As they went to a corner, Smith said, “I want to quit.”

“Why?” the wife responded.

Smith didn’t want to state the real reason because she didn’t want to ruin the couple’s marriage.

“I haven’t felt comfortable sleeping here,” Smith said.

Although the wife was mad, she drove Smith home at 3 a.m.

Reflecting back, Smith said, “I feel stupid. I stayed for so long. I should have quit a lot earlier.”

She, however, has learned valuable lessons which she wishes to pass along:

“Don’t let people take advantage of you. Never doubt yourself and always show dignity and always in any circumstance, stand up for yourself.”

*Not her real name

— AS SEEN IN PRINT.