Riverton man to share story of child sex abuse in town hall meeting


3 photos
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

RIVERTON — A 32-year-old man from Riverton plans to speak out against child sexual abuse 20 years after being a victim himself.

In Draper City town hall meeting Tuesday, Oct. 29, Preston Jensen will share his story of abuse, hoping to encourage parents to talk to their children and find out what's going on in their lives.

"If people can see what I've been through and what I've had to overcome, it's worth it in the end," he said.

Preston Jensen is a survivor of child sexual abuse. It started when he was 8 years old; the stepfather of one his friends abused him until he was 13.

"My stuff, it started out as the small stuff and it went on for years and years, and ended up getting to the worst stuff," he said.

He never said anything to his parents about it because of fear, and they never suspected something was wrong.

"I felt like we were the typical little Mormon family," said Paula Jensen, Preston's mother. "We went to church every week, and I stayed home with my kids, you know? But it happened to us, and it can happen to anybody."


If people can see what I've been through and what I've had to overcome, it's worth it in the end.

–Preston Jensen, child sex abuse survivor


Preston Jensen suffered from seizures. He said that was how he dealt with what happened to him.

But it wasn't until 2008, after seeing a counselor, he started talking about the abuse.

He doesn't want to see others like him go through unnecessary heartache, and that's why he plans to talk about his experiences in a public setting.

It was Draper Mayor Darrell Smith, who happens to be Preston Jensen's uncle, who gave his nephew the forum to share his story.

"When I was seeing what (Preston and his family) were going through here — about a few weeks ago, I was thinking about what we could do for a town meeting at the end of the year," Smith said.

"The goal would be to not have (sexual abuse) happen at all," Preston Jensen said. "But I think we're all realistic here and know that it's going to continue to happen."

Related:

In speaking out, he just wants to be a hero for someone — a hero he didn't have.

"I feel bad saying that, knowing my family hears that, because that's not my intention to ever dig that knife in harder to them," he said. "But I just feel like every kid needs a hero."

Preston Jensen and his family didn't want to talk about his abuser, saying only that he is now in prison. But Preston did say he credits Elizabeth Smart sharing her story of abuse for giving him the courage to share his.

If you'd like to hear more of what Preston Jensen has to say, you can hear him speak at Tuesday night's town hall meeting in Draper. It starts at 6:30 p.m. at Draper City Hall, 1020 E. Pioneer Road.

Photos

Related links

Related stories

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

Utah
Alex Cabrero

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast