Opening up about childhood sexual abuse may help others
In the weekend edition of the Eagle, staff writer Molly Miller told us the story of Kyrsten Shapiro, who offered her story of childhood sexual abuse “in hopes it will help someone else.”
Shapiro said she was 11 years old and living in Cranberry Township when Stephen Manning assaulted her the first time. Manning, now 76, did not plead guilty to the assaults until Shapiro came forward 20 years later, at the age of 31.
In February, Shapiro, now 39, saw Manning be sentenced again. He violated his Butler County parole by moving to Florida, where he later assaulted another girl in May 2023.
“Why did it have to happen to another victim in order to get here? The (first) case was to prevent this,” she said. “How can this be? How can someone who assaults a child 30 times be allowed to see daylight again?”
Shapiro now lives in North Carolina, far from the place of her assault and where Manning now sits.
According to statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 20 boys experience child sexual abuse.
While these numbers are staggering, it is important that we work continuously to prevent such abuse, while also working to ease the trauma of those who didn’t escape the statistics.
Through her experiences on the road to justice, Shapiro said she has learned much about herself by standing up in court against Manning for her own case and the 2023 case in Florida.
While she still has her share of struggles, she said she feels it is important to share her story.
“I encourage anyone who has endured such traumas to speak up, and if you can’t find someone that will, I am here for every one of you and will advocate for you until my last breath,” she said. “This is my life’s purpose.”
What happened to Shapiro is terrible. That it took so long to see justice done is as bad or worse. But that she’s finding strength in sharing her story, providing hope and strength to other survivors, is to be lauded.
— RJ
