Woman reveals horrific day she discovered her husband was a paedophile
‘I never suspected him’
A woman has spoken out about the day she came home to find her husband of nine years being arrested for watching child pornography.
The marriage was denounced there and then, the anonymous school teacher told Australian women’s site, Whimn, explaining that she only returned to the family home once to collect her possessions.
She has only told a handful of close friends and family the truth about why they split up.
“It was a huge shock to everyone. He’d been exceptionally clever to hide it," she said.
"I’m a teacher who’s been trained to look out for and recognise these people and even I never suspected him.”
Whimm reports that she moved abroad for four years to recalibrate and recover after what happened.
She now recognises that she had suffered severely from post-traumatic stress disorder, at which point she slowly became incredibly anti-social, unable to engage with anybody, let alone consider entering a new relationship.
It wasn’t until seven years after she split from her husband that she was able to be with another man.
She is currently single, explaining that she still doesn’t entirely trust her judgement and is aware that she has trust issues with men.
However, she has progressed in other areas and has been working with Partner Speak, a support forum specifically for people concerned about child exploitation by a spouse of family member, in the hope that by sharing her experiences she will help others.
Her intention is to show people that men who engage with child pornography don’t necessarily conform to stereotypes perpetuated by the media.
Unlike “seedy types living in their mother’s basements,” she explained that her husband had a high-flying career and a family.
“We aren’t victims like the child is but we do become collateral damage and we must educate society so people have the understanding and compassion we need,” she said.
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