This is my first blog for 1in6. I guess a good way to introduce myself is to tell you a little about what I have gone through and the feelings I dealt with along the way.

I had the rare privilege to confront and prosecute the man who abused me when I was thirteen. It came to light five years later because two very brave boys stepped forward first and then I followed. It was an unprecedented case that ended in our offender being the first child molester to plead "guilty as charged" to every offense brought against him in the history of the state of Washington. You can read the news article from my interview with Komo 4 here: http://www.komonews.com/news/archive/4186481.html.

During the five years between the time of my abuse and the day I came forward with the truth of what happened, I don't believe that I even thought about what happened to me one time. It's amazing how our brains know that some things are just too much to handle so they suppress those memories for us, at least for a while. When I was 18 years old on a Monday afternoon in September my mom called.

'Aaron, have you seen the news?'

'No.'

'Do you remember our old neighbor Chris Stefanik who lived a few doors down? He was just arrested for being a pedophile. I just want to ask you again, did anything inappropriate ever happen when you were with him?'

I could hardly breathe as the dam in my mind began to crumble and the memories came flooding back. I struggled to gain my composure enough to stammer out the word, "N-n-no."

My mom believed me. Or maybe she just didn't want to push me. The call ended and I was left in a daze. In that moment I saw a door. This door was hidden at the end of a dark and dimly lit hallway in the corner of my heart. It was covered in moss and had chains and many locks securing it, but the chains had been broken, the locks opened and the door left slightly ajar.

I knew this was a major fork in the road of my life and then I heard the Lord speak clearly in to my heart, "Aaron my son, you have a choice. You can open this door all the way and let out all of the darkness, pain and uncertainty that lies inside so that I can come in and heal you or you can choose to close the door and we will deal with it later. The choice is yours son." I knew what I had to do. I headed to my Youth Pastor's on campus apartment where he was studying.

James, I need to tell you about what happened to me.

To be continued...

God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, or sun without rain, but He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way. ~Anonymous

Aaron Kesseler was born in 1986, married the love of his life in 2010 and is currently working for his step-father's commercial heating business in Seattle, WA. After high school he attended Northwest University in Kirkland for two years. Aaron has volunteered as a camp counselor for five years with the Muscular Dystrophy Association Summer Camp as well as three years with Royal Family Kids Camp, a summer camp for the most abused and neglected children in the area.

The mission of 1in6 is to help men who have had unwanted or abusive sexual experiences in childhood live healthier, happier lives.

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