After reading the story on “Michael” and the abuse he endured from a trusted caregiver [“Warped Desire,” Aug. 2, City Weekly], I was beyond sick. After reading the letter from the abuser, Antonio Cardenas [“Sorry for My Abuse,” Sept. 6, City Weekly], I was even sicker.

I was a victim of childhood molestation at the hands of a neighbor, and I have to say when someone says they are sorry, it is just not enough. I went on to work with sexual-assault victims. Being molested or raped changes your life forever. What that man did impacted that child’s life forever. It will impact his future relationships, to say nothing of all the trust issues that are still to come.

In 2009, I worked in a home for boys ages 12 to 18 that were abusers, and every one of them had been abused themselves—very sad. I’m not saying that every person who has been assaulted is going to turn around and do it to someone else, but there is that chance. For me, it made me not trust men, and it affected every relationship I had.

Cardenas took a trusted, well-organized business that helps the youth of today and took advantage of that poor child. I don’t think that the abuser should get to say “sorry.” If he were sorry, he wouldn’t have done it to begin with.

MELISSA FOWERS
Ogden