Child Sexual Abuse Survivor Jeremy Indica On Breaking His Silence
The man who turned childhood abuse into a mission to protect the next generation
Jeremy Indica was eight years old when a man his father trusted began grooming him. The abuse went on for around a year and stopped when Jeremy was nine, but it took until he was 25, working abroad as an aerospace engineer, for the memories to fully surface.
He spent his twenties building a successful engineering career, working on projects including the McLaren Speedtail, before night terrors forced him to confront what had happened. At 32 he told his father face to face, reported the case to the police, and eventually walked away from engineering entirely to speak about his experience full time. As he puts it, "the confidence was eating the fear."
Jeremy now delivers training and talks in primary and secondary schools, to parents, teachers, foster carers and the police, focused on grooming, safeguarding and how children disclose abuse. He also founded Something to Say, a community platform where survivors of childhood sexual abuse can share their stories.
Quotes
"If you're ever worried or feeling uncomfortable about anything, remember you can always come to me because I will help you and you will never be in trouble for what's going on."
This Episode Is About
Jeremy Indica sits down to explain, in detail, what happened to him as an eight year old boy when a family friend groomed and sexually abused him over the course of a year.
He walks through why he didn't understand it at the time, why the memories didn't fully return until his mid twenties, and what it took to tell his father, report it to the police and rebuild his career around this work instead of hiding from it.
The conversation moves from the mechanics of grooming into what parents, schools and society get wrong about protecting children, and what Jeremy believes needs to change.
Who This Episode Is For
- Parents unsure how to talk to their kids about body safety
- Men carrying an experience of childhood sexual abuse
- Anyone supporting a friend who has just disclosed abuse
- Teachers, foster carers or social workers working with vulnerable children
- Fathers who want a script for keeping the conversation open at home
What You'll Takeaway
- Abused children rarely show obvious signs
- One sentence of reassurance can prompt a child to come forward
- Abuse memories can resurface decades later
- Telling one friend can open the door to telling everyone
- No go zones teach body safety at any age
- One parent in the home means fewer eyes watching
- 5 in 100 boys face abuse or exploitation before turning 16
