“Someone should do something, but nobody really talks about it.”
That was the thought Isabella Tebeau, a former volunteer for the Williamson County Sherrif’s department’s Victim Service Unit, kept having every time she learned about another instance of childhood sexual abuse.
“I heard multiple times that children had fallen victims to predators, and I was always thinking someone should do something,” she said. “(But) it’s a big taboo in America.
It’s all hush hush and there is a lot of shame associated with it.”
But one day, Tebeau, a Taylor resident and columnist for the Taylor Press, realized she was “someone.”
“I thought, ‘Enough is enough,’” Tebeau recalled. “’I will start something.’” Tebeau met with her friend Marcus Reese, a member of the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Task Force for Texas, and Priscilla Moreno, with Taylor Police Department’s Victim Service Unit, for coffee, and soon after, the “Break the Silence Project” was launched.
“From the moment we started this, we have run through open doors,” Tebeau said. “We have had a very positive response. A lot of support.”
Reese, a survivor from Taylor who has been speaking out on the issue and is writing a book on his experience, said this effort is aimed at education and prevention.
“This is to provide comfort, just to say, ‘Hey, you are not alone, there are people in the community, and you will be believed,’” he said. “’We believe you.’” Unlike most fundraisers, this event will be completely free for all participants involved, organizers said.
“We wanted cost not to be a barrier for people of different income brackets here in Taylor,” Reese said. “The race itself is free. The barbecue is being donated free of charge from Thorndale Meat Market.
Moreno said while there are some local organizations serving our area, an event like this is sorely needed for Eastern Williamson County.
“Here in the east side of the county, there are hardly any events that are community-based, that are like, ‘Well, let’s talk about it, let’s raise awareness, and let people know there are resources,” Moreno said. “There are survivors that are like, ‘Well, if I would have known, if we would have had this, if I had been educated and knew that there was a way out, I would have been like, OK this is wrong, this should not be happening.’” Reese and Tebeau said they plan to repeat this event on a yearly basis, and even have been looking at hosting it in other communities to empower children and families to speak up.
“When people talk to me about how they can protect their child … I tell them, ‘an educated child is a protected child,’” Reese said. “So I would rather you have a very uncomfortable conversation with your kid, versus you coming to me in three years and tell me that something bad happened. It’s all about education. That is going to protect your child.”
