A Treasure Coast dad is accused of sexually assaulting his children and their mom is accused of not doing enough to stop it.
WPTV is not identifying the parents or children to protect the privacy of the alleged victims.
The investigation started after a conversation between one victim and a teacher at school.
Here’s what the teacher said: “As you get older, you will get cuts in life that will eventually heal but if you don’t open up and tell someone they will keep hurting and never heal.”
That inspired the student to open up.
“In this case an adult was brave enough frame a conversation in a classroom about bad things that could happen to children and it made the child comfortable enough to disclose to the teacher,” said Mindi Fetterman, a sexual assault survivor and founder and executive director of Treasure Coast-based Inner Truth Project, a sexual assault victim advocacy group.
The child couldn’t say how many times the assaults happened, just that it happened frequently-- mainly on Mondays Tuesdays and Wednesdays when the mom was at work.
The child also told investigators the mother was told and her response reportedly was:“I’m sorry and I will talk to him about it. “
The child was worried about speaking out.
St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara said the department closely with the schools and encourage victims to come forward.