April is Child Abuse Awareness month. Show your support by wearing WHITE on Sunday, April 30. Let us all stand in solidarity with the 42,000,000 reported survivors of child sexual abuse in the US and to bring awareness to the issue of child sexual abuse. Help protect the next generation of children from this horrific trauma.

Video Transcript:

Reporter: April is child abuse awareness month, particularly because children are too often abused by a relative or someone else very close to them. Now experts say it's important for young victims to tell their parents, and equally important for parents to believe their children.

I gotta tell you, I spoke to a brave young girl who was abused by her grandfather during a family sleepover and she had the courage to talk about what happened to her.

Breann: We're just watching TV and I said, “Mommy, I think somebody touched me inappropriately”. And that's when my grandfather got up and went to the computer room.

Reporter: So he was in the room when you first started this conversation?

Breann: He’s always in the room during the morning, kind of keeping an eye on us, making sure we're OK.

Reporter: They obviously were not OK. Her dad now had this painful task of confronting his own father about his daughter.

Russ: I told him that, you know, Briann came to us. She said that someone touched her while she was sleeping. and you know my dad is sitting in the chair, and he looks up at me he says, “Russ, I'm not gonna lie to you, it was me”.

Just that whole moment. I just. I mean my blood pressure went up. I mean, obviously I became super, just angry, as any father would. My response to him it was just, in complete shock. I was like, “it was you?’

Reporter: Shattered their relationship. And Russ, here's the important thing, he choose to prosecute his dad. Who was convicted and given house arrest, by the way, because of his failing health. But I want to bring Angela Williams in. She's the founder of The Voice Movement and advocate against child sex abuse.

So glad to have you here. We know what Briann did was brave because, one, it worked, she told her parents. And two, they believed her. How we as parents react to children in these crises can shape their entire lives. What are the three things we need to do that are most pivotal, if a child comes to us with information like this?

Angela Williams: Well, that is such a critical moment for the child, to not only get justice, but to heal. So I have an acronym; it's called CAR.

So, the first thing we need to do, our instinct is to panic, but we have to stay calm. So, C is for calm. We have to be very good listeners.

A, we have to affirm the child. We really have to ask ourselves in that moment what the child needs. And they need to hear I believe you. That I'm here to protect you. And that you've done nothing wrong.

And then R is probably the most difficult. And that's to respond with courage. We know that 93% of the time the child knows, loves, and trusts this person. So, you know, love, and trust this person. So, that is the most difficult thing, is to call law enforcement. To not do the investigation. To let the experts do the forensic interview, so that that child's testimony can be protected and they can get justice.

Reporter: And we know that sex predators or pedophiles are an entirely different breed of criminal, right?

Angela Williams: They’re our friends. They’re our pastors. They’re our doctors. They’re our lawyers. They are the people that we know. So, when you say the word predator, we're looking for a monster among us. Their behavior obviously is heinous and is predatorial.

Reporter: And they will work for years to ingratiate themselves into our lives, right?

Angela Williams: They will work for years to ingratiate. They will also be that person that wants to isolate the child, get the child alone. They tend to have very narcissistic behavior. Very power control are some of their traits. And really what we need to recognize is how that child interacts with that person. Is there someone in the child's life that they're edgy around, that they maybe aren't comfortable around, that they don't want to go spend time alone with?

Reporter: And give the child a chance to say, “I'm not comfortable here”. And that's OK, and don't force them to be around them. Why are you asking people to wear the color white on Wednesday, specifically this Wednesday, April 30th?

Angela Williams: April 30th is a national movement. It's part of The Voice Movement called White Out Child Sexual Abuse Day. And it is time that we stand for the innocence of our children. One in four girls and one in six boys are sexually abused before their 18th birthday. And it's time that we stand in solidarity for the innocence of our children, but also for the wounding of 42 million reported survivors in the US.

Reporter: Of which you are one.

Angela Williams: Of which I am on. Only one in ten ever tells. So, it is a movement for us to come together and really for this cause, stand up and do something. And let that survivor know we care about your pain.

Reporter: And we’re behind you.

Angela Wiliams: And maybe giving it a voice in this conversation, we could find some solutions because we can't continue to be oblivious to this. It's not even an epidemic anymore, it's pandemic.

Reporter: Oh absolutely. Angela Williams, thank you so much for everything that you're doing. And again, you are encouraged this Wednesday, April 30th to wear white to show your support, to stand in solidarity with child sex abuse victims. So much more about this story by the way, with Briann and her family online. They just opened up to us. You can go to cnn.com/new day click on the weekend tab.

Angela Williams: And voicetoday.org