An American mum’s recent Facebook video has gone viral – and for a very good reason.
Colorado-based Catherine St. Germain posted a video of herself holding up notecards telling the story of her 15-year-old daughter’s sexual abuse at the hands of Catherine’s now-ex-husband. On the hand-written cards, Catherine urges single mothers to check the sex offender registry to ensure their families are safe.
“Monsters look and act normal. They are very good at hiding who they really are,” she shared. “They are the people we trust with our kids every day. All single moms should check the National Sex Offender Registry.”
St. Germain posted the on her personal Facebook page hoping it would get read and shared by as many as possible. Little did she know that her tales of warning would come to be viewed an astonishing 50 million times.
“I had less than 200 friends on Facebook when I posted this video, I was hoping for maybe 50 shares,” she told Fox 31 Denver.
People across the world are now sharing their stories of sexual abuse and their disgust that Catherine’s ex-husband only received a 90-day jail sentence and eight years of sex offender probation.
“I keep saying I didn’t do anything brave, my kid did,” Catherine told KUSA. “My kid did the bravest thing. She spoke out against the person who sexually assaulted her within 24 hours.”
