After being silenced for nearly a decade, a young man is speaking out about the sexual abuse he suffered as a child.
Zach Miller was 10-years-old when a man with a long history of abusing young children abducted him and another boy and sexually assaulted them.
"It's affected me. I'm a completely different person than I would have been if this had never happened to me,” said Miller on Saturday at the Canadian Centre for Child Protection in Winnipeg.
Peter Whitmore, the man convicted of assaulting Miller, had previously been convicted of sexually assaulting seven other children.
He had his day in court and received a life-sentence; but Miller, now 20, couldn’t speak publically because of a publication ban.
"It did feel like I was being silenced. It felt like I was losing my right to my own freedom of speech. I was silenced because I couldn't speak out against these people. I felt a victim under the court,” said Miller.
A Saskatchewan court over-turned the publication ban this past Christmas Eve.
Despite receiving a life-sentence in 2007, Whitmore became eligible for parole in 2013. He has declined to apply twice so far.
The Canadian Centre for Child Protection helped the Millers in court and with their healing journey.
"We used this opportunity with them to be able to tell an important story so we could start raising awareness about what we see as a very, very significant risk to children,” said Lianna McDonald, Executive Director of the Canadian Centre for Child Protection.
Miller plans to continue sharing his story publically and wants to work with other child sexual assault survivors.
"To tell the other people out there, the other survivors that their voice is powerful and they can use it to stand up. They're not alone out there,” he said.
The Miller family also plans to keep petitioning the federal government for tougher sentencing and release rules for people convicted of child sexual assault.
