February 20, 2012Dear Sir,Brownlow Adderley is not correct in his letter to the Editor in today’s Royal Gazette when he maintains that “children that have been abused later in life become abusers themselves”. He makes it sound as if all abused children become abusers; he makes it sound as if all abused children do not have a choice when they become abusers.Studies on this subject can be and often are inaccurate. Because paedophiles are often said to have been abused when they were young does not make it so. In the majority of such cases these statements are not proven, which is ironic when you realise that this often happens in a court of law where facts must be proven until the “I was abused too” card is played, that is. It seems the paedophile and his lawyer’s words are accepted as fact without proof. The same goes for the studies; a paedophile’s word is taken as fact, when he has every reason to lie.I know what I am talking about. I was a target of child molesters when I was young. The first incident was when I was five years old, in Bermuda, and a time in England when I was 14 years old went to the Supreme Court. This was the early and mid 1950s. I never received treatment. I grew up, married and raise three of the most beautiful souls (children) and I have never abused a child. I had/have choices. Nothing in my past is an excuse to doing wrong, never mind such despicable wrongs. I am not alone; I believe most abused children do not grow up to abuse others and for those that do continue the cycle it is their choice, and until such statements as “I was abused too” are proven, they should not be used as fact.MARK EMMERSONPembroke