He Looked Like Every Parent's Dream Boy: How My Rapist Fooled Everyone

He Looked Like Every Parent's Dream Boy: How My Rapist Fooled Everyone

What if the person everyone trusted was the one who hurt you? In this powerful episode of Living in the Aftermath, Lyndsey Hackford sits down with survivor and advocate Shannon Porter, founder of What They Don't Say, to explore the devastating reality that sexual predators often don't fit the stereotypes we've been taught to fear. After losing her father and brother in a tragic plane crash at just 11 years old, Shannon spent years searching for safety, belonging, and approval. Then she met the man everyone believed was the "perfect Christian boy"—kind, respectful, faith-filled, and trusted by everyone around him. What happened next changed her life forever. Together, Lyndsey and Shannon have an honest conversation about: * How childhood trauma shapes our relationships * Why predators often appear trustworthy * Religious trauma and purity culture * Consent, coercion, and healthy boundaries * Why "good people" can still commit horrific acts * How communities unintentionally enable abuse * The long journey of healing after sexual assault If you've ever questioned your own experience, struggled to trust yourself after trauma, or wondered how someone "so nice" could become an abuser, this conversation is for you. Connect with Shannon Porter & What They Don't Say * 🌐 What They Don't Say: WhatTheyDontSay.com [https://linktr.ee/whattheydontsay?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQPOTM2NjE5NzQzMzkyNDU5AAGnF1TsZe4ARN46-VzNiDAiKevDQhzD_NXpUuEVhVEhjViCwB4EVIf5WpSAr5c_aem_ar6rnN7yDprBsI3CBAAbug] * 🎙️ Listen to the What They Don't Say podcast * 📱 Follow What They Don't Say on Instagram & TikTok * ☕ Support their work through Buy Me a Coffee * 📧 Contact Shannon through her official links All of Shannon's official resources can be found here: What They Don't Say Linktree [https://linktr.ee/whattheydontsay?utm_source=chatgpt.com] ---------------------------------------- RESOURCES If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault or domestic violence, you are not alone. 💜 The Refuge Utah Supporting survivors of domestic violence through emergency shelter, advocacy, counseling, and community resources. https://refugeutah.org [https://refugeutah.org] 📞 National Domestic Violence Hotline Call: 800-799-7233 Text START to 88788 https://www.thehotline.org [https://www.thehotline.org] 📞 RAINN (National Sexual Assault Hotline) Call: 800-656-HOPE (4673) https://www.rainn.org [https://www.rainn.org] If you are in immediate danger, call 911 or your local emergency services. ---------------------------------------- 🎙️ About Living in the Aftermath Living in the Aftermath is a podcast hosted by survivor and advocate Lyndsey Hackford, exploring how trauma shapes decision-making, relationships, and healing. Through honest conversations with survivors, professionals, and advocates, this podcast challenges misconceptions about abuse while offering hope to those rebuilding their lives. If this episode impacted you, please consider: 👍 Like the video 💬 Share your thoughts in the comments 📤 Share this episode with someone who needs it 🔔 Subscribe so you never miss a new conversation #SexualAssaultAwareness #Consent #TraumaHealing #ReligiousTrauma #DomesticViolence

Her Children Were Murdered After Warning Signs Were Ignored: How Family Court Failed Them

What happens when warning signs of domestic violence are ignored and family court fails to protect children? In this powerful episode of Living in the Aftermath, I sit down with child safety advocate Hope Hooton to discuss the heartbreaking loss of her children, Alec and Lydia, and how unimaginable tragedy led her to fight for change. Hope shares her experiences with coercive control, emotional abuse, isolation, and why survivors often stay in abusive relationships. Together, we discuss the realities of family court, the importance of putting child safety first, and the advocacy work that led to the passing of Arizona's Alec and Lydia Act. This conversation is difficult, emotional, and incredibly important. Topics discussed: • Domestic violence and coercive control • Family court and child custody • Child safety and protective parents • Emotional and religious abuse • Why survivors stay • Trauma and healing • The Alec and Lydia Act • Family court reform and child advocacy ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ CONNECT WITH HOPE HOOTON ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🌿 Follow Hope's journey: Hope's Linktree [https://linktr.ee/hopeinthepain?utm_source=chatgpt.com] 📚 Buy Hope's book: "There’s Still Hope: A Journey of Adversity, Tragedy and Unshakable Hope" 🎙️ Listen to Hope's podcast: Voices Against Filicide Podcast [https://voicesagainstfilicide.odoo.com?utm_source=chatgpt.com] 💜 Learn more about Hope's advocacy work: Voices Against Filicide [https://voicesagainstfilicide.odoo.com?utm_source=chatgpt.com] ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ RESOURCES ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available. 💜 National Domestic Violence Hotline: The Hotline [https://www.thehotline.org?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Call: 800-799-SAFE (7233) Text: START to 88788 💜 The Refuge Utah: The Refuge Utah [https://www.therefugeutah.org?utm_source=chatgpt.com] 801-377-5500 💜 Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline: Childhelp Hotline [https://www.childhelphotline.org?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Call or text: 800-4-A-CHILD (800-422-4453) ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ If this episode moved you, please LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, COMMENT, and SHARE. Stories like Hope's create awareness, start conversations, and have the power to save lives. Every child deserves to be safe. #DomesticViolence #FamilyCourt #ChildSafety #HopeHooton #ProtectiveParents #CoerciveControl #AlecAndLydiaAct #TraumaHealing #ChildAdvocacy #LivingInTheAftermath #LyndseyHackford

The System Took My Children and Called It Healing: A Family Court Horror Story

What happens when the system meant to protect children becomes the source of their trauma? In this episode of Living in the Aftermath, Lyndsey sits down with Kitty Mayo, founder of Georgia Protective Parents, to discuss her family's experience navigating family court, reunification programs, child advocacy, and the fight to bring children home. After years of advocating for her stepchildren following abuse allegations, Kitty and her husband found themselves facing a system they never expected. What followed was years of separation, staggering financial costs, profound grief, and ultimately a mission to help other families facing similar challenges. Together, Lyndsey and Kitty discuss: • Reunification camps and reunification therapy programs • Family court and child custody challenges • Protective parents and child advocacy • The emotional impact of forced family separation • Healing after family court trauma • Finding purpose through advocacy • Legislative efforts to protect children • The importance of using your voice, even when the system tells you not to This conversation explores difficult questions about child safety, family court reform, trauma, resilience, and what happens when children say they are not being heard. Whether you are a survivor, protective parent, advocate, professional, or simply someone who cares about child welfare, this episode offers an important perspective on a topic many families never hear about until it impacts their own lives. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Learn more and connect with Georgia Protective Parents: Website: https://georgiaprotectiveparents.org [https://georgiaprotectiveparents.org] Linktree: https://linktr.ee/georgiaprotectiveparents [https://linktr.ee/georgiaprotectiveparents] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GeorgiaProtectiveParents [https://www.facebook.com/GeorgiaProtectiveParents] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/georgiaprotectiveparents [https://www.instagram.com/georgiaprotectiveparents] ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ RESOURCES National Domestic Violence Hotline https://www.thehotline.org [https://www.thehotline.org] Call or Text: 800-799-SAFE (7233) The Refuge Utah https://www.therefugeutah.org [https://www.therefugeutah.org] Crisis Text Line Text HOME to 741741 https://www.crisistextline.org [https://www.crisistextline.org] If you are in immediate danger, call 911 or your local emergency services. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ DISCLAIMER The views and opinions expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the host, production team, or affiliated organizations. This podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered legal, medical, mental health, or professional advice. This episode contains discussions involving domestic violence, child abuse allegations, family court proceedings, trauma, coercive control, and reunification programs. Listener discretion is advised. All individuals discussed are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law. Experiences shared represent personal perspectives and lived experiences.

I Trusted Everyone But Myself: The Red Flags That Nearly Destroyed My Life

In this powerful episode of Living in the Aftermath, Lyndsey sits down with survivor, advocate, and paralegal Lynn Stroud for a raw conversation about the warning signs of abuse that so many people miss until it's too late. From childhood experiences that shaped her understanding of relationships to sexual assault, stalking, reproductive coercion, emotional abuse, family betrayal, and the failures of systems designed to protect survivors, Lynn shares the painful realities of what happens when trauma teaches you to question your own instincts. Together, Lyndsey and Lynn discuss: ✨ Why survivors often trust everyone else's opinions over their own intuition ✨ Reproductive coercion and the hidden forms of abuse many people don't recognize ✨ Family members who defend abusers and silence victims ✨ Stalking, intimidation, and post-separation abuse ✨ Toxic messages like "Marriage is hard" and "Blood is thicker than water" ✨ The family court system and the challenges protective parents face ✨ Healing after abuse and learning to trust yourself again ✨ Building healthy relationships after trauma ✨ Breaking generational cycles and teaching our children healthy boundaries If you've ever wondered why survivors stay, why leaving is so complicated, or how abuse can exist without visible bruises, this episode offers an honest look into the realities many victims face behind closed doors. This conversation is emotional, validating, and ultimately hopeful for anyone navigating life after abuse. ---------------------------------------- ⚠️ CONTENT WARNING / DISCLAIMER This episode contains discussions of: * Domestic violence * Sexual assault * Reproductive coercion * Stalking * Emotional and psychological abuse * Trauma and PTSD * Family court challenges * Post-separation abuse Viewer and listener discretion is advised. The information shared in this episode is based on personal experiences and opinions and is intended for educational and awareness purposes only. This podcast is not a substitute for legal, medical, mental health, or professional counseling services. ---------------------------------------- 💜 NEED HELP? THE REFUGE UTAH Website: The Refuge Utah [https://therefugeutah.org?utm_source=chatgpt.com] 24-Hour Crisis Line: 📞 801-377-5500 Text Line: 📱 801-368-7700 ---------------------------------------- NATIONAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE Website: National Domestic Violence Hotline [https://www.thehotline.org?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Call: 📞 800-799-SAFE (7233) Text: 📱 START to 88788 ---------------------------------------- RAINN (SEXUAL ASSAULT SUPPORT) Website: RAINN [https://www.rainn.org?utm_source=chatgpt.com] 24/7 Hotline: 📞 800-656-HOPE (4673) ---------------------------------------- 📸 Instagram: @knowledge_exch_abuse_survivors 💼 LinkedIn: Lynn Stroud LinkedIn Lynn is a survivor, advocate, and paralegal dedicated to helping others recognize the warning signs of abuse, reproductive coercion, coercive control, and post-separation abuse. ---------------------------------------- 🎙️ Podcast Host: Lyndsey Hackford 📸 Instagram: @living.inthe.aftermath 🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Livingintheaftermath [https://www.youtube.com/@Livingintheaftermath] Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/living-in-the-aftermath-with-lyndsey/id1832389204 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/living-in-the-aftermath-with-lyndsey/id1832389204]

He Made Me Believe the Abuse Was My Fault: Inside a Trauma Bond

In this devastatingly honest episode of Living in the Aftermath, Lyndsey sits down with survivor, advocate, author, and mother Mae Scott [https://www.maescottofficial.com/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] for one of the most raw conversations the podcast has had to date. Mae shares the unimaginable reality behind surviving years of coercive control, emotional abuse, marital sexual assault, violence, manipulation, family court trauma, and the psychological conditioning that made her believe the abuse was somehow her fault. Together, Lyndsey and Mae unpack: * Trauma bonds and why survivors stay * The slow psychological destruction of emotional abuse * Marital rape, coercion, and consent within marriage * Post-separation abuse and court manipulation * Parenting through domestic violence * Fear, shame, guilt, and survival * Learning what healthy love actually looks like * Rebuilding identity after abuse Mae is the author of An Embarrassment of Pandas: Exposing an Abusive Family and a Flawed System, a powerful memoir exposing the realities of domestic violence, institutional failures, and the long fight to reclaim safety, truth, and identity after abuse. Through her advocacy and storytelling, Mae is helping survivors feel less alone while pushing for awareness and systemic change. This episode is emotional, validating, triggering, inspiring, heartbreaking, and deeply important. ⚠️ TRIGGER WARNING / CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains discussions involving: * Domestic violence * Sexual assault * Marital rape * Emotional & psychological abuse * Strangulation * Trauma bonds * Court trauma * PTSD & trauma responses * Suicidal thoughts * Manipulation & coercive control Listener/viewer discretion is strongly advised. Disclaimer: The experiences shared in this episode reflect personal lived experiences shared for awareness, advocacy, and education. This podcast is not intended to replace therapy, legal counsel, medical advice, or emergency/crisis services. 💜 Resources & Support The Refuge Utah Supporting survivors of domestic violence through shelter, advocacy, education, and resources. 📞 24-Hour Crisis Line: 801-377-5500 📞 Toll Free: 1-800-899-5505 🌐 The Refuge Utah Website National Domestic Violence Hotline 📞 Call: 800-799-SAFE (7233) 📱 Text: START to 88788 🌐 The Hotline [https://www.thehotline.org/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Sexual Assault Support 🌐 RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) [https://www.rainn.org/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Follow & Support Mae Scott 📘 Author Website: Mae Scott Official Website [https://www.maescottofficial.com/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] 📸 Instagram: @maescottofficial [https://www.instagram.com/maescottofficial/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] 📖 An Embarrassment of Pandas: Exposing an Abusive Family and a Flawed System available now. 🎙️ Follow Living in the Aftermath for more conversations surrounding trauma, survival, healing, domestic violence awareness, and rebuilding after abuse.