Indiegogo Campaign Aims To Help Victim Of Horrid Child Abuse

HAMILTON, ON, March 06, 2014 (Press-News.org) How can 12 children in one family be so terribly abused yet no one does anything about it? My book 'Playing With The Devil' is a wrenching account of what these kids suffered but now, over 50 years later, no one has ever been brought to justice. The courts have refused to act and the children, now adults, continue to suffer from horrible memories they will never forget.

While Byron Prior's father was away as captain of a ship, his mother made ends meet by pimping out her own children to many of Grand Bank, Newfoundland's most prominent citizens - lawyers, judges, businessmen - even Salvation Army officers. There was also the perverted next-door neighbor, many of the mother's friends and even other family members like Byron's own grandfather - all of whom took full advantage of these innocent children.

Byron's abuse began at the hands of his mother when he was just 4 years old. He was pulled into his mother's bed at night and told to be nice to the pedophile next door, if he knew what was good for him. When he did even the most innocent of acts, his hands were put on a burning hot wood stove, he was severely beaten over and over again, and was badly injured from being thrown through the back door and down the rear steps.

If all of that were not enough to endure, he also had to witness the abuse of his younger brothers and sisters. He tried to comfort his siblings when they were beaten by his mother and offer words of hope when they were sexually assaulted by strangers. She often gave them over to sexual liaisons for as little as a loaf of bread or for a gallon or two of gas in her car. On one occasion, Byron washed his 4-year-old sister, who had just been raped by their grandfather and left on the kitchen floor lying in a pool of her own blood.

As the oldest of 12 children, he always felt the burden of wishing he could somehow help them. Even as a young boy, he sneaked out of this house of horrors and ran to the police station hoping someone would help - but they never did.

As an adult, he went to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police many times - in 1960, twice in 1962, 1966, 1968, about 1971 and in 1998 during which he gave a 2 1/2 -hour statement. During the 70's, three of his sisters, one brother and a niece, also made reports to the Grand Bank RCMP. One sister was allegedly raped and became pregnant due to a sexual assault by a minister of parliament.

Since then, Byron has taken his case to court representing himself, since he could not afford a lawyer. On one occasion, he was committed to a mental facility because he continuously and consistently told the truth about what happened to him and to his siblings.

Today, over 50 years later, Byron is still seeking justice for what was done to all of the children. I am hoping to raise enough funds for Byron to hire a good lawyer who will seriously represent him and help him find justice once and for all. As well, it is my wish that Playing With The Devil -a novel I wrote in an effort to get Byron's message out to the world - will acquire the support of a mainstream publisher. For a short time, Saga Books of Calgary, AB sold this book but due to changes in the publishing arena over the past few years, will no longer be representing authors and/or their books.

This change has forced me to seek other options. At this time, the book is only available in ebook format on Amazon.com. My wish is to get it back into the hands of a traditional publisher who will care as much as I do about what happened to Byron and his siblings.

Therefore, my funding request is two-fold - money for Byron to launch a strong lawsuit against the perpetrators of these horrible crimes and money to publish this book in hard cover format so his devastating story of abuse can reach more people worldwide. If the funding goal is met, I will provide updates on both my and Byron's progress on my blog site at https://plus.google.com/105846981608373220977/posts. There are also a number of perks for anyone who donates.

To contribute to this cause, please go to https://www.indiegogo.com/project/preview/3256583

Web Site: http://www.angelfire.com/planet/pwtd

Playing With The Devil on Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Playing-With-Devil-Martha-Jette-ebook/dp/B00IBKYQ06/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391966062&sr=8-1&keywords=Martha+Jette

Martha Jette is a former newspaper and magazine editor with many years of writing and editing experience. Since a forced retirement due to health concerns in 1986, she has published seven books and four ebooks. To learn more about the author and her books, please visit her web site at http://www.angelfire.com/planet/pwtd.