Child Sexual Abuse Allegations Surface Against Head Of Amateur Athletic Union; Sexual Abuse Victim Discusses Her Case
WHITFIELD: Before the break we asked how many child sexual abuse cases are reported each year. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent psychiatry, the answer is 80,000. But the number of unreported cases is much higher because children are afraid to speak out. And you'll hear from a woman who was molested in her childhood home. Details on this right after a look at the top stories. Volunteers fanned out across Arlington National Cemetery today to put wreaths on about 100,000 head stones. For the past 20 years the group Wreaths Across America has organized wreath layings at cemeteries and veterans memorials across the country. President Barack Obama now knows what it's like to enter a White House security checkpoint. He was walking back from a holiday party at the Blair House when he set off a metal detector. Apparently the president's cell phone caused it to beep. He joked that he just wanted to see what it would be like. The Obama administration says it is still working to bring a retired FBI agent home. Robert Levinson went missing in Iran nearly five years ago. He may be in Afghanistan or Pakistan. His family posted this video from his captors online this week. It is the first evidence that Levinson may still be alive. Police in south Florida are investigating a shooting recorded on the victim's iPhone. The victim is OK, but we want to warn you what you're about to hear is graphic. Here is that recording.</s>WHITFIELD: This allegedly took place during a confrontation between a man and his mother-in-law. The mother-in-law faces charges. The man was treated at a local hospital and released.</s>WHITFIELD: The next story is about an adult subject matter and it may not be suitable for all audiences, especially younger children. The charges against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky have many people telling their own stories about sexual abuse. CNN's Julie Peterson talked exclusively with a woman office molested in her childhood home.</s>JULIE PETERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Married a year and a half --</s>HEIDI KNOBLETT, SEXUAL ABUSE VICTIM: We should go again.</s>PETERSON: -- college graduate Heidi Knoblett likes her life. Not even her hearing impairment gets in her way. But the 26-year-old has a devastating past. For several years beginning at eight-year-old Knoblett says she quietly suffered sexual abuse by her stepfather.</s>KNOBLETT: Like every other incident, I just close my eyes, and the only thing that I can think or say in my mind was, Jesus, Jesus. Even though he didn't say no right then, I knew he would get me through it.</s>PETERSON: When she was 12 the abuse stopped, but when she was 21 her stepfather tried to sexually assault her again. This time it was different. She told someone, a co-worker. The case went to court. Her step father was convicted of child molestation in 2007. He's in prison serving a 40 year term. Assistant district attorney Kevin McMurry prosecuted the case. (on camera): Why was Heidi's case hard to prosecute?</s>KEVIN MCMURRY, ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY, COWETA COUNTY, GEORGIA: Heidi's case was particularly hard to prosecute because of the age of the allegations. We didn't have the ability to go back 10 years ago and try to gather other evidence. There's a search warrant taken in that search warrant we found incest pornography in the defendants home, which was obviously helpful to the prosecution. Heidi was a great witness. She had a very detailed recollection, which was helpful. There are certain things that I recall about her testimony that she articulated and she did it from the perspective of an eight-year-old, which I point out to the jury that that's hard to fake.</s>PETERSON: Knoblett worked hard to overcome her memories and to learn how trust a man, specifically her husband.</s>KNOBLETT: You live with this man and he wants to be intimate with you. He'll just take whatever he wants and leave it whatever it and you're left feel like you're used and you're nothing. That was really, really hard for me to overcome.</s>PETERSON: Her strategy for recovery, her deep faith and talking about her ordeal.</s>KNOBLETT: And now I've gotten to the point where I let Jesus be in my mind to where I can tell myself Heidi, this is your husband who loves you very much.</s>PETERSON: Despite the conviction, Knoblett says many in her family still don't believe the abuse ever happened, and she says her relationship with them is destroyed as a result.</s>MCMURRY: She had no support. Still to this day I don't believe she has a lot of family support regarding this. I think the family just had a very, very difficult time believing that this could happen or would happen under their roof while they were there, and they just refused to believe it.</s>PETERSON: McMurry says he often sees denial in molestation cases.</s>MCMURRY: It's not at all unusual. To some degree I can understand it, and I think you can too, in that if somebody came to you and said your husband was abusing your child, your initial reaction will be no, I know him. That couldn't happen. It's a very deep, dark hidden thing. And that's the way it works. That's the dynamics behind it. That's the power behind it.</s>PETERSON: After years of anonymity, Knoblett says the recent Penn State sexual abuse allegations are one reason she's going public now. Her stepfather was in a high-profile and well-respected position in the community.</s>KNOBLETT: He had a position of authority where he had to enforce the law, and really he was supposed to be keeping guys like himself trying to hurt kids.</s>PETERSON: Knoblett says she will deal with these memories. Still, by going public she wants to give other abuse victims hope.</s>KNOBLETT: They can overcome this and there's life beyond abuse.</s>PETERSON: Julie Peterson, CNN, Atlanta.</s>WHITFIELD: As Julie Peterson's report pointed out, families often are in denial about sexual abuse. Next hour we'll hear from a woman who stuck with her husband for months before she accepted the truth. But next I'm going to talk with an attorney who specializes in representing the victims of child sexual abuse. She's going to talk about the statute of limitations and how it can affect adult victims who come forward years later.