Dear Queenie,
My older sister’s teenage stepson has been coming on to me like you wouldn’t believe. He even tried to grope me the last time they came to visit, when we were where no one else could see us. I told him to stop but he wouldn’t and I had to almost run back to where everybody else was to get away from him.
After that I made sure I wasn’t alone at any time. I even made sure my sister went with me to the bathroom although I didn’t say why. I pretended to have something in my eye.
The next day when I calmed down I called my sister and told her what happened, but she didn’t believe me. She just laughed and said something about teenagers and raging hormones and “boys will be boys.”
Queenie, I am scared. This “boy” is bigger than I am and my neighbours say they’ve seen him around my house at night. They didn’t think anything about it because he’s my nephew, but I live alone. What should I do?—Not just his aunt
Dear Not just his aunt,
You should have a serious face-to-face talk with your sister and her husband. Tell them how frightened you are of their son and explain that his behaviour is more than a case of raging teenage hormones and may escalate into something even worse if they don’t take control.
Tell them you are going to report his behaviour to the police and ask your neighbours to keep an eye out and let you know if they see him around your house at any hour without his parents.
Then go to the police station and make your report. And if your neighbours tell you he is hanging around your house again, call the police at once. At the very least, this boy must be forced to learn that “no” means NO!
It may cause some hard feelings in the family, but that is better than letting him get completely out of hand, with you as his victim!
