There’s someone walking with new credibility in the fight against child sexual abuse: Lauren Book appears in the Epstein files as an advocate for bringing the notorious abuser to justice and still sees a long way to go.
The former state senator, who is also a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, has walked a total of 13,500 miles across Florida, trying to raise awareness about the scourge. When she sets off this time, for her 11th walk, however, it’s clear the landscape has shifted dramatically since she hung up her walking shoes last April.
Since then, explosive child sexual abuse charges against Jeffrey Epstein have since ensnared powerful men across the globe and left hardly a social media feed untouched.
These revelations wouldn’t have had this reckoning, however, were it not for the survivors of Epstein’s survivors speaking out, Book says. And she wants to push the awareness the case spawned even further during this year’s walk that starts Tuesday, March 31.
This time, when Book sets off from Key West and ends up in Tallahassee, she will have a mobile recording unit traveling with her to capture anonymous audio recordings from survivors who want to be heard. It’s going to be called “Survivor Stories: The Voices Project” and its collection of stories will be kept in a digital archive for public and academic use.
“Hearing the story of a 5-year-old, the journey of a 5-year-old, and actually hearing it in their voice, is very impactful, whether it’s a 5-year-old, a 6-year-old, or a 95- or 96-year-old,” said Book, who served as a Broward County state senator and founded Lauren’s Kids, a foundation that provides school curriculum to fight child sexual abuse by empowering students to stay safe. “We want those stories. We want to hear from survivors. We want people to understand what the reality is for survivors, for families of survivors, for those who provide services for survivors.”
Lauren Book had raised questions about Jeffrey Epstein
Book’s name has surfaced in the Epstein files — revealed as being among those crying foul over the notorious financier’s sweetheart work-release deal. And she spoke out well before the case hit headlines as the sprawling scandal it’s become.
Book in 2019 was raising questions about why Epstein was allowed to leave the Palm Beach County Stockade nearly every day as he served 13 months of his 18-month sentence imposed after he pleaded guilty to misconduct with underage girls.
Book says she sees a new awareness happening because of the revelations. She remembers a donor to her foundation, Lauren’s Kids, telling her that he felt uncomfortable holding her business card in his hand and espousing a viewpoint the Epstein case has upended.
“That same individual talked about how human trafficking isn’t really a thing here — it’s something that happens in those other countries over there,” Book recalled. “People don’t want to look at it. Don’t want to think about it.”
Lauren Book’s own abuser was the family’s female nanny
Book’s own story upends all the stereotypes about child sexual abuse. The daughter of one of the state’s most powerful lobbyists, she was born into an upper-class home. Her abuser was not male, but the family’s female nanny. The abuse went on for six years, until she was well into her teens.
“I spent the first half of my life as an invisible person, I often say, because if anybody actually saw me, they wouldn’t let happen what was continuing to happen day in and day out for that entire piece of my life,” said Book, whose 2011 memoir is called, “It’s OK to Tell.”
She’s under no illusion that child sexual abuse will one day become a rarity, or ever come to an end.
“The reality is that true pedophiles, true people who seek to harm children in this way, are hardwired to be sexually attracted to children … we can’t change that,” she said. “What we can do is work to ensure that children are not exposed for a long period of time.”
The curriculum in use from Monroe County Public Schools to the Alachua County Child Advocacy Center to 42 other states teaches kids to recognize the signs of trouble, where to get help, how to tell and how to keep telling until they are heard.
“I can ensure that a child (who gets the curriculum) continues to tell until they’re heard and helped, so the abuse doesn’t have to go on as long as mine did,” she said.
Where and when will Lauren Book’s Florida walk take place?
Book, a Broward County Democrat, served in the Florida Senate from 2016 to 2024. And her walk evokes the journey of another prominent Florida Democrat “Walkin’ Lawton.”
Lawton Chiles famously walked 1,033 miles from Pensacola to Miami, then known as Dade County, to campaign for the U.S. Senate in 1970. Chiles later won the governorship in 1990 and was the last Democrat elected governor, winning a second term in 1994 and serving until he died three weeks before his term was up.
Book’s walk is even more ambitious: up to 25 miles a day for 1,500 miles. It starts at Key West on March 31 and is scheduled to conclude May 1 steps from the State Capitol building.
Her 9-year-old son offered to take over when he turns 18.
“It’s been the honor of a lifetime to be able to walk alongside these survivors,” she said.
Anne Geggis is an Aging Well reporter for the USA TODAY NETWORK FLORIDA who focuses on physical, mental, emotional and financial well-being as we age, from Gen Y to Boomers. If you have a question you would like Anne to find answers to, send it to ageggis@usatodayco.com. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY, at https://palmbeachpost.com/newsletters
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Early Epstein ‘sweetheart deal’ critic walks to elevate survivor stories
Reporting by Anne Geggis, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
