161. Diane: Fighting for Justice for Almost 50 Years…Because It’s That Important!
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
Release Date: 10/28/2025
189. Tracy DeTomasi, Chris McGee & Derrick Hurley: Why Men Must Be Part of the Solution
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
For this episode, I brought together three people who have become powerful voices in the fight against sexual violence: Tracy DeTomasi, CEO of Callisto, Chris McGee, and Derrick Hurley. What started for Chris and Derrick as deeply personal journeys after the sexual assaults of their daughters has evolved into full-scale advocacy work focused on changing laws, challenging rape culture, supporting survivors, and pushing men to stop standing on the sidelines. This conversation centers around the upcoming “Dudes and Dads” campaign with Callisto, an organization using encrypted technology to...
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188. Martha Gagnon: The Hidden Pattern Behind Coercion
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
Martha Gagnon joins me for a deeply important and, at times, difficult conversation about coercion, control, and what she ultimately came to understand as rape within an intimate relationship. Her story doesn’t follow the narrative many people expect—and that’s exactly why it matters. In this survival story, Martha’s relationship with this particular person began as what appeared to be healthy, emotionally aware, and enlightened. But it slowly shifted into a pattern of pressure, manipulation, and control that escalated over time. Martha walks us through how coercion operated in her...
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187. Sophie: “If I Said No Again…What Would Happen?”
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
Sophie was 14 when she entered a relationship that, at first, felt familiar and exciting. Over time, that relationship shifted into something she couldn’t fully understand in the moment. What began as connection turned into pressure, confusion, and a growing sense that she was responsible for someone else’s emotions, safety, and survival. This episode traces how that shift happened. Not through a single moment, but through a pattern—pushing boundaries in public, introducing sexual expectations early, using guilt and fear, and layering in threats of self-harm. Sophie describes what it...
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186. Joseph Born: The Hidden Reality of Child-on-Child Harm
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
Joseph Born grew up surrounded by the raw, untamed beauty of Alaska—a childhood filled with exploration, curiosity, and the kind of freedom that most people would associate with innocence. But beneath that backdrop was something far different. In this episode, Joseph shares the part of his story that rarely gets talked about with the clarity it deserves: child-on-child sexual abuse, and the lasting imprint it leaves long after childhood ends. What makes this conversation so important is not just what happened, but how it showed up—behavioral shifts, confusion, acting out—things that are...
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185. Sara Perry: This Changes How You Think About Healing
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
This week’s episode takes us into a part of the healing conversation that doesn’t get talked about nearly enough. I sit down with Sara Perry, founder of Haven Space () in Houston, Texas, to explore what it means to approach trauma and intimacy through the body—not just the mind. Sara is a somatic sex educator and sexological bodyworker who works with individuals and couples to reconnect with themselves after experiences of disconnection, shame, or trauma. Her work blends coaching, somatic practices, and body awareness to help people understand how their nervous system responds to...
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184. Emily: I Was Living My Life Like Nothing Happened
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
This week, Emily joins the show to share a story that has lived quietly beneath the surface while life continued to move forward around it. As a young woman navigating the early stages of adulthood, she opens up about what it means to carry the impact of sexual assault while still showing up in the world in ways that appear “normal” to everyone else. This conversation explores the contrast between outward life and internal reality—how someone can be building a future, maintaining relationships, and staying socially connected, all while holding onto something deeply unresolved. Emily...
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183. Darlene Lekowski: She Buried the Truth as a Child…What Happened When It Resurfaced?
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
Before I get into these notes, I want to pass along this from this week’s guest, Darlene Lekowski. She mentioned during our conversation that her audiobook, Shattering Silence, is dropping to just ninety-nine cents this coming Thursday, April 2nd, as her release-day promo. Go to amazon.com and look-up her book title, again—shattering silence, and you’ll find the promotional deal. This is a limited-time opportunity, so if you’re hearing this on or before april 2nd, 2026, go take a look—you won’t want to miss this audiobook in Darlene’s own voice! ...
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182. Cassie Nicholas: When Help Was a Setup
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
Cassie Nicholas returns to the podcast with a story that is as urgent as it is revealing. After everything she has already survived, Cassie found herself in a situation that looked—on the surface—like support and stability. People she trusted offered help, a way to get back on her feet, a path forward. But what she began to recognize, piece by piece, was something far more dangerous: those same individuals were attempting to traffic her. In this episode, I sit down with Cassie as she walks through that realization—how subtle the warning signs can be, how manipulation can be disguised...
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181. MJ: A Few Minutes That Changed Everything
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
In this powerful interview, MJ shares her journey through sexual assault, dissociation, and healing. We explore trauma's impact on the body and mind, the importance of support systems, and pathways to recovery. Discover the profound insights from MJ, a university student and trauma advocate, as she shares her story of resilience and healing after sexual assault. Trauma can alter the course of our lives in unimaginable ways; her journey through trauma began during her sophomore year. In this post, we’ll explore the insights she shared during our conversation about how trauma impacts the...
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180. Norma Peterson-Part 2: Furthering the Discussion of the Evidentiary Abuse Affidavit
Sexual Assault Survivor Stories Podcast - SASS
This week, I am again featuring as my guest, Norma Peterson, Executive Director of Document the Abuse, to talk about the lasting impact of the Stacy Peterson case and the broader importance of documenting abuse when systems fail survivors. Our conversation explores how power, media narratives, and institutional silence can obscure truth—and why preserving survivor stories is not only important, but necessary. As Executive Director, Norma oversees the organization’s survivor-centered advocacy, education, and documentation initiatives. A central focus of her work is the Evidentiary Abuse...
info_outlineI had a SASS listener reach out to me a few months ago via email. It was a short email, but it sure got my attention. The writer, Diane, told me that she had been listening to SASS for a while, and that she was very appreciative of the show, as she is a survivor of military sexual assault (MSA) from almost 50 years ago. She also told me she had sent me a large envelope of important information about her case…certified, return receipt. That’ll peak you’re curiosity!
I did get a large envelope a few days later. It was a pretty full, 9x12 , mailing envelope, full of documents—letters, law enforcement reports, a narrative of Diane’s story—enough to keep me reading for about an hour. And what I read was both horrific and miserable information, but frustrating and compelling at the same time. It was a compilation of most of the work that Diane had been compiling for the past almost 50 years in order to try to get the Army to bring a retired physician back into active duty for the purpose of having him court-martialed. Can you imagine how frustrating it must feel to have your case investigated by one of this country’s foremost criminal investigation agencies, have the investigation result in being substantiated, sue the perpetrator civilly, and win, and then to have the Army’s prosecutors refuse to prosecute your case…for no particular reason other than to save face for the Army because to court-martial a retired colonel, doctor, from the Army would be embarrassing. Yeah…that’s what happened. It’s asinine; you’re gonna want to hear the story from Diane herself. So listen to this episode. Then, share it with everyone you know. Because it’s that important!
An important side note: if you’re finding value in this show and these amazing episodes, please take a moment to leave a 5-star rating on your podcast platform. AND, follow SexualAssaultSurvivorStories on Instagram, then, please send me a note of support. I can’t tell you how much your emails mean to me—they fuel my passion to keep this podcast going. And if you’re a victim or survivor and are ready to tell your story in order to help yourself or someone else heal, let me know, and we can start a conversation about the possibility of you being on the show. Here’s my email address: dave@sasstories.com Thank you to all of you who have reached out to me already. Just provide me with a phone number where I can reach back out to you…because I like to talk to people who are interested in guesting. And please keep those emails and texts coming…I truly look forward to hearing from you!
Here are some critically important links that I hope you’ll take the time to explore, and where a contribution is requested, please consider doing so!—Thank you!!
https://www.whattheydontsay.com
https://www.survivor-school.com/?ref=DAVEMARKEL
As mentioned, and emphasized, it’s time to Normalize the Conversation.™ And please remember to Start by Believing…because we all know someone whose life has been impacted by rape or sexual assault.
Thank you for tuning in.