My 11, almost 12 year old grandson, came across a picture of a naked woman on the internet. Having been taught that pornography was a sin, he had a lot of guilt. However, being a curious preteen, a few weeks passed and he went searching for a similar picture. He felt “prompted to confess.” I don’t know exactly what was said in that interview (the parents had no knowledge of this interview), but I do know that he had great shame and suffered for 2 years. On the way home from a priesthood meeting, his dad could tell he was extremely disturbed, withdrawn and depressed. Finally, he told his father what had happened and he reassured him that it was normal to be curious and that he hadn’t done anything wrong. This young man had 2+ years of needless suffering of guilt and shame. Fortunately, the damage was limited due to the way it was handled by the father and his dis-allowance of any more interviews.
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