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35 Years Later, Colorado Victim Works To End Child Abuse

By Britt Moreno

DENVER (CBS4) - Lori Poland is a survivor of a parent's worst nightmare. In 1983 a man drove by her front yard where she was playing and entices the then toddler with a popsicle to get into his car.

Lori Poland
Lori Poland (credit: CBS)

Lori told CBS4's morning anchor Britt Moreno on CBS4 This Morning "He took me to the mountains, sexual abused me and stuck me in the pit of an outhouse toilet."

She was there for three and a half days before bird watchers heard her crying and rescued her. She was then reunited with her mother and her "healing journey began," she said.

Today Lori is spearheading a new national effort to end child abuse. More Colorado kids are reported abused or neglected than ever before. She wants to encourage people to shed the shame associated with abuse and talk about it. This she says will encourage child abuse prevention.

RELATED: Kickoff Of National Foundation To End Child Abuse And Neglect At State Capitol

She told Moreno "There is no research dedicated to child abuse. The majority of people abused do not repeat what they experience, but abusers sometimes were abused and we do not know why. We want to understand why."

EndCAN is the name of the new campaign that will research and hopefully "end child abuse and neglect." Lori is starting this with a local doctor Richard Krugman. He is the former Dean of the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

If you see something in your family or neighborhood and feel like you should report it or that you need help you can call: 1-844-CO-4-Kids.

To help fund EndCAN go to www.endcan.org.

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