Don't Tell Anyone: How Grooming Delays Disclosure

In this episode of 'One in Ten,' Host Teresa Huizar interviews McGill University doctoral candidate Kayla Schick about grooming and how post-abuse maintenance tactics contribute to delayed disclosure and longer abuse duration. Schick explains delayed disclosure as common in child sexual abuse and describes offender tactics that discourage reporting, including secrecy demands, threats, guilt, victim blaming, and confusion about whether abuse occurred. They discuss implications for prevention, caregiver education, grooming-specific training, interviewing about concealment, online versus in-person detection, and reframing delayed disclosure in courts as a grooming impact rather than a credibility flaw.

Time Stamps: 

Time. Topic 

00:00 Episode Setup 

01:25 Kayla Research Journey 

02:31 Delayed Disclosure Basics 

03:33 Tactics That Silence 

05:08 Six Phases of Grooming 

08:55 Study Questions 

10:17 Key Finding Concealment 

13:32 Online vs In Person 

14:54 Prevention Talking Secrets 

22:09 Next Steps for Field 

24:55 Courtroom Implications 

30:23 Wrap Up and Resources 

Resources

• Predictors of Abuse Duration in In-Person Child Sexual Grooming Cases - Kayla D. Schick, Kaila C. Bruer, Katie A. Berens, Angela D. Evans, Heather L. Price, 2026

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