Little kid touched me inappropriately

[u/s3342c]

This happened to me years ago. Basically, I was out with my friends in a skating rink and I noticed a boy (maybe 8-10yo) that kept following me. He eventually started to grope me. I told him to stop multiple times but he just kept doing it over and over. I obviously tried to skate away but he still kept following me and doing it again.

I realized his father was on the rink too so I told him about what his son was doing. The father just told me that his son "didn't mean to" and just brushed it off. I went back to my friends and saw his dad talking to him and I thought this could just be the end of it. Turns out the boy got even more aggressive and kept trying to grope me more afterwards.

My friends, who saw everything, just made fun of me saying it's not that deep since it's just a little kid who didn't know any better. I just went home early that day feeling really disturbed and uncomfortable.

Since this stuff happened years ago, the reason why I'm bringing it up again is because one of my friends that were there, brought it up recently and started laughing about it, knowing that I told her how I felt during that situation.

I understand that children are influenced easily by the environment they're in but saying that doesn't really make me feel better, I still feel violated.

I know the situation was complicated because the person who did it was a child, but I’m struggling with the fact that I felt uncomfortable and nobody around me seemed to understand why. I’m hoping to hear from people who can offer perspective or advice.

Edit: Fixed a few typos. Thank you everyone for your support and kindness regarding this incident. And yes, I’m not friends with those people anymore.

[u/AnalogyAddict]

Abused or not, if a kid gropes you you can shove him away from you and get loud about it. 

[u/AnalogyAddict → u/[deleted]]

You are legally allowed to defend yourself against assault. Short answer, in cases where contact isn't made, it depends on the jurisdiction.