SAN ANTONIO – She never saw any signs. A trained police officer, Margo Fernandez was blindsided by the news in 2006.
"My kids told me that the person who was living in our home the year before was touching them and hurting them," said Fernandez.
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That person was Fernandez' boyfriend.
"You can't explain the hurt and the pain that goes through your mind. Or the anger," she said.
Fernandez reported the claims to law enforcement. But it was clear her three daughters needed more than an arrest to be made.
After visiting numerous counselors, Fernandez was directed to ChildSafe, the only child advocacy center serving Bexar County.
From the initial forensic interview about the crime to the therapy and counseling that follows, ChildSafe provides a "one stop shop" for survivors to save them from sharing the story of their abuse over and over to various agencies and counselors.
Fernandez' family took part in adventure therapy through ChildSafe. The program uses activities like camping, kayaking and rock climbing to nurture and heal.
"It gives you back your self-assurance. It makes you prideful. It gives you an inner peace," said Fernandez. "You're alone out there with your family members. You learn to trust each other. You learn to depend on each other again."
ChildSafe offers many kinds of therapy, and often that includes what most consider every day activities such as swimming lessons or art projects.
"When you say mine and your everyday life, their everyday life is they get sexually abused every night of the week," said ChildSafe President and CEO Kim Abernethy.
She adds that many of the activities are aimed at boosting a child's self-esteem because often they feel worthless after abuse and feel as though it is their fault.
After roughly three months with ChildSafe, Fernandez saw a difference in her daughters.
"I started noticing that the plastic, the Glad plastic trash bags that they put over their windows because they were so scared, came down," she said. "And I didn't take them down. They did."
"Everyone in the family needs support because it hasn't just happened to the child. Its happened to the whole family," Abernethy said.
ChildSafe helps families through the often long legal process, offers prevention services and financial guidance.
"It may be the boyfriend or the father - the primary breadwinner is in jail. So there's no money coming in," Abernethy said. "Children may not want to have their same bedrooms. They may not want to sleep in their same beds. This family support system helps with all those things."
Fernandez is now a police officer within the Edgewood Independent School District. She works with anyone within the district who makes claims of abuse, passing on what she learned to help victims become survivors.
"Talk to your kids. I'm here. There's other police officers out there. There's counselors, there's teachers," she said. "And there's ChildSafe."