A former Burnaby resident and ex-career criminal rode his bike through town on a charity fundraiser to help male survivors of childhood sexual abuse.
Andrew Bhatti, who now lives in Langley, spearheaded the Men of Hope bike tour, a six-day bike trek from Vernon to Vancouver, with stops in New Westminster and Burnaby.
Bhatti's bike tour wrapped up on July 20 with a fundraiser gala at the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre.
"(I'm) sore and tired, but I'm glad it's over. I accomplished it," Bhatti said.
"Our goal is to carry the message to the survivors who still suffer. This is the hidden secret: men are abused, boys are abused. Most people think sexual abuse is just women. They don't focus on the male gender."
Overall, the campaign raised an estimated $9,300 for Sophie's Place, a program at Surrey's Centre for Child Development, which helps children who have been abused mentally, physically and sexually.
Bhatti a former drug addict and criminal, said he turned his life around once he dealt with the sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of Joseph Douglas Baker, a volunteer Big Brother to Bhatti.
In 2008, Baker plead guilty to charges of sexual assault and inviting sexual touching with one child, and sexually touching two other children - all under the age of 14.
He was sentenced to three years in prison and deemed a predator by the judge. In July 2010, he was granted early parole.
According to Sophie's Place, one in three girls and one in six boys in Canada will experience some kind of unwanted sexual act before they reach adulthood, and more than 90 per cent of sexual abuse cases go unreported. Children with disabilities are four to 10 times more likely to experience sexual abuse.
In Baker's case, one of the victims was a six-year-old boy with a developmental disability.
According to Bhatti, many sexual abuse survivors become heroin and crack addicts.
Bhatti said he was addicted for 15 years and spent eight in jail, but only when he got help about the sexual abuse was he able to start his recovery.
Now Bhatti is urging other men to speak out about sexual abuse.
"More people need to come forward. If (men) don't come forward, they are just going to hide their feelings and emotions, and the offender is not ... going to take responsibility for the harm he has done to the child," he said. "The more people who come forward, the more people are going to have a voice."
Bhatti would also like to see a registry of convicted sex offenders that's available to the general public, and not just the police.
For more information on the Men of Hope tour, go to Menofhope.ca.
For more on Sophie's Place, or to make a donation, visit www.cdfbc.ca/Sophies-Place.
