Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Miami Herald - April 16, 2003
Hannah Sampson, hsampson@herald.com
Book, a senior at the school, led a panel discussion intended to raise awareness about sexual violence.
April has been designated Florida's Sexual Assault/Violence Awareness Month.
In addition to Book, two detectives with the Broward Sheriff's Office, the director of the Broward County Sexual Assault Treatment Center and lobbyist Ron Book, Lauren's father, spoke to the crowd of about 750 students.
They spoke about state laws against sexual abuse, date rape, the psychological effects of sexual assault and how an investigation into accusations works.
Ron Book spoke of his family's own experience.
"This was always going to happen to someone else," he said. "It wasn't going to happen to my family."
But it did. A former nanny for the Book family, Waldina Flores, is serving 15 years in prison for molesting Lauren over a five-year period. She pleaded no contest last year to a five-count indictment.
The Book family has tried to turn their trauma into something positive, a way to change the system. They went to the Florida Legislature to make it easier for a victim of sexual assault to learn the results of HIV tests of their abusers.
"Life becomes roller coaster-like," Ron Book said. "All you can do . . . is be there for that victim, who ultimately becomes a survivor."
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