Parents, specialists gather in Volusia to discuss child sex abuse prevention

By Joel Schipper
News 13
July 21, 2014

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About 200 members of the Volusia County community gathered Monday, July 21, 2014, to discuss how the community can grow together as it moves forward after an elementary teacher was arrested and accused of making and distributing child porn.

SOUTH DAYTONA -- 

About 200 members of the Volusia County community, including parents, teachers and social workers, met Monday night to discuss how the community can grow together while moving forward after an elementary teacher was arrested and accused of making and distributing child porn.

Matthew Graziotti, 42, of Edgewater, was arrested July 14, after the FBI raided his home. They said they found thousands of porn images on his computer. They also found a folder labeled "personally known." In one of the subfolders, the FBI said they found a picture of Graziotti abusing one of the victims.

Graziotti is a teacher at Warner Christian Academy and summer day camp counselor at White Chapel Church of God. He is currently on unpaid administrative leave.

But on Monday night, people focused on how they can move forward.

"There will be a certain amount of trauma that those children and those parents have due to the fact that this was someone they've known for a long time," said Steve Sally, executive director of The House Next Door, a DeLand-based sexual abuse trauma program.

Experts said one of the most important things is to have open lanes of communication and to be willing to talk with your children about uncomfortable topics. Three things are key to a strong community recovery process, too: hope, help and healing.

Mark Tress, the superintendent of Warner Christian Academy, said all three Hs will equal success.

"Help for them and how can I get help to understand," Tress said. "Help for their children is necessary."

Children are a lot more resilient than adults are, and so they bound back faster because they don't have as much life experience, Sally said.

Organizers said discussions and public forums like the one Monday night might become an annual event. They hope other school districts will follow, as well.