May 03, 2009 - 08:46 AM

Carola Vyhnak

WHITBY -- He was fun, generous and a cool guy to hang out with. He was also "weird and creepy" with a roomful of pornography, sex toys and drugs.

But for an innocent 10-year-old, won over by gifts, fast food and outings to Canada's Wonderland, the good stuff outweighed the bad. So when he started sexually abusing her, she kept going back to his house.

"Beth" endured the fondling, the sexual touching, the videotaping of her private parts in fear and quiet shame, sometimes pretending to be asleep, each time hoping it wouldn't happen again. It went on for years.

"I was afraid to tell anyone. I was ashamed," says Beth, now a young woman.

She kept her silence even after police found the pornographic videotapes of her and eight other girls in Michael Ross Stratton's Whitby home in June 2006. They had been alerted to the abuse by a victim who was suicidal.

Stratton, 41, has pleaded guilty to sexual assault and invitation to sexual touching in Beth's case. He also pleaded guilty to 11 other charges, including making child pornography, related to the other victims, aged 6 to 17.

The abuse went on in Stratton's bungalow over a 14-year period, according to an agreed statement of facts read in Whitby court.

Stratton was in court last week as lawyers debated an issue involving one of his victims. Crown attorney Kent Saliwonchyk intends to apply for a psychiatric assessment which would be the first step in having him declared a dangerous offender.

In an interview Thursday, Beth - not her real name because she can't be identified by law - says she kept hoping someone would "rescue" her. Several adults knew or suspected something was going on but failed to intervene, she says. At the same time, she was afraid of her parents finding out.

Beth's mother doesn't understand that. She says she "always had a feeling" about Stratton and warned Beth not to go there. But she lived somewhere else and couldn't supervise her daughter that closely.

Stratton, who was in his 30s at the time, was like "the stranger offering candy" that parents warn their children about, says Beth's mother. Except he wasn't a stranger.

"He lived in a nice neighbourhood. He had a son; he was viewed as a nice guy." (Stratton's son was the product of a common-law union that ended in 1991, before the abuse began.)

Stratton provided the things her father couldn't, Beth says.

"He'd buy me whatever I wanted and take us to fun places. Anything you needed, he was there. Once when I had tonsillitis, he bought me Freezies and Popsicles."

The fact that there were often other kids around, going on outings together and enjoying the cigarettes and alcohol Stratton provided, somehow made her feel better, she says.

While she knew the abuse was wrong, the pornography and sex aids in his house didn't fully register.

"We thought it was funny. We didn't know what it was."

She recalls mugging for Stratton's ever-present video camera with another girl, in bathing suits. Years later she learned he had been zooming in on their body parts.

Beth, who only recently told police her story, wants parents to know that "this can happen to anyone."

"It's so easy to manipulate children," she says.

She urges guardians to be vigilant, ask children questions, know where they are, and who they're with.

"Parents need to talk to their kids, and tell them there are bad people out there who may not be strangers.

"Teach them it's okay to tell if something bad is happening," Beth says, adding she knows how hard it is for victims to come forward.

She felt guilty because she didn't do anything to prevent other kids from being abused. "I regretted every day not telling the cops what happened to me."

She hopes that sharing her story now may help others.