Little People, Big World alum Jacob Roloff said he’s feeling more “free” after sharing his childhood abuse story last year.
As previously reported by Monsters & Critics, Jacob accused a TLC field producer of molesting him while he was still filming for Little People, Big World.
LPBW alum Jacob Roloff accused TLC producer of molestation
On Dec. 15, 2020, Jacob took to Instagram to share a lengthy post, detailing his account of abuse at the hands of Chris Cardamone.
Simply captioning the post, “Libertad,” which is the Spanish word for freedom, Jacob went on to explain why he waited to come forward about the molestation.
“As a child, after what I realize now was a long grooming process, I was molested by an executive field producer for ‘Little People Big World,’ Chris Cardamone,” Jacob wrote in his statement.
Now, nearly one year after revealing his abuse scandal, Jacob reflected on coming forward and how it has helped to “free” him and become a father to his newborn son, Mateo.
On Sunday, Dec. 26, Jacob once again took to Instagram to share a photo of himself in 1997 as a child, happily playing on a blanket outside at Roloff Farms.
Jacob Roloff reflects on sharing CSA experience, feels ‘free’
“1 year and 11 days ago I posted my statement about my experience with CSA,” Jacob captioned his post.
“I said, ‘I am certain that this is a positive moment for me, and another step toward a brighter future.’ I’m happy to say that I meant it!”
Jacob then revealed that opening up about his experience with CSA (childhood sexual abuse) has helped him in other areas of his life.
“I felt so free of a useless burden, felt so much closer to my ever-supportive wife, so much more open and confident to myself; on some level it allowed me to become a dad, to finally open that door.”
“I’m so, so happy that I did and I love Mateo more than I could have guessed or hoped or dreamed. Best Christmas present.”
Jacob and his wife of two years, Isabel Roloff, welcomed their first child, son Mateo, on Dec. 4.
Jacob made it clear from the time Isabel announced her pregnancy that they would not be sharing Mateo’s identity with the public.
Jacob’s decision not to share Mateo’s identity was likely influenced by his own experience with being in the public eye as a child when he appeared on LPBW alongside his family before walking away from filming in 2016.
“Thank you thank you for friendly comments however none of you (online) will ever ‘see’ my son,” Jacob told his followers. “It is, specifically, not personal.”
Isabel recently explained why she and Jacob are choosing to keep baby Mateo out of the limelight.
“We knew before we had him that we wanted to protect his privacy online,” Isabel explained. “Ultimately Jacob said from the beginning that we will share very little about our kids and I agreed.”
Isabel continued, “So now we are navigating that daily, checking in with each other about comfortability and what we choose to share.”
Little People, Big World is currently on hiatus.