AURORA, Colo. -- The sound of their children playing and laughing is music to the ears of the Steggs and Richards families. It's a sign that their young children are healing the emotional wounds of sexual and physical abuse.

Tracy Stegg's 5 year-old son was the first child to speak up about the abuse.

"He shared with me that he had been touched in places that he shouldn't have been touched," said Steggs. "We were devastated, absolutely devastated."

The family would soon learn that his two siblings and two cousins were also victimized by a close, trusted family member.

"He is my adopted brother," said Mindy Richards, mother of two of the victims. "My parents adopted him and another sibling many years ago."

"This took place during our holiday get-togethers," Steggs said. "It took place when the kids would go to have a sleepover with grandma and grandpa. He truly, truly took advantage of the children."

The perpetrator in this case is now behind bars at a youth corrections facility. Meanwhile, the two families work to rebuild a healthy life for their children.

"You want to fix it right away as a parent, you want to make it better for them," said Steggs.

Despite the stigma sometimes associated with sexual abuse, the family reached out to the Kempe Foundation for treatment, and were reassured that there's hope.

"We do know that if you get to them early, the younger the age the better, and you can work with them for a sustained period of time. You can truly reverse or mitigate the effects of the trauma that they've undergone," said Jesse Wolff, president and CEO of the Kempe Foundation.

The treatment is helping the children, however Richards acknowledges that the abuse will always be a part of the kids' lives.

"It doesn't go away, but this doesn't have to be something that defines them forever," said Richards.

This lengthy and tragic ordeal has brought them closer together.

"You have to learn something from it and use what you learned, and move forward with those things," Richards said.

And part of moving forward is sharing their story in hopes of saving other families from the heartache and devastation caused by child abuse.

"Talk to your kids about it, just like you would talk to them about drugs and alcohol and sex," said Steggs. "Talk to them about it, it's not OK for someone to touch you in those places, it's not OK for someone to physically or sexually assault you."

If you would like more resources on the prevention and treatment of child abuse, visit www.kempe.org