Bikers Against Child Abuse father-daughter duo using story of abuse to help empower others

By Cal Larsen

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    OMAHA, Nebraska (KETV) — A father and his daughter involved with Bikers Against Child Abuse is hoping their story of overcoming abuse can help others going through similar experiences.

Phoenix is a BACA memberl; his daughter Pita is a BACA supporter. They both got involved after seeing the impact the group made on Pita during her own experience with abuse.

Now 18, Pita was sexually abused when she was 13. It wasn’t long before her dad, Phoenix, was asked about BACA by the court’s Child Victim Advocate.

“At that point I still didn’t know what to expect, I didn’t know what they were and I didn’t know what they did,” Phoenix said.

During his daughter’s journey through court, BACA made house visits, sat in the court room, brought gifts to her house and was available at the drop of a hat for anything she needed.

Once she was able, Pita got involved herself.

“One of the biggest goals I have, in BACA specifically, is to be able to give back what I’ve gotten,” Pita said.

The two feel as though they bring a powerful perspective to the families they work with now because of their experience.

Phoenix, as a dad who saw what his daughter went through, can offer peer support to other fathers. Pita, as someone directly impacted, can relate to kids more effectively due to her age and can show them how she didn’t let abuse stop her from moving on or define her.

“It is about not dwelling on pain and not dwelling on those negative items, but what can we do to move forward?’ Phoenix asked. “What can we do? Heal, yes, not pretend it didn’t happen, not sweep it under the rug, let’s address it.”

Phoenix waited for BACA’s one-year mandatory “cool-off” period to end after his daughter became inactive before he began getting involved. Since then, he says he’s never looked back. Being in BACA is his life’s mission.

Pita is eligible to become a member in June 2024. She fully intends to, and the two of them hope to continue making a large, positive impact in the lives of so many children and their families.

“I, of course, wish it would’ve never happened, but the reality is it did,” Phoenix said. “And I really hope that we’re doing everything we can to make the best out of that situation.”

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