Elizabeth Smart Talks about Her Ordeal at Care House Benefit

PONTIAC, Mich. (WJBK) -- This summer will mark a decade since the life of a young girl from Utah was forever changed. Elizabeth Smart was only 14 years old when she was kidnapped from her home, raped and held captive. Thursday, Smart was in metro Detroit to talk about the ordeal and to urge vigilance to protect children.

"I know how horrible it was for me, and I don't want anybody else to have that same experience," Smart told her audience.

Now 24, she is the picture of poise and a powerful advocate for children, speaking out around the country ten years after her own horrible ordeal.

"It doesn't matter who you are, where you're from, who your parents are, what your social status is in life, anything can happen to you," she said.

At the age of 14, Smart was abducted from her home in Utah as she slept next to her little sister. For nine months, she was kept as a wife by Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee until she was finally rescued. A traumatic experience, but her focus is on the positive.

"My experience lasted nine months. I'm 24 years old, so that was only nine months of my life. That's still 23 years and three months of my life that wasn't spent in that experience. That's a lot of time to do other things," she explained.

Smart, newly engaged, was joined by her fiancee at the Townsend Hotel for a speaking engagement at a Circle of Friends benefit for Care House of Oakland County, a non-profit serving abused and neglected children.

"The work that Elizabeth is doing in child abuse prevention and the protection of children is so incredibly consistent with the mission of Care House that we're just thrilled to have her here," said Interim Executive Director Cathy Weissenborn. "She has real credibility as a child abuse survivor."

The Elizabeth Smart Foundation is focused on a child empowerment program called radKIDS -- Resist Aggression Defensively -- and the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

She's also sending a message to victims.

"I would tell them to not be scared, to come forward and to talk about it because talking about it is the first step to really stopping it," Smart said.

Smart is moving on with her life. The next chapter will be a private summer wedding. Not much is being said about the groom, who is reportedly a 21-year-old from Scotland.

A spokesman for Smart says the couple is in the process of planning the wedding, and there are still a lot of details to be worked out.

Related Links:

Care House of Oakland County

Elizabeth Smart Foundation