Tyler Perry took to his Web site to reveal harrowing details on childhood yesterday. The 40-year-old director, who is backing the much-buzzed indie darling Precious, made the candid revelations because he felt that his story–and the story of Precious–will resonate with victims of abuse. The film, co-produced by Oprah Winfrey and stars Mariah Carey and Mo’nique opens November 6.

Parallels of psychological and physical abuse between the film’s title character and Perry are uncanny. Perry describes a childhood where his was sexually abused by a male friend of the family and on another occasion–the mother of one of his friends. He also describes witnessing his father molest a young girl. Among the disturbing physically abusive allegations, Perry says his grandmother bathed him in ammonia in an attempted to cure him of allergies.

Tyler Perry on being sexual abused by a male friend of the family:

I got a call not long ago from a friend. He told me that a man that I knew from church when I was a kid had died and he didn’t have any insurance. His family was trying to reach out to me to see if I would pay for his funeral. I quickly said no, but I wish I would have said yes. There is something so powerful to me in burying the man that molested me. I wish I would have dug the grave myself.

On being sexually abused by his friend’s mother:

I couldn’t have been more than 10 years old when I went over to play with her son and Matchbox cars. She opened the door in skimpy lingerie. There was a man sitting on the couch, smoking. She told me that her son was in the bedroom. I was there playing with him about 20 minutes when I heard the man arguing with her. He said he was leaving and slammed the door. She came into the bedroom and told me that I had to go home. She told her son to take a bath and she locked him in the bathroom. I was at the front door trying to get out, when she came in and laid on the sofa and asked me if I wanted the key. I told her I had to go home as it was getting dark. She put the key inside of herself and told me to come get it, pulling me on top of her.

On watching his father sexually abuse his female friend:

I was about 8 or 9 years old. I had a crush on a little girl across the street. She would come over to my house and we’d play. She was about 12 or 13. One day she stopped coming and when I asked her why, she told me that my father was touching her. I didn’t believe her, so I talked her into staying one night. We were both asleep — she was in one bed and I was in another. I opened my eyes to see my father trying to touch her and her pushing him away. I moved in my bed trying to make him think I was waking up. He looked over at me and left out of the room.

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