How do I (32 F) move on after finding out that I was in a relationship with a (35 M) predator

I broke up with my (32 F) boyfriend (35 M) 4 months ago after being together for 2.5 years. I thought he was going to be the one. We had the same goals for our future and I never felt so seen or loved by anyone like I have by him. My family loved him and his family loved me. He made me feel so beautiful and confident.

The reason for the breakup is that he got charged with sexual abuse of a minor (denies it repeatedly). I immediately felt sick to my stomach for the victim especially since I have a lot of minor nieces that I am very protective of and felt that I put them in an unsafe situation by having him around. His arrest made me spiral and I couldn’t believe I missed the signs- I went from hating him because of this accusation and then loving him when I remember our relationship and the love that we shared. After the arrest he did let me know that he got a letter a few months back that said an investigation was being started on him but didn’t want to tell me because “it’s a false accusation”. He kept talking about our future and that he is going to propose soon but wanted to keep the details a surprise. I kept asking him if you loved me enough to propose, plan a future ,etc why wouldn’t let me know that you were dealing with something very serious?

This situation is hard for me to come to terms with because I take accusations so seriously but having someone that you love get accused of this hurts in a way that it’s hard for me to wrap my head around.

I’m just disappointed in myself because I spent my 20’s with toxic losers and I thought I finally picked a good man

I now know he isn’t my person. I was just hoping that if anyone has gone through something similar to please provide some words hof comfort. Being over 30 makes me worried I’ll never find the one and will end up alone. I know I need to see a therapist to heal (working on getting that scheduled), but would love to hear any advice on how to move forward.

Posted Sep 30, 2026, 3:49 AM UTC

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