World-champion athlete, fitness icon, television host, and author Micah LaCerte is aiming to minister to one-in-four Christians who share his childhood fate – sexual abuse by an adult in a position of trust and, in some cases, church leaders.
Now, LaCerte’s debut book unveils how the Lord used the horrific abuse he endured to shape him into a godly man and husband who helps men and women find victorious freedom from the pain of their past.
As a transformation coach whose image fills sports-magazine covers, LaCerte empowers thousands of men to break free from strongholds in spirit, soul, and body through wellness coaching and retreats where faith and fitness meet.
Behind multiple successes as an entrepreneurial businessman are tales of brokenness, trauma, shame, and invisible battles that conspired to destroy him. LaCerte reveals the stories in his first book, The Breaker.
From ages five to 15, LaCerte was sexually abused by a man his mother trusted. Only later did they learn the perpetrator abused his own sons, too.
Until 2024, when he first shared his story at a large conference in Florida with his wife, Diana, LaCerte tolerated the pain of his past trauma and wounding.
The audience listened in silence till the end of his talk, when LaCerte shared a video of the site where he was abused – a home in California that had been razed to the ground, unbeknownst to him, until he and Diana traveled there.
Believers and secular people from all walks of life wept and stood to their feet to honor LaCerte.
A Hindu woman who had suffered sexual abuse hugged LaCerte, thanking him for his courage to do what had been the most difficult thing in his life, besides the abuse, up to this point.
“The most important thing I needed people to see in that moment was that freedom and healing come from Jesus,” LaCerte told me in an interview.
He remembers cheers from the crowd and a newfound personal freedom at the conclusion of what had been his first, large public disclosure of the abuse.
Over 10 percent of the audience, both men and women, came forward to tell LaCerte their stories of sexual abuse.
“One guy who had been in the military for 25 years told me I was the strongest man he’d ever seen in his life,” LaCerte said.
Almost everyone placed their hands on LaCerte while praying blessings over him. Powerful images of people surrounding LaCerte, as well as images of the abuse site, are published in The Breaker.
The title comes from Micah 2:13, which reads, “The Breaker, Messiah, who opens the way, shall go up before them. They will break out, pass through the gate and go out.”
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With significant contributions from his wife, Diana LaCerte, a five-time author, fitness trainer, and TV co-host, the writing and speaking duo plan a book tour that includes stops at churches and prisons.
LaCerte writes in The Breaker: How Men Can Overcome Shame and Live in True Freedom of the first time he spoke about the abuse.
“Over the next hour, as I shared the gut-wrenching details, I could feel more of the burden I had carried for years lifting off of me. The words kept coming, weaving through the tragedy and trauma-shattered pieces of my life, ultimately fighting my way to triumph,” LaCerte wrote.
Founder of THE BREAKER MISSION, LaCerte said the ministry was born out of his desire to stop running and to start healing himself and other people. “I want to help other men to get full freedom from their abuse and shame,” he added.
That desire is fulfilled in part by the LaCerte’s program, Hitch Fit: Online Personal Training to Lose Weight & Build Muscle.
For 30 years following the end of the sexual abuse he endured, LaCerte had visions of his abuser – a church member and family friend – seated in a courtroom.
Two months after bearing his soul on stage for the first time, LaCerte was called to testify in a criminal deposition against his abuser in Washington state.
After circling the courthouse seven times praying – like in the biblical story of Jericho’s walls tumbling – intercessors prayed for a victorious finale on behalf of LaCerte, who had bravely prepared to look his abuser in the eyes for this first time in three decades.
Instead, the man who abused untold numbers of boys, including his sons, refused to appear in the courtroom, listening to witness testimony against him from a prison cell.
Today, LaCerte believes about 25 percent of men and women are sexually abused in their youth and up to 90 percent of them never share it.
For many of the abused, it’s 21 years before they disclose it to anyone and another eight years before victims talk about details of their abuse, according to a university expert.
Dr. Gregory Williams, a Baylor University doctor, wrote a book about his personal experiences involving sexual abuse in childhood.
Besides personal testimony from Williams, a top trauma treatment center reported its findings corroborate LaCerte’s informal statistics that one in four men and women are abused during their youth.
For LaCerte, his mother was first to hear of the abuse and, at 19, a detective heard for the second time the family’s charge of abuse by a man who appeared to be a faithful Christian, even to other church members.
While it can be an uncomfortable topic for pastors, churches, or anyone who works with children, prevention of and conversations about sexual abuse are essential.
LaCerte knows pastors in Kansas City, where he lives, who broach conversations about sexual abuse, however painful they may be to engage.
“Unfortunately, I’m not hearing enough of these conversations,” said LaCerte.
Based on the one-in-four statistics of abuse, 250 people in a congregation of 1,000 have faced ordeals like his.
“It’s highly likely that a lot of children have also gone through something similar at one point. Protecting kids needs to be a priority. But we also need to have places for adults who are still suffering,” said LaCerte.
His pastor knows LaCerte’s story inside and out, and the Christian Television Network that produces their program, SoulFit TV, also encourages conversations about sexual abuse.
He hopes The Breaker gets into pastors’ hands because it turns out some have been abused, too. “One man that’s on my heart because he went through similar abuse is Max Lucado,” LaCerte said.
