I am fairly certain that Stephen King was molested as a child, it’s a recurring theme in his work in a way that seems less like an attempt to depict a general/universal fear and way more like he’s just working through his own trauma. IT isn’t even the best example, he’s got a short story called The Library Policeman that is not subtle about it at all. Incedentally, I first read that short story in elementary school, worked better as a stranger danger warning than anything else.