May 19th, 2008
Trauma from child abuse goes on forever
Jennifer was a child. A child with a deep, dark secret.
She was 11 or 12 the first time it happened. The man was someone she knew well. A parental figure she thought she could trust. She tried to forget about it.
She was 13 when he violated her so badly that she knew she would never forget.
She held the secret inside, not sure what to do.
One night she was at her cousin, Amy’s, house for a sleepover with Amy and another friend. Amy and her friend were a couple of years older than Jennifer.
They stayed up late, talking and giggling and doing all the things teenage girls like to do during a sleepover.
But at some point the conversation took a turn. The friend confessed that she had been sexually abused as a young girl.
It was too much for Jennifer. All of the hidden anger and pain inside erupted. She began to cry. And then, she told them her story.
Her life, as she knew it, was about to come to an abrupt end.
Her aunt and uncle — Amy’s parents — got involved. They, along with Jennifer, went to the police.
But instead of the accused offender being removed from the young girl’s life, Jennifer was reported — by a family member — to be a troublemaker and was hauled away and booked into a juvenile facility. She lived at the facility five weeks. “I was treated like a criminal,” she said.
Another aunt and uncle — not Amy’s parents — picked her up at the detention facility and took Jennifer to live with them in another city some 40 miles from her childhood home.
By the time she was 14, she had lost her home and her loved ones, including her younger sisters that she had cared for as if they were her own, and she was living with relatives in a strange town and attending a new school.
Tags: hope, jennifer, s
12 Responses to “Trauma from child abuse goes on forever”
Your title’s a damned lie. Knock that shit off.Ben Stein’s calling for some proof that crimes were committed, not defending child abuse.
Not sure what you are quoting there, but if you are saying that these are functional families that are turning over 13 year old girls to be raped by 50 year old men then your definition of functional has strayed pretty far from the mark.
The article calls them both “Mormon” and “a Mormon sect”. This terminology is ambiguous and misleading, and will confuse most people. They are “a Mormon sect” only by the most broad interpretation; in the sense that they broke off from the primary “Mormon” church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and still attempt to infuse a few pieces of said church’s doctrine that suit their needs, but they are not officially sanctioned in any way and are a group of radicals, none of whom have a legitimate membership in what most think of as the “Mormon” church (in the event that members of this faction remain on the Utah church’s rolls, this is only because their affiliation with the FLDS is unknown; polygamists are summarily excommunicated from the LDS church and have been for many years). It’s not directly relevant to your title, but it is directly relevant to your article.Additionally, Stein does not condone child abuse; he merely condemns the mass destruction of functional families when performed exclusively upon the pretense of a prank phone call.
Have you seen Conspiracy of Silence?Do you know how many children are sexually abused or just disappear from the foster care system in this country?Have you heard of The Finders?If you know about these things, it’s hard to decide which horrible option is best for these poor children. Top that with the fact that there has still been no proof that the caller exists and the article doesn’t seem so extreme. It’s tragic no matter how you look at it, but I worry more about these children where they are now.
I hope the people who pulled these children out their homes pay dearly for what they have done.
I voted you up, because I think I believe your argument.But at the same time, I wonder how a girl being pregnant is evidence of rape. Even if she’s below the age of consent, if she has been impregnated by someone her age, that isn’t rape.
People who commit suicide are not victims. They are idiots.
Yeah, that is a dumb title. The fact remains that the basis for the state to go in and take the children is completely false. They need evidence of abuse before they can raid the place. What about the innocent people swept up in the dragnet? The situation should have been investigated first, and then action should have been taken in the cases were it was appropriate to do so.
interesting study on suicide victims
PEDOPHILIAPOLYGAMYFELONIES!you fool!
That’s ok. I can live with that. I say if someone is intent on taking their own life, then let them have at it. Most are just trying to get attention.