We the rape victims, find the jury guilty.

More on this- lack of justice case (see blog titled "The Pathetic Excuse of a Justice System in SC"):

The jury members were told that one of the girls had experimented with crack/cocaine. The jury members were also told by a professional medical staff from the hospital the girls went to after their escape, that there were "clear signs of forcible, forcible rape". The jury members were told by the man who stopped to pick the injured girls up, with duck tape wrapped around their swollen hands, that "These girls were obviously traumatized...I knew something horrible had happened to them." The jury members were told that the defendant had been convicted of a felon in 1991. They were not told that he had be convicted for raping a twelve year old.

love, jessieh

The Pathetic Excuse of a Justice System in SC

SO ANGRY. SO ANGRY. SO ANGRY. SO ANGRY.

From CNN:

DARLINGTON, South Carolina (AP) -- A jury has acquitted a convicted sex offender of charges he raped two teen girls in an underground bunker.

The jury found Kenneth Glenn Hinson, 48, not guilty of kidnapping, sex crimes and assault with intent to kill.

Authorities had charged that Hinson snatched the 17-year-old girls from their bedroom last year and dragged them one at a time to the underground room hidden beneath a tool shed, where he raped and bound them with duct tape. Prosecutors said Hinson expected the girls to die because the room had no air supply. However, Hinson testified during the six-day trial that the girls had consensual sex with him...

The two young women were not in the courtroom when Hinson was acquitted. Their mothers and other relatives wept. They declined to comment after the verdict.

If convicted, Hinson had faced a mandatory life sentence without parole under the state's two-strikes law because he was convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl in 1991.

The underground room was about the length and width of a mid-sized car with a ceiling about 41/2 feet high. Hinson testified Sunday that he had built the room behind his trailer where he lived.

Defense attorney Rick Hoefer spent much of his nearly two-hour closing argument Sunday picking apart what he called inconsistencies in the teens' testimony, including how long it took them to call 911 after their alleged escape and whether they saw Hinson with a gun.
Prosecutors said any discrepancies in their stories might have been a result of the trauma the teens went through.

"We are shocked and stunned. We believed Mr. Hinson was guilty as charged. We still believe he is guilty as charged,' said Attorney General Henry McMaster, who helped prosecute the case.
Hinson remained in custody on a federal firearms charge because he allegedly had a gun when he was arrested. Convicted felons are not permitted to carry weapons.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Stories like the above give me no hope. And I wonder why sexual offenders do not see jail time? And I wonder why so many people do not report rape? It's because NO ONE in the justice system cares, RAPISTS ARE NOT SEEING TIME IN JAIL...AND THEY ARE GOING OUT AND RAPING MORE PEOPLE, WHO THEN DON'T REPORT IT BECAUSE THEY THINK "WHY SHOULD I REPORT IT? NO ONE BELIEVED THE FIRST VICTIM?" BLAH. BLAH. BLAH.

Oh. So now not only do these teenage girls who were tortured have to heal from the trauma they've experience but from the injustice as well. So when Sicko Hinson decides to go and hurt another kid, the members of the jury will be "shocked" and say "Whoops. We made a big mistake."

But it's no big deal right (Notice the extreme hint of sarcasm)? I mean after all we're just talking about raping children? I suppose the great citizens of Darlington, SC that sat on in a chair for six days and then decided he was innocent will sleep well tonight, not realizing that their daughters can be next.

I am a South Carolina citizen. I live here. I will not live here after I graduate. I will never live here again. I am leaving for good...Maybe I'll move to Maine where Judges let perverts who rape three-year-old-s off the hook. Or better yet- how about I move to Iowa where fathers can legally sleep with their daughters in certain parts of the state.

My stomach hurts. How sick does it have to get? How sick?
--------------------------------
Click on the CNN link for more info...


angry, jessieh

PS: There was a gun threat at my high school today. Police arrested the suspect.

Working.

Editing the fiction/non-fiction portfolio for my creative writing class.
I thought that might be of interest.
maybe not.
love, jessieh

"Hillary in 2008?" by Amy Sullivan

I found this interesting, to say the least...


The Hillary effect

Edward Klein's The Truth About Hillary: What She Knew, and How Far She'll Go to Become President is, even by the low standards of the genre, vile. In seeking to portray Hillary Clinton as a cold, manipulative woman who will do anything for power, Klein relies on wholly unsubstantiated accusations of corruption, lesbianism, and marital rape. Most conservatives who gleefully anticipated the book's release are now distancing themselves from it. And liberals have derived some joy from scenes such as right-wing talk show host Sean Hannity sharply questioning Klein over his use of sources.

Klein apparently didn't get the memo about anti-Hillary strategy. Frontal assaults and reckless accusations are sooo 1990s, definitely déclassé. More to the point, they make conservatives sound scary and are counterproductive. But while Democrats are surely hoping that these attacks will spur a backlash and sympathy for Clinton, the more likely outcome is a draw. Americans may have lost their appetite for books like Madame Hillary: The Dark Road to the White House and Hillary's Scheme: Inside the Next Clinton's Ruthless Agenda to Take the White House, but many of them share the underlying concern about Clinton's motives and character. Likewise, while a Republican nominee would benefit from anti-Hillary donations--in the last few months of the 2000 race, Lazio averaged $1 million each week in hard money contributions from Hillary-haters outside of New York--Sen. Clinton's prodigious fundraising has the potential to neutralize that effort.

Conservatives won't trot out supposed lesbian lovers in 2008; they'll go after her more subtly. They know that 40 percent of the country can't stand Sen. Clinton, another 40 percent adores her, and the remaining 20 percent (which, according to those recent polls, seem to feel generally positive about her) is made up of fairly soft support. The best way to turn that support into opposition is to voice those age-old questions about the Clintons: She's inappropriately power-hungry and ambitious--remember that Tammy Wynette crack? He lacks moral character--do you really want him roaming the White House again? And don't forget health care--who elected her to that post anyway?

Another golden oldie--the charge that the Clintons will say anything to get ahead--is already being revived elliptically by conservatives. The day after Sen. Clinton's news-making abortion speech this past January, conservatives were all over the media, charging that she was undergoing a "makeover" of her political image. "I think what we're seeing is, at least rhetorically, the attempt of the ultimate makeover," Gary Bauer told The Washington Times. Investors Business Daily editorialized: "When husband Bill did it, it was called triangulation.... Now another Clinton running for president is telling different audiences what they want to hear." In the six months since, the "makeover" charge has been repeated more than 100 times in the press. Give them another six, and "makeover" will be the new "flip-flop."

The target audience for these whispers and insinuations--and, let's not be naïve, occasional television commercials--is a familiar demographic: suburban women. Democrats lost ground in the 2004 elections among white, married, working women, and it's generally accepted that to win back the White House, the party needs a nominee who can appeal to these women. There's no reason to think that Republicans wouldn't revive the same kind of personal attacks that Lazio brought out in the last week of the 2000 campaign. In that race, the Hillary effect that resulted in the loss of suburban women was masked by gains among upstate men. She'll have a much harder time winning their counterparts in those essential swing states, which makes it even more important that she be able to count on the women's vote. If the Republican strategy in 2008 results in the same outcome as 2000--if, in other words, Clinton's advantage among women was half that of Gore's--the margin of victory in states like Iowa, Minnesota, New Mexico, and Wisconsin will disappear. Game, set, match.

No, Democrats, it's not fair. Hillary Clinton is smart, she's paving a promising new path for her party, she's a much better campaigner than anyone ever expected, and she's already survived more personal assaults than anyone should have to endure. But wishing the country would grow up and get over the 1990s already, that she could wage a campaign of issues and be evaluated on her political merit, won't make it so. What's more, those daydreams--pleasant as they are to contemplate on a sunny afternoon--cast a shadow over the Democratic field that makes it difficult for a potentially viable candidate to emerge.

It's too early for anyone to say with certainty that Hillary Clinton can't win the White House. But it's far too early--and dangerous--to conclude that she's the best chance that Democrats have.

* All credit for the above goes to Amy Sullivan, writer for the Washington Monthly.

Little Earthquakes

.Tori Amos.




Cry. It's good for you.
Love, Jessieh

Letters. Sex. Articles. Continued.

Letters-

I haven't exactly finished yet.On the Letters. (If you do not want to read about the letters and want to get on to Sex and Articles- skips this part and scroll down)They were mailed. I received mine and in case you didn't know. I am in. I will be attending the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities starting in August of this year. I am very excited. There are 16 slots open from all over the state. Here is the list of people that made it in

In
- Ms. Hepburn
- Sam
- Jonathon
- Sebastian
- Elizabeth
- Caleb
- and myself.

as of now, the other 9 slots remain unidentified.
Here is the list of people we know are not in. I send my sympathy to
- Judson
- Colleen
- Charlotte
- Courtney

On Sex -
Sex(It's Wikipedia - Everything one could possibly want to know about sexual intercourse in approved terms can be found at this link.)

I am tired of walking into a classroom and hearing about who "did" who last weekend. It bothers me. I personally find anyone talking about their sex life in a public environment-perverse, but to hear my fourteen, fifteen and sixteen year old classmates discuss who is losing their virginity this week is- disturbing.

It angers me. Sex is not something to do because your bored. It's not playing monopoly or chess. When these girls give their virginity away they do not get it back. It's not something you can exchange or return. It is irreplaceable. I get frustrated when high schooler’s talk about "getting laid".

Virginity is a precious gift. Just ask the girls my age that are being forced into sex slavery how they feel about their virginity? They didn't give theirs away. It was stolen from them.

I get angry about the media promoting sex. One of the recent promoters I've noticed is Converse shoes. Their advertising campaign is distasteful and does not promote the shoes. It just makes me angry. I'm sure the advertisers were not like "Oh. Let's make a teenager named Jessieh in South Carolina Angry." When they decided to be so sexually explicit with their advertising but, even so, it angers me. One of their ads features sex on a park bench and has the words "GET CHUCKED" in big bold letters. I've done some research and Converse claims the ad to be an example of the irreverence associated with Chuck Taylor’s. Because of the advertisement I have now associated within my head between skanky girl and nasty pervert guy in Chuck Taylor shoes with his hand nearly up her pants. Although there is no direct correlation, I will not wear converse tennis shoes again. It will not happen. I do not want to be remotely associated with that skank and that perv on a park bench. This does not mean that every time I see someone wearing Chuck Taylor's I think "skank" or "pervert" . This just means that every time I see someone wearing Chuck Taylor’s, I approach them to let them know that Converse exploits sex in their advertising and encourages exploitation by doing so.

I don't watch MTV. Not only is most of the music crap anyway, but it's loaded with exploited women and men.

I even have a hard time not getting angry with commercials. Especially "Tag" commercials. Every twelve year old boy runs around spraying that crap on himself in hopes that three tall, thin, big-breasted girls will walk into his bedroom one day and lift up their shirt. It's not the reality. It is brainwashing. It's sick.

I'm not finished. I haven't even began with sex and violence combined together in the media- which is disgusting. Sex and violence should never go together. When they do it is called sexual violence, and sexual violence is never a good thing. But for now, I must go work on schoolwork.
I will continue the rant on sex and articles at a later date.

love, jessieh

Anger

Mary is not okay at 7:46 pm and this too, shall pass.
There is heat in my face, behind my eyes, and it burns.





love, jessieh

pictures.

.thoughts.

Wonderful Day

Is a great day.

The letter came.

I am

IN.

and it feels so good to be in.

Sexual Violence. Meet Society. Again.

WARNING: This post will be bias and slightly sexist and will offend. I do not apologize.

South Carolina's newspaper, "The State" featured an article regarding yesterday's events with the Duke rape case. The first sentence went as follows:

"The accused members of the Duke Lacrosse team have had their lives stolen from them."

Dear "THE STATE": Don't feed me that crap. Don't feed the already brain-washed citizens of South Carolina that crap. Their lives have not been stolen. They haven't suffered anything, especially when you look at the amount of crap the alleged the victim has had to put up with. No one has called these alleged rapists "Rapist" from the beginning but somehow the alleged victim has been called "Liar!" all along. Please explain to me, writers of "The State", what exactly it is that has been stolen from the members of the Duke Lacrosse team? Even hypothetically, speaking, meaning "if" they were to be (for some reason actually) innocent (which I don't believe) what physical damage has this done to them? Did showing up at their attorney's office mean missing a Saturday Practice? What about the psychological trauma? Did the jokes in the locker room get too tough?- Now compare that hypothetical "trauma" to what has been stolen from the (hypothetically speaking) victim? With everyone already assuming the players are innocent, the boys are right back to being boys and doing "boy things" like drinking and partying and ordering strippers and raping women and getting away with it. Rape victims's have their lives, as they knew them before the rape, stolen from them and stuggle to regain balance afterward. Cancer patients have their lives stolen from them, and often get sicker with their attempt to save it. Murder victims have their lives stolen from them. Accused rapists, do not.

love, jessieh

Sexual Violence. Meet Society. Society lies.

Many people associate RED with anger. It's time to use the RED.
-------------------------------------------------------------
As for releasing the name of rape victims:
The media can shove it.

As for this whole duke rape case: "Not being able to prove a specific crime was committed by a specific person doesn't mean that the crime never happened. "

Sadly, only 3% of rapes that are even reported end with the rapist seeing a jail cell. This is partially because our society only believes in what they can prove, or what they can see, (ex. DNA evidence) but where is society when children are being sexually abused daily and women are being raped on college campuses (and everywhere else) all over the country? I guess society has selective vision. Most child sexual abuse cases are reported years after the abuse when DNA evidence no longer exist. I guess society, and our legal system- for that matter, just expects the 9 year-old girls and boys in our country, who are being raped daily to get in their non-existent cars and drive to a local hospital to have a rape kit done, when they more than likely, don't even know what a rape kit is, and probably don't know that what is happening to them is even called "rape". But that's just my guess. Society's expectations for children sound so genius, it's hard for me to even imagine what they must expect of grown women who are raped on college campuses, or by a boyfriend, or by a boss, or by the guy who bought their last drink. I haven't mentioned the rape of men because according to society it "doesn't even happen". It does. These things are happening. Society just lies.

I'm in complete agreement with Marcella Chester in saying "As for what it will take for me to believe that this (the duke rape) case involves a false accusation: evidence beyond a reasonable doubt."

That is all I will say about this for now.
The media can shove it.
As for the opinion of society: Screw society.

Letter. Sex. Articles.

Letter

No Letter again today. Saturday will officially be nine weeks since the audition. Nine Weeks. At the audition we were told it would be three to four weeks before we found out anything. Three weeks went by. Then four. Then five. On the sixth week, all of the people who auditioned in Columbia received letters that said (in more politically correct terms, of course) "We thought you were alright. We're not sure if we want you yet or not. We're not sure if we want anyone yet or not. We don't really know what we want, and we are sorry that it is taking us awhile to decide- but "rest assured" you are still being considered, and we will be in touch very soon."

It has been three weeks since that "please be patient" letter arrived in my mailbox.

My patience is officially gone. I want to know yesterday. On Monday the people who auditioned for Academy (a two week summer program) received their acceptance/rejection letters. This makes no sense to me. Why in the world would the Academy auditioners who are hypothetically spending two weeks in the summer at the school receive notice of their acceptance before the Residential auditioners who are hypothetically spending the next two YEARS at the school? Caroline, a girl who attended Academy Program last year with Ms.Hepburn and I and also auditioned for Residential, called the school to inquire about our acceptance/rejection letters and was told by an ignorant woman in the main office that the letters were mailed on Monday. This, of course, leading the slew of us on pins and needles to believe that the letter would arrive today at the latest.

No letter again today. I cried because all I care about is getting an envelope and the hypothetical contents of this envelope are stressing me out. This waiting is not good for my health. It increases my already-increased levels of anxiety. It encourages lack of focus because all I can think about is whether or not the key of my future is sitting in my mailbox. It encourages lack of already-lacking sleep because I toss and turn all night wondering if it will come the next day. My hair is falling out. I'm pretty sure I'm getting fatter even though I haven't been on a scale all week. My future basically depends on what this letter says. This waiting is not good for my health.

So today, I call the Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities myself and ask to speak to the President of the school, Anna King. Ms. King answers her phone and

Anna King: Hello?
Me: Ms. King?
Her: Can I help you?
Me: Is this Anna King?
Her: Yes. Hello? Can I help you?
Me: Yes. I'm trying to find out if the letters for the Residential program have been mailed out yet.
Her: Oh. No. We'll probably mail them out first thing tomorrow morning.

Probably mail them out first thing tomorrow morning, meaning that I could probably hear on Friday or Saturday.

Probably. It's not like I'm waiting or anything.

Opinions of The School's organizational skills are lowering substantially with each passing day.
I need to get in to this school. If I've waited all of this time, and stressed out for nine weeks only to find out that I haven't made it in- I may very well just end my life.

I may very well just do that.

I'll get to the Sex and Articles later.

The face now loaded with nerves...

love, jessieh

American Doll Posse

Tori Amos releases a new album on May 1, 2007.

I AM A HUGE FAN!

(from left to right) Santa, Clyde, Isabel, Tori, & Pip

Their personal blogs can be read at various places. I've included them in my links list to the right of this page.

Tori Takes a New Approach to "American Doll Posse".

.Enjoy.

No Letter Still.

----------------------------------

Survey

Seven Deadly Sins

Wrath :

Who did you last get angry with? The Governor's School Establishment

What is your weapon of choice? Silence

Would you hit a member of the opposite sex? Yes.

How about the same sex? For self-protection. Yes.

Who was the last person who got really angry at you? My Grandmother

What is your pet peeve? When people do not answer their cell phones. When people joke about things that can't even be made funny (i.e. rape, cancer, AIDS, domestic violence...). When I say something and am ignored (whether it be intentional or unintentional).

Do you keep grudges, or can you let them go easily? I don't keep grudges about simple things. I just not very forgiving when people choose to do things that impact the lifes of others without taking into consideration what they could be doing to others. I mean, when someone's selfishness comes before the well-being of others. Yes. It angers me and I do not just "let it go".

Sloth:

What is one thing you're suppose to do daily that you haven't? Eat less than 900 Calories.

What is the latest you've ever woken up? Maybe 10:30 in the morning. I don't sleep late.

Name a person you've been meaning to contact, but haven't? Old teachers.

What is the last lame excuse that you made? I haven't made one yet.

Have you ever watched an infomercial all the way through? Yes. I've watched several actually, but it's more a product of insomnia, than sloth.

How many times did you hit the snooze button on your alarm clock this morning? Once.

Gluttony:

What is your over-priced yuppie beverage of choice? Dang. The only thing I drink is diet coke, and it's only over-priced in Italy.

Are you a meat eater? I am ashamed to say "yes".

What is the greatest amount of alcohol you've had in one sitting/outing/event? No comment.

Are you comfortable with your drinking and eating habits? Drinking habits? Yes. Eating habits? No. Not at all.

Do you enjoy candy and sweets? I get sudden cravings for them.

Which do you prefer: sweets, salty foods or spicy foods? I guess sweets, I'm not really sure. I try not to catergorize my food.

Greed:

How many credit cards do you own? None.

If you had a million dollars, what would you do with it? Honestly, I'd probably give about 70 percent of it away and keep the rest for myself and my future.

Would you rather be rich or famous? Well. Generally the two go hand and hand. If you are famous, odds are you will be rich. If you are rich, you can easily become famous. Neither.

Would you accept a boring job if it meant that you would make megabucks? Never. Ever. Never. Ever. In a million years. NEVER.

Pride:

What's one thing that you have done that you're most proud of? I don't know.

What's one thing you have done that your parents are most proud of? They'd probably say Governor's School, but I'm not really sure.

What thing would you like to accomplish late in your life? I'd like to paint something spectacular.

Do you get annoyed by coming in second place? Very much so.

Have you ever entered a contest of skill, knowing you were of much higher skill than all the other competitors? Yes. I know that's horrible, but Yes.

Have you ever cheated to get a better score? Yes. I'm not proud of that.

What did you do today that you're proud of? I answered a riddle correctly, obnoxiously and recieved extra credit points in my math class.

Lust:

How many people have seen you naked ? The people who have seen me naked are not people I have been romantically involved with. This group of people consists mostly of family and close friends. I'm generally modest.

Have you ever caught yourself staring at the chest or crotch of a person of your chosen sex during a normal conversation? I can't say that I have. I'm not that interested in the chest or the crotch of others. I'm not that interested in my own.

What is your favorite body part of a person of your gender choice? I like collar bones.

Have you ever been propositioned by a prostitute? No.

Envy:

What item of your friends would you want to have for your own? I'd like to take my sister's iPod.

Who would you want to go on "Trading Spaces" with? Mere, because she really knows me and she has wonderful taste in the interior design world. Mere has wonderful taste in most every world.

If you could be anyone who existed in the world, who would you be? I'd be Taylor or Savannah. I know that's weird, but if me being them meant they had to be me, I'd never want to do that. Ever.

Have you ever wished you had a physical feature different from your own? Every moment of every day of my life. Fix this Stomach.

What inborn trait do you see in others that you wish you had for yourself? Calmness. Friendlyness

What deadly sin:

Do you do the most often? Wrath. I get upset about seemingly meaningless things and I get angry about important things.

Do you do the least often? Lust. I couldn't possibly care any less about sex. It's not even on my "things-to-do-before-I-die" list.

I hope that was interesting. Please post a comment with your answers. I'm curious. If you don't have a blogger account post it anonoymously and just sign your name at the bottom.

love, jessieh

Silly Poetry.

Everyone thought today was the day.
We thought we would open our mailboxes and the letter would be sitting to be ripped into.
It was not.

So Because I've agonized over it not being there so much
I thought I would some of what the others are saying.

I call it.
--------------------------
"Send"

Couldn't sleep last night.
Had to force myself to eat today.
And for what?

No Letter.

I half hoped it would come today.
Of course it didn't.
I'm expecting Wednesday at the very latest.

No Letter.

I love you
AND your psychotic issues.
Go read Rocco's blog about govie school stress.

No Letter.

It's nice to know I'm not the only one.
This Girl from The Little Theater just got into Academy
and I Broke Down.

No Letter

I Want to know So Badly!
But Part of me dosen't
because it will change things

No Letter

What do you think?
Am I talented?
Don't you dare lie to me.

No Letter.

You're in.
Chill.
Out.

No Letter.

Is Dan really sickminded?
Does he enjoy this.
That is my question.

No Letter.

I'm sick to my stomach.
And tired.
and I might die of anxiety overload before I get my

Letter.

---------------------------

"Send"

Was compiled of comments left by anxious Governor School auditioners on myspace.com waiting to find out if they are in.

Vanity

I don't share it very much.
The face at 11:27 pm on April 6, 2007







Blurred, but most things are near midnight.

Excitement and Rants.

I will begin with

RANTS
-I have still not heard from the Governor's School.
-The waiting is causing me health problems.
-I'm not sleeping.
-I feel incredibly fat.
-I dread going back to school is less than 48 hours. Math class is so hard to sit through.
-Children are being raped and sodomized all over the world.

EXCITEMENTS
-Tori Amos Releases a new album on May 1, 2007
-A filmmaker named Barbara is trying to make a movie based on "When Rabbit Howls"
- I've almost completed "Bastard Out of Carolina"
-I've lost two pounds
- I have wonderful moral support from Ms.Hepburn
-I went to the "Good Friday" Service last night
- Tommorow is Easter
- I am alive and well
- This list is longer than the RANTS and will probably be getting even longer.

love, jessieh

Angela Shelton Speaks Out. Again. Rejoice.

A little message from one of my Sheros.




Love, jessieh

Man convicted of nearly 1,000 Sexual Assaults.

From Marcella Chester:


Man Convicted of Nearly 1000 Sex Assaults

I'm glad to see a case where there isn't only one criminal count per sexual abuse victim.
A western Pennsylvania man has been convicted of several hundred sex-crime counts for abusing one girl for more than a decade. A jury found Clarence Thomas, 56, guilty Tuesday of all 971 counts after just over an hour of deliberations. Those counts included more than 100 charges each of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault and corruption of minors; more than 200 counts of aggravated indecent assault; and nearly 400 counts of indecent assault.

Originally, Thomas had been charged with 9,000 counts, but a pre-trial motion consolidated them. The girl's sisters, now 26 and 28, also filed charges, but they were dismissed because they were filed too late and were outside the county.The defendant used the threat of violence against this victim's mother to help him commit these crimes. The number of charges also highlights why some victims don't "get over it" as quickly as we think they should. This girl wasn't taken away from her home, but she was a captive.Whenever we talk about cases like this we must remember that we aren't talking about one commission of a crime: child sex abuse, we are talking about thousands of criminal acts. The 9000 original counts in this case were just for this one victim and don't include the crimes committed against her 2 sisters.

For those who have never sufferered childhood sexual abuse, imagine a painful event from your childhood and multiply that by 9000. Imagine that event being there around you at all times lurking for 10 years and beyond. Imagine as a child worrying that your mother will be hurt or killed if you tell anyone what has been done to you.

Then remember that the reality is far worse than what you can imagine.Then remember that just surviving this type of siege takes great strength and great courage. The courage and strength it takes to then seek justice for yourself and protection for other potential victims is amazing.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

I had to share that with you. Thank you Ms. Chester.