From Victims to Victors

Angela Angela is another young lady we have worked with over the years, and she is allowing us to include her story in this chapter. She can't remember the first time her brother molested her. He started when she was quite young, three or four years old. He scared her into silence by threatening to kill her siblings and parents. When she was about five years old, she made the effort to tell her mother about the abuse. Her mother then confronted Angela's brother, and got them both together. She asked Angela to repeat the accusations in front of him. However, Angela backed down on her accusations because of fear, which is totally understandable. She apologised for lying and recanted her story. Time went on and so did the sexual abuse. When she was between the ages of six and eight, her abuser used various cruel methods to intimidate her into silence. He would take her out to the woods behind their rural home and molest her there.There was a small pond in the woods nearby. Once he held her head under the water until she lost consciousness. When she came back to consciousness, she was vomiting and gasping for breath. He told her this was a warning of what would happen if she ever told on him again. Angela had a pet dog that she loved very much. He said he would kill her dog if she ever revealed what was going on. Her dog gave birth to puppies. He made her watch while he cut up one of the puppies with his knife while she pleaded with him not to hurt the animal. She was told the same knife would cut her if she opened her mouth.This young man was involved in the occult, drugs and sexual perversion. This lifestyle had opened doors for demons to enter into him. He was cold hearted and cruel. There were times when he would change his approach and tell her that incest was only a normal expression of love and affection. He even tried to use stories from the Old Testament to justify incest. He told her that Cain had to marry his sister, there was no one else available. He told her that the Bible called Lot a just man even though he fathered his own grandchildren. It is astonishing how far some people will go to justify their sin. Twisting the scriptures and using the Bible in a deceitful manner to ease their guilty conscience. Cain and Lot lived in a period of time that was prior to the law of Moses. Anyone who reads Leviticus 18 can readily see that God condemned any form of incest. God called it an abomination. The meaning of “abomination” is, a sin that is vile and disgusting. It is regarded so bad that it causes God to wretch at his stomach. When Angela reached the age of ten, she began to open up and tell her mother about the abuse. Sometimes ten year olds can be dramatic and get facts mixed with imagination. This can be a result of nightmares that can be very real. The victim can have difficulty remembering what was reality and what was a dream. The psychological effects of sexual abuse are devastating. Her parents tried their best to sort things out. They went to the sheriff's office and filed a report. There was not enough solid evidence to make a case. It was her word against his, so the case remained under investigation. This situation was wrecking Angela's life and draining her parents as well. The stress on Angela's mother was almost unbearable. Her mother had been a victim of sexual abuse in her own childhood. She wasn't about to turn a deaf ear to her daughter's plea for help.