An Alabama woman says the same man who raped and impregnated her multiple times as a child has now won visitation rights to see the children they share, essentially forcing her to face her alleged rapist or risk being thrown behind bars herself.
The woman, identified only as “Jessica,” says she felt she “didn’t have any options” when her uncle began raping her when she was around 12 or 13 years old. The uncle allegedly impregnated her four times throughout her teen years but was never convicted of rape despite alleged DNA evidence.
According to Fox News, when Jessica was 14, she miscarried. At 16, she gave birth to her alleged rapist’s son. At 18, she gave birth to a third child who later died. By the time she turned 19, she said she was impregnated a fourth time by her uncle and gave birth to another son.
Now a judge is enforcing his visitation by ordering that Jessica be jailed for 48 hours every time she denies him parenting time with her sons.
Her story has sparked national attention after the passage of Alabama’s new abortion law, which critics say shows how the state is failing to protect survivors of sexual assault. The law, signed in May by Governor Kay Ivey, is the most stringent abortion law in the country and provides no exception for rape and incest and it is set to be enforced starting in November unless challenged by a judge.
