Child Abuse Story From
Cheryl

PLEASE NOTE: This story has not been edited for grammar, spelling, punctuation, sentence structure or Internet-eze. Where necessary, I have edited for length and inappropriate or gratuitously graphic content.

Cheryl is from ISA, Queensland, Australia

The following child abuse story from Cheryl depicts: emotional abuse and physical abuse by Cheryl's family, sexual abuse by a foster dad, and abuse at the hands of the government

The child abuse effects on Cheryl: runaway; sent to juvenile prison for wayward girls for running away; teenage pregnancy and subsequent abortion, then another teen pregnancy that resulted in the birth of a son; government removed Cheryl's son from her care, at first temporarily, but after fighting for custody for 3 years, they took him permanently; this story also identifies the child abuse effects on Cheryl's son after he spend most of his childhood in foster care

I come from the WOTS family (Ward of the state) and I would not only like tospeak up against my family, but also about our Government.

I was physically,emotionally, sexually and financially abused by mother and two of her husbands.Other family members, friends of family and neighbours didn't want to getinvolved and I was left to deal with it on my own.

The first husband basicallyput a gun to my head, warning me that what goes on at home stays at home. Thesecond used his personal relationship with police officers, leading me tobelieve that they would believe him over me.

At fifteen I had had enough andran away.When I was caught I was charged and sent to a prison for girls. At sixteen Iwas released into community housing for girls such as myself but I did not viewmyself as a criminal and certainly wanted better for myself. Othersbelieved I thought I was better then they were, which then led to thembeing physically abusive toward me. I so wanted to get away from this new abuse that I found a foster home formyself.

As a juvenile offender made a member of the WOTS family I had to remainunder our governments control till I was eighteen. So when I fell pregnant atsixteen and the foster family sent me back, they aborted my pregnancy.

I found another foster family, and had to face my new foster fatherclimbing into my bed with a statement that I owed him. I was also still onprobation till seventeen and lucky for me, my probation officer was good aboutit and let me move in with a male companion of my own choosing.

On my seventeenth birthday I discovered I was pregnant again. There was no wayI was going to let our government take another child from me, so I moved inwith my natural father and his parents. Several months later I had a healthy baby boy. I stayed until I waseighteen and no longer a ward of the state. I moved back to the town [where] thefather of my new baby lived.

Three weeks later our government took my welfare payments off me because I hadnot filed maintenance action against the father. This left me with no otherchoice but to ask my family for financial help. In return they filed a falsecomplaint about my care of my child and I had DOCS on my doorstep. To be surethey would follow it up, my family told them I had a five-week-old baby ratherthen a five-month-old baby.

DOCS immediately started laying down rules. I had no family and after using community childcare services a number of times, they told me no one was to care for my childbut me. I found this extremely difficult, but they told me if I didn't do thisthey would take my baby off me.

When things did not come together for me with my son's father I spent ninemonths trying to get by on my own. Rather than risk somebody else relieving mefrom my motherly duties for a break, I told the DOCS that I could no longer dothis all alone. They took my child and put him in foster care. I had beengetting counselling and had had DOCS representatives tell me I needed to beforced to face up to my problems. So while my son was in care I went back to mymother's house and the juvenile prison I had been kept in. Coming face to facewith my mother and one of my abusive stepfathers was an experience in itself. After that I decided I wanted to return to my hometown where I grew up asa young child. I still had friends there. As soon as I arrived back I got a seasonal job on a stationand then applied for the return of my son. At the time I was living with mygrandmother. Then my mother got a divorce and came back to town. She started dating my first evil stepfather and brought him around with herwhen she came to visit her mother. Every week she wouldask me if she could have my son for awhile and every week I would find someexcuse to say no.

In the end it all became too much for me. I needed and wanted to get myselfand my son away from her, him and the situation I faced with them coming tovisit. DOCS had told me to stay in touch with the foster family that had caredfor my son, so I asked them privately if they would take him while I get a joband a place of my own. The foster family was not willing to do this withoutDOCS involvement so I had no choice but to go back to them for help. I was notgoing to risk giving him to somebody else and then have DOCS take him fromme permanently.

After I found a good job and a place of my own I requested custody of my childand custody was denied. They used the original false complaint filed by afamily member three years earlier and took my child from me permanently. He wasraised by the foster family he was sent to until he was twelve and when hestarted getting into trouble they sent him to many other caregivers. Year afteryear I had asked them to give me back my child and year after year I was toldhe would not be returned unless he wanted to come back. So he was shifted fromhome to home until he was fourteen, and then he was given back to me. Byfourteen he had had plenty of experience in lies, drugs and theft, so thingsdid not go well with him living with me and my two young girls I had by thetime. I wanted DOCS to take him back several months later. His previous foster familyrefused to take him back because they didn't want him causing trouble for themover Christmas, so I organised a job out of town on a station for him. WhenChristmas was over he returned to his foster family.

My son grew up being told that I never wanted him. How he felt about that hemade very clear to me later on in life. Now I have a grown child with childrenof his own that I cannot see. In fact I am not sure I want to because he hasgrown into a very large and angry man. He may not believe the truth and onpaper one of his foster parents appears to have a lot to do with why he wasnever returned to me.

Whydo some people believe that speaking out about family is all good until thatfamily becomes our government? How can we fix the problems of abuse unless weaddress all sources of it!

Cheryl. Australia.