Monday, June 7, 2010

I am sorry I was raped

                                        (Anderson, age 14, courtesy Freedom From Abuse)
After years of having to deal with trauma all on her own, 28-year old Tina Anderson finally came out in the open about her ordeal. More than ten years ago, a 15 year old Tina had been raped by a then Baptist Deacon, Ernest Willis. The effect of this rape was a permanent one for along with the emotional and physical scars, Tina was left with a baby growing in her womb. Like a lot of traumatized women, Tina turned to her Faith for healing. The nightmare that followed left her mute for the thirteen years till present. She was forced by her Pastor, Chuck Phelps, to "confess" in front of the entire congregation. While she was made to talk of her out of wedlock pregnancy, she was not allowed to mention the cause for it. While her speech was being crafted, Phelp's wife asked her " Did you enjoy it?"

Anderson, currently residing in Arizona, is now mother to three more children and wife to a loving and supportive husband. Encouragement from news channels, lawyers, police and the Independent Fundamental Baptist support group, helped her come to terms with her trauma and finally land her perpetrator in jail. Willis has been charged with two counts of rape and two counts of having sex with a minor. Presently he has been released on bail of $100,000 but will be arraigned on June 16th in Concord District Court. Anderson hopes to work in future with victims like herself who had no one to talk to.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Drona says to the Pandavas in the Mahabharat (wrt Dhrupad) that only revenge can soothe the angry fire caused by insult/embarrassment. Though I'm happy he's finally convicted, and I'm sure Tina is happy too, I wonder how much this will actually help to heal herself, and if such a thing can be healed at all.

Zephyr said...

It is shocking to know that sexual perverts in holy garbs apparently exist all over the world. Athe ordeal of Tina over the years must have been beyond belief, especially since the church made her confess to her 'sin'. It is a solace to know that she has found a supportive husband.

Zindagii Live! said...

It is just an eye opener...People in India should also realize that those who preach religion and its beliefs are just human beings... instead of following them..they should follow their own soul..

Lucy Fur said...

You are all absolutely right of course. At this point I would also like to say, I am very much a theist and in no way intend to hurt any religious sentiments here.

Azad said...

Nice and interesting post! Church has lost a lot of ground due to these activities recently.
Although i would have liked to see a bit more explanation or thought going into it.
But then, i am into reading longer posts! Hope you dont mind.

Regards

Gursewak(GURU) said...

Pity such perverts still exist who do such heinous crimes

Anonymous said...

Religion can make these middle men between God and God's followers, very powerful. Powerful enough to get away with such horrendous crimes. At least somebody found justice.

Lucy Fur said...

@Azad, funny you should say this. Its been a long time since I put up a short non opinionated post. A lot of blog readers (myself included) don't seem to appreciate lengthy posts!:D

@Gursewak and Indian Homemaker- absolutely right. Its really sad since Faith helps in the healing so many trauma victims!

Ms Smack said...

Revolting case. Despicable.

Martin said...

Tragic.

Being asked if "she enjoyed it" is just disgusting.

Thank you for bringing attention to the story.

deepa kashyap said...

i agree with Martin its really disgusting for being asked " if she enjoyed it" :(

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Montana said...

So, let me get this straight this white trash “Ernest Willis” a church deacon in Concord, New Hampshire, at the time, rapes this child twice (15 years old, he was 38 at the time), gets her pregnant, he admits it is his child in front of the church, and this so called church (Trinity Baptist Church), and her parents, makes her stand up in front of this church congregation, as well, admit its her fault, because they believe its somehow her fault and to top it off her parents go to this same church to seek counsel on what to do with her and they both agree that she should be sent to another Baptist couple in Colorado, have the baby there and then force the child to put the baby up for adoption. You Baptists are real make me sick, is this your family values? I hope all of you involved get what’s coming to you.

Trinity Baptist Church
80 Clinton Street
Concord, NH 03301-2287
603-225-3999, info@tbcnh.org
www.tbcnh.org

Subir said...

I'm glad she put it out in the open. That this was something that didn't go with her to her deathbed.Hope the word spreads and so does the courage, for the women who have suffered similarly.

j. said...

Isn't it funny how if someone committed any other crime against you (like burgurly, mugged etc) that you would get angry and probably tell people about it whereas with rape women are taught to hide the fact that they were victimized. So sad in this day and age.

Unruly Rebel said...

nice post...hope we soon evad something called sexual abuse from our society, n yeah ur about me quote is really cool...i must say women r cool.. :)

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Anonymous said...

Quite shocking to hear this woman's tragedy. And glad to see that she fought bravely.

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