Counseling and a Letter

Tonight my counselor suggested that I seemed to be doing great.  I had just finished telling her how busy I've been, that I love my temp job but now have permanent employment (starting the 16th) and that we'd had a wonderful Christmas.  She basically asked if I was ready to end our sessions.  I think she saw my immediate panic!

While I may appear to be doing great, and I probably actually am compared to most in similar situations, just talking with her helps me to sort and organize my thoughts.  Through the chaos of my every day I don't really take time to do that, and when I talk things out to her I realize why certain things are, how certain things came to be, and steps I still need to take.

Perhaps I'm not using our sessions for what traditional counseling is intended to be used for, but she isn't going to get rid of me that easily.

And by talking to her tonight, and verbally organizing my thoughts, I realized the importance of writing an email to the D.A., something that I keep pushing to the back burner.  But this email is important because this man basically influences our future.

I put aside an hour tonight (at the dismay of my favorite 2-year-old) and carefully advocated for my children.  Here it is:

Dear Mr. XXXXXX,

I am writing you regarding a matter important to my family, and from what I've read on your website biography is important to you as well being that it regards the protection of children.  

I believe Detective XXXXXXXXX will be turning in a packet to you if she has not done so already.  That packet contains information regarding a crime against my 16-year-old daughter, Sxylar (case 2013-xxxxxx).  Last September  I caught her stepdad, Cxdy XXXXXXXX, recording video onto his phone of her from under the bathroom door while she was getting in the shower.  I'll forgo the details since you will find those in Detective XXXXXXXXX'X report.

I'm certain you receive reports similar to this every day and I'm sure there are many that are much worse.  But, what makes this story different is that in counseling he admitted what he did.  There is a confession.  There are a couple of reasons he confessed, but I can guarantee none of them involve being a man of good moral character.

Of course I want him prosecuted so that Sxylar sees there is justice for the violation against her, but there is also a need for him to be prosecuted because we share two young children of which the youngest, XXXXX, has Down syndrome.  While Sxylar has every right to never see Cxdy again, his children will always have him in their lives.  

As the District Attorney I'm sure you've seen the statistics of sexual abuse against females with disabilities.  I just read that the incident rate is reported to be as high as 150% of that of females without disabilities and it is estimated that only 20% of those incidents are ever reported. 

Right now a protective order is in place while the investigation is ongoing.  Once that protective order is gone, and if there is no prosecution, I fear for XXXXX's future.  He was willing to violate his stepdaughter because he calculated an opportunity to do so and I can't take it for granted that he would have any more respect for his own daughter.  

I believe God intervened the night I caught Cxdy, as he was very sneaky, never guessing that I would unsuspectingly come down the hallway in the dark and without shoes to make a sound. The odds were against me ever finding out. It would be naive to believe this was the very first incident or that he has the self control to stop on his own.  

If he is prosecuted it gives us the tools to make sure he never has unsupervised visitation with XXXXX, and it protects future victims if he is a registered sex offender. 

Please remember my daughters Sxylar and XXXXX, and even my young son XXXXX when this case comes to your desk.  What would you want for your daughters or granddaughters?  

Thank you for taking the time to read my plea and I will keep you in my prayers.

Sincerely,

XXXXXX X XXXX