LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A sexual assault survivor suspects his youthful brother could also be his son and desires a decide to order a take a look at to find out paternity.
“I’m speaking out because there are people suffering in silence right now and if I was going to suffer to the extent that you’re aware of, I didn’t want to do it silently anymore,” Logan Gifford, 26, stated.
In 2015, Logan Gifford, who was 16 on the time, got here ahead to report sexual assault allegations involving his mom, Doreene Gifford, information stated. Practically half of all males will report experiencing some type of sexual harassment or sexual assault of their lifetimes, in response to the Nationwide Sexual Violence Useful resource Heart.
Logan Gifford, who efficiently helped move a poll query requiring voter ID final November, stated his life is filled with different individuals’s penalties.
“There’s a possibility that my brother could be my son,” he stated. “I’m still directly involved in the mess that has left to me.”
Logan Gifford initially instructed police and later testified that his mom, Doreene Gifford, started sexually assaulting him when he was 10. Prosecutors alleged Doreene Gifford sexually assaulted her son for a number of years, later charging her with sexual assault with a minor and incest.
Doreene Gifford maintained her innocence and took an Alford plea on lesser costs together with tried intercourse assault. An Alford plea, basically a plea of no contest, means a defendant doesn’t admit guilt, however believes prosecutors have sufficient proof to persuade a jury to convict.
In late 2015, a Clark County decide sentenced Doreene Gifford to 8-20 years in jail, information stated. The decide additionally ordered Doreene Gifford to register as a intercourse offender. The Nevada Parole Board granted Doreene Gifford parole final July, however information present she was in custody as of Wednesday.
“Sending her to prison was halfway vindicating because I thought the largest problem of my life was originally dealt with,” Logan Gifford stated, including he was then left with serving to elevate his youthful siblings, together with one brother with cognitive difficulties born across the time of the reported sexual assaults.
“He deserves to have a quiet and peaceful life, and like I said, he’s here now. He didn’t ask for any of this,” Logan Gifford stated.
Logan Gifford, who was caring for that sibling, has since filed a paternity case, asking a decide to order a sophisticated take a look at to find out who his brother’s father is.
“And if it comes back negative, I’m still filing for custody because it doesn’t change the obligation that I have to him now,” Logan Gifford stated.
Within the years since his mom’s incarceration, Logan Gifford has labored on political campaigns, received married and has had youngsters.
Getting there was not simple, he stated.
“I really wound up having to make a lot of critical decisions at a very early age because I was looking at the impact that it would have had on my siblings,” he stated. “And it’s ugly and visceral but it doesn’t change the fact that it needed to be done.”
Doreene Gifford remained in custody as of Wednesday although it’s unclear why because the parole board granted her parole final yr. An try and contact her was unsuccessful.
Earlier than her sentencing in 2015, her lawyer maintained his shopper’s innocence and stated Logan Gifford, a toddler on the time, had ample alternative to report the allegations. As an grownup, Logan Gifford stated that remark exhibits how the system failed younger males like him.
A listening to within the paternity case was scheduled for Could, Logan Gifford stated.
8 Information Now doesn’t determine sexual assault survivors except they select to publicly come ahead. In that very same regard, 8 Information Now is just not figuring out Logan Gifford’s brother and the photograph Logan Gifford offered is just not consultant of how both seems in the present day.
Sources:
Nationwide Sexual Assault Hotline: a service of RAINN: 800-656-HOPE (4673)
Nevada Sexual Assault Assist Providers: 775-221-7600
Nationwide Sexual Assault Hotline: 800-656-HOPE
