Child Not Forgotten

Candice McIntyre had been a patient at the Safe haven psychiatric hospital for years. She had been in and out of the hospital due to the things that happened in her past and things that her parents had done to her. She was 19 years old, she also had a twin sister Hailey. Their family was not normal by any means. Their family appeared at least to the outside world seemed not to have issues. Their father worked full time and he constantly complained about his job. Candice and Hailey were both in school, their younger siblings were home with their mother. Their father drank every night and it got worse on the weekends. That is when their parents would fight. Their mother slept all day and their siblings were basically up alone. When Candice and Hailey would come home from school, they would have to feed them. Their mother suffered from severe depression and bad migraines. When their father would drink, Candice would get the abuse because she was the oldest besides Hailey. Candice took most of the abuse, their father left Hailey alone for the most part. He seemed to force himself on Candice when their mother was sleeping, so she didn’t know what was going on. Candice was terrified to tell anyone about the abuse to, due to there was an open investigation going on. The school had called CPS about the younger kids since they were old enough to be in school, yet they weren’t in school at all. The school started to notice a change in Candice, she started to act out in class. The school counselor asked Candice what was going on at home, that is when she broke down and told her everything that was her father was doing to her. Mrs. Martin asked Candice what she wanted to do. Candice told her that she wanted to make him pay for what he has done to her. She was the main one who got the sexual abuse. She once told their mother about what their father was doing to her but their mother basically told her to stop lying about it. Candice couldn’t believe that they was so naïve in that this was happening right under her nose. Their mom’s world would suddenly be turned upside down and she would be charged with child endangerment because of the younger kids not being in school during the day. The younger kids were taken out of the house and put into foster care. Candice and Hailey were placed in a mental hospital for their own safety. Once they were in the mental hospital, they started opening up to the counselor and doctor. Dr. Sampson was shocked at some of the things that she was told that their father made them do. Candice also told her that their home life was very different from other children . Their father had multiple wives, they all lived together as one family. Dr. Sampson didn’t know how to handle that. She had never had to deal with a polygamous family before. Their father would look to Candice for sexual gratification when the other wives in the family weren’t available. Candice was the oldest out of all the kids in the home. Their father would look to Candice for sexual things. Candice had no idea that what was going on was wrong. Hailey was never sexually abused but she was abused in other ways. Hailey was emotionally abused, mentally abused and basically humiliated in front of the family.

Candice started acting out because of what was going on at home. She started to date boys just to be able to have sex with them. She didn’t know that what their father was doing was wrong in the sense that it would later scar her for life. She would soon look to drugs and sexually active before she really ready to do it. Their father pretty much used Candice every chance he got. His wives knew what was going on but never did anything about it. His newest wife was Candice and Hailey’s age. That is the worst thing though. Neither Candice nor Hailey could understand why their father wanted a wife that was their age.

******Background information******

Candice had been sexually abused from a very young age. Their father didn’t marry his second wife till the twins were around 6 yrs old. So by the time he had married Janelle the abuse had been going on for 3 years by that point . Janelle was 23 years old. She had two young girls who were the same age as the twins. Candice always wondered why their father never tried anything with the younger children. The abuse that Candice endured had started at a young age and had continued up til CPS had gotten involved.

The other wives were also questioned as well. Janelle pretty much was sickened by the whole situation. She never thought that her beloved husband would do something like that. Janelle who was the newest wife didn’t know how to feel about what she was hearing from the CPS worker when they would come to the house before Candice and Hailey were taken to the psych hospital.

When the kids were taken from the house though Janelle had promised Candice and Hailey that her and her girls would come visit them. The CPS worker took all the other kids but Janelle’s twins because she wasn’t under suspicion of knowing what was going on. The other wives though knew what had been going on and basically looked the other way and ignored the signs of what was really going on.

Janelle’s twin girls were 3 years old when she got married to Candice and Hailey’s father. Janelle was friends with Candice and Hailey and had been friends for years. They never would have thought that their father would date and marry her. Meanwhile this whole time when he was marrying all these other females, their mom had basically checked out mentally from life. All she did all day was sleep. She never got out of bed to do anything, leaving everything to the rest of the other wives, and Candice and Hailey.



*****Flashforward******

Candice and Hailey were so nervous about having to deal with their repressed memories. Candice was having a hard time dealing with talking about what she went through.

Candice soon realized that their father was trying to get her pregnant so that she could become one of his wives, their father was a very twisted man. CPS had been following the family for years prior, to when they stepped in to take the younger kids away. Candice couldn’t believe that their father would be sick enough to want to have a child with his own daughter. Candice would soon have to make the decision of whether to continue the pregnancy or abort the child. She wasn’t sure if she really could continue having the child knowing that her father was the father of the child she was carrying. They had also been brought up in a strict religious house. Candice decided to go through with the pregnancy, Hailey didn’t like the idea of Candice having their dad’s child. Candice said it was her choice if she wanted to help her or not with the baby. Hailey said that she would stick with her no matter what, now that their parents rights had been taken away anyways their father would have no say in how the baby was raised.

Candice told her sister that she wanted to confront their father about what he had put her through. Hailey on the other hand wanted nothing to do with their father. It was more their mother and the other wives that she wanted confront. She was convinced that their mother and the other wives knew what was going on, but they didn’t do anything about it. The only one that did something about it was Jolene.

Shortly after they returned to the hospital though. Both Dr. Sampson and Dr. Thompson got a phone call regarding Candice and Hailey’s father it seems that he got into a fight when he went back to his cell, and shortly after that he suffered from a massive heart-attack.

Their mother suffered from severe depression, she had already tried to take her own life years prior to being put in prison. Their mother decided to take her own life in jail before they were transferred to prison, because she realized that she lost everything due to her own stupid mistakes.

Their mother ended up killing herself before they went to prison. one of the other wives found her in the jail cell. Hailey and Candice weren't sure how to handle the news of their mother's death, candice though got some relief in knowing that their mother would no longer be able to hurt them or their siblings or anyone else for that matter.