Seeking Justice
CARRIE'S FIGHT FOR JUSTICE
Carrie has been fighting for justice her whole life. Many laws did not protect her as a child. From 2002 to the present, Carrie has worked alongside the District Attorney's office, the Attorney General, and local law enforcement in the State of New Mexico to keep her abuser in jail, but it has not been easy. Many laws have improved, but not all. She believes that children like her should not have to face such long trial times and constant re-traumatization. For the first time ever, Carrie shares the timeline of her survival, and her experience in and outside the courtroom. She hopes to shed light on the challenges children face within the current justice system, and the life-long toll on survivors.
- August 1982- Carrie is born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her biological father began sexually abusing her, most likely in her infancy.
- 1989- Carrie has a heavenly encounter that reframes the abuse in her home. She begins to fight against the abuse around age 7. (See Matthew 18: A conversation between a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and a Catholic Bishop).
- April 1996- The Child Youth and Family Division (CYFD) is called out to Carrie's home. Carrie's father kidnaps her and her two younger sisters and hides them for several days. Eventually, Carrie and her sisters are returned to their home for questioning by social workers and the police. Before the interview, Carrie's father threatens her with her life if she says anything about the abuse, so Carrie remains silent. One of her sisters speaks up and the abuse is leaked out to the social worker.
- May 1996- Carrie's father goes to counseling. Carrie, her sisters, and her mother do not. Carrie and her sisters return to their home where their father continues to sexually abuse them for another seven years. No one comes back from CYFD to check on Carrie or her sisters.
- July 1996- Carrie's father removes her and her sisters from school, sports, and extracurricular activities to isolate them and keep them silent at home.
- July 1996 to February 2001- Carrie experiences a "personal pandemic" in her home with her family. She fights to get the world back.
- February 2001- Carrie runs away from home and becomes a Carmelite nun in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her two sisters continue to be abused at home.
- July 2002- One of Carrie's sisters speaks with a therapist and tells the therapist about the abuse at home. Within 24 hours, her father is arrested for child sex crimes.
- August 2002- In the monastery, Carrie is interviewed by police, social workers, and detectives regarding the abuse.
- Summer 2003- Carrie begins counseling in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and begins to realize and process the extent of the abuse.
- January 2004- Carrie leaves Carmel to pursue more extensive therapy and trauma recovery from a therapist in Santa Fe. In the meantime, her father is found incompetent to stand trial, and preparations are made for his dangerousness hearing.
- January 2006- Carrie testifies in court at her father's dangerousness hearing. Her father is deemed dangerous by the court and remains in prison. He is re-evaluated every two years for competency.
- Summer 2012- Carrie's father is found competent, and Carrie begins prepping for trial.
- July 2015- Trial in Albuquerque, New Mexico: Carrie's father is convicted of child sex crimes committed against her youngest sister. He receives a sentence of one hundred and eight years in prison. Carrie's case, and her other sister's case are dismissed by the judge, on the grounds of sufficient prison time for her father.
- January 2, 2020- Carrie receives an email from the DA's office informing her that her father will be released from prison at the end of the month. His counts were appealed, and he is now free to walk.
- January 10, 2020- Carrie reaches out to the New Mexico State courts. It seems nothing can be done.
- January 12, 2020- Carrie goes to the news stations and asks for help. Carrie appears in a series of news interviews, and asks her community for help.
- January 15, 2020- Carrie is contacted by the Attorney General's office, who reinstates her case immediately.
- January 30, 2020- Carrie's father is released from prison, and is immediately detained for pre-trial. A national press conference is held with both the Attorney General and the District Attorney regarding the case.
- February 2020- Carrie is interviewed by police and detectives, and two separate trials are established against her father in two different counties in the State of New Mexico.
- March 2020- The Coronavirus pandemic hits, and the trial comes to a halt.
- 2022- Carrie's father is found incompetent for the second time and preparations are made for his dangerousness hearing.
- 2023- Carrie prepares for the dangerousness hearing.
- 2023- Carrie's father is found competent. Trial prep resumes.
- 2024- Carrie prepares for trial, set for March 2025.
- March 2025- First trial in New Mexico.
- Second Trial- To be determined.
- Twenty-two years have passed since Carrie's father was arrested and his official court case began.
The Life-long Toll on Survivors
Recalling her lifelong fight for survival and justice, Carrie shares some of the personal cost, "I've been a living, breathing crime scene for the past twenty-two years," she states. "Whenever I go into an interview, or courtroom, I feel like I should be wearing a yellow crime-scene tape around my shoulders. Lawyers probe and inspect the things that happened to me, and for twenty-two years I've kept my memories and my pain intact. I have to think about these things every day and remember them for the trial."
Carrie believes that it isn't just survivors in court who experience this lifelong toll, "Remembering trauma is a natural thing," she says. "It's natural to remember traumatic things, so they don't happen again. I think every survivor remembers because there's always hope that someone, somewhere, will listen, whether in this world, or in the next. And until they do, it's our job to remember."
Carrie has received over twenty years of counseling and trauma therapy to help her cope and handle the trauma. She hopes that by sharing her story, lawmakers and state officials will consider her story and will create laws to protect children from re-traumatization and unreasonably long trial times. "There are many children who are victims of violent crimes," Carrie states, "It shouldn't be impossible for them to receive justice in a timely manner."
