An Amazing Story: The Conclusion

(First time here? Please scroll down and read part one.)

I could practically hear her voice as she typed the messages to me. Lee seemed happy as she told me about the new man in her life. He is two years older than her and in the military.

Her grandmother home schooled her as she worked odd jobs over the past two years. This June she will graduate high school. She even said she hopes go to college. I am so proud of her!

Although she is a grownup now, she is still behind in her education. She was born with several medical problems and has always been considered slow by teachers and doctors. Her year on the road with a child molester, certainly didn't help.

Her family members are all doing well. She even began to build a new relationship with her mother. She spent many years of Lee's life, missing in action. A little older and a lot wiser, both began to bond, finally.

We talked about some of our fun times and I wanted to ask all of those questions that I am sure you readers have too. I didn't want to make her feel like her new life was overshadowed by Ryan.

Once she caught me up with the past two years, she said, "You heard about Ryan didn't you?
"No. I wasn't going to ask. What's up?"
"He's in jail."
"Good!"
"Lois, I think I'm ready to tell. I want everyone to know he's done this before."
"How old was the other girl Lee?"
"She was 12."
"Oh my God!"
"I can't believe you didn't hear about this. It was all over the news."
"Really? I keep pretty good track of stuff but when it comes to child molestation, I have a hard time reading about it. I may have seen the headline and just skipped over it."
"The headlines were something you would have skipped over. What he did to this girl was worse than what happened to me."

Neither of us know how many girls fell victim to this monster before he wound up in prison. I could tell Lee felt terrible and wished she had told years ago. We took the conversation slowly.

He was sentenced to 12 years and Lee knew he deserved more, as did I. The story of how he got caught is sickening.

Ryan met a woman who had a 12-year-old daughter. The woman was as much a monster as Ryan.

He found a way to weasel into their lives, befriend the mother and the child. When the woman fell on "hard times" (reason she gave police) she asked Ryan to buy her beer and cigarettes. She said she would trade those items to permit him to have sex with her young daughter.

The girl fought him as he held a knife to her throat. Her mother was in the house as he forced himself upon her.

This child was able to go to battle against two monsters by telling and all he got was 12 years. Her life, like Lee's, will never be the same and all he got was 12 years.

What's worse, her mother, the woman who is supposed to be there to protect her, only received four years and is up for parole in less than two weeks. She was arrested in August of 2004, but could get out early for "good behavior".

If Lee needs me to be there for her to finally tell what he did to her, I'll be there. My hope is that she never loses her courage to stand up and tell her story.

I am shocked and appalled by the latest events and I'm sorry I dragged it out for you guys. I've cried about a river's worth of tears since I got the first instant message... some for Lee, some for the other girl, some for anyone else whose path he crossed. Lee e-mailed me last night to say she read the first two parts of this story, which I am sure, isn't the half of it. She plans on starting her own blog and who knows, maybe it will help her to cope with all she has been through. Lee, thank you for letting me share your story and our time together with the people here.