Ashley wanted the abuse to stop. But Butch, her adoptive father, was always around.
I met Ashley for the first time in March 2015 at a Noodles & Company in Indianapolis. Her adoptive father Craig Peterson had arranged the meeting. He initially reached out to me about an article I'd written, then shared bits of Ashley's story.
Ashley stepped out of Sandy’s red-and-white van. The 10-year-old didn’t say a word, didn’t glance back at Sandy, her adoptive mother. And she refused to meet the hazel eyes of the man waiting in front of her.
This is Part 2 of a five-part series was produced as a project for the 2017 National Fellowship.
Other stories in this series include:
Ashley would be exploited, abused and, ultimately, abandoned by people who said they cared about her. And her invisible wounds would persist for decades.
Since the Great Recession, Arizona has cut programs that help poor families and spent more money on foster care and adoption services. The results have been tragic.
Brain research gives insight into why abused youth are more vulnerable to exploitation—and how we can help them heal.
A former journalist and single mother of two fears that changes to the Affordable Care Act could eliminate the coverage her family depends on to manage their complex health needs.
At his lowest point in prison, Simeon U‘u, a broad-shouldered man with tattoos down one arm and a thick silver chain around his neck, doubted he would get his children back. “I felt like I was a bad parent, that I abandoned them.”
More than 1 million people have been born in the US from donor eggs or donor sperm. For the most part, they can’t find out anything about at least one of their biological parents. That's now starting to change.
