ABUSE IN THE FAMILY?  CHILDHOOD TRAUMA NEVER ENDS IN HER MIND’S EYE (Victim claims she was raped as child; jailed uncle says ‘it’s not so’)

The Decatur Daily/Scott Parrott

Ricky Lawrence Jackson, 41, was arrested earlier this month on charges of first and seconddegree rape, first and second degree sodomy, and incest involving an underage girl. KatrinaBlagburn, Jackson's 33 year old niece, alleges years of sexual abuse by her uncle who is sevenyears her elder. She said she was 5 and her uncle almost a teen when the attacks began. He oftenbabysat her and would slip into her bedroom late at night. By age 6, she said, she had been raped.One Christmas Eve, the uncle forced her to perform sexual acts. By age 9, she said, she realizedher uncle was abusing her. When he slipped into her bedroom at night, she fought and pushed him offbut he fought back, both mentally and physically. He said, 'You have sisters,' Ms. Blagburnrecalled. From then on, I felt that as long as I kept his attention on me, they were OK. By thetime she was 12, her uncle had sexually assaulted another girl, she said. That's when she finallytold her mother.

(Alabama)