My Story – Kelly

My name is Kelly, and I’m a survivor of domestic violence and sexual abuse. I was only with my abuser for about 7 months and during that time, he forever altered the course of my life with unspeakable acts of violence, manipulation, and pain. I struggled with addiction at the young age of 20, and he was a drug dealer. He also led me to believe he would be a protector and provider when I was feeling unsure about my future. My parents loved him, my friends loved him, no one knew the monster that was underneath his facade. He started with verbal abuse in private, yelling at me when he was drinking or doing drugs. The first incident of physical abuse tool place at his father’s house, where he flew off the handle during an argument and pushed me down on a love seat in his bedroom where he repeatedly punched me in the head as I cowered in fear and screamed for him to get off of me. However, he apologized after that and I wanted to hope that he would change. It wasn’t too long after that, that I found out I was pregnant. Everything changed for me in that moment. I was no longer able to be comfortable in a relationship with someone who kept hurting me, however I wanted to try to make our relationship work for the sake of the child. I got clean and I hoped that he would too, yet his drug use and drinking only got worse. His abuse escalated and he began threatening my life, screaming at me and driving erratically, pushing, shoving and mentally degrading me. Things escalated to the point of no return when he sexually abused me and raped me while I was pregnant, right around Christmas time. He held me down and continued even while I begged him to stop. He also started holding a gun to my head to instill fear. I had had enough, I was desperate for a way out. One day, I found the courage to tell my family and we filed a police report. After a long road, a jury trial that took two years to finally have, and intense trauma, he was found guilty on 8 different charges related to sexual assault, domestic violence, assault and menacing. He was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. Today, my daughter and I live a happy life full of love, safety, recovery and support. I am sober and rebuilding my life from all of the damage and turmoil, while also holding strong and taking accountability for my addiction. I’m so grateful to be able to heal, that I was able to get out and move forward with my life.