Letters to the Editor: I counseled a pregnant 10-year-old who was raped. This happens, and it’s awful

To the editor: Reading Robin Abcarian’s column on the 10-year-old girl in Ohio who reportedly had to go to Indiana to receive an abortion brought me back to 1992. Then, I was working for a group home in East L.A. that provided live-in care, therapy and school for teens, teen mothers and their babies.

At the time, I was working toward the 3,000 required hours to obtain my license as a therapist. One of my first clients was a 10-year-old who had been sexually abused by her mother’s boyfriend since she was 6. Her mother was also pregnant by this man, who was in jail.

As this licensed facility was a Christian organization, we were forbidden to discuss abortion. I arranged a meeting with a social worker to discuss adoption. After my client delivered at the age of 11, she returned home to her mother and her newborn half-sibling. Can you imagine growing up with a sibling who is the child of the man who raped you and left you pregnant?

I have an antique Shaker box that my mother gave to me when I was a young girl. Recently, I opened it and discovered the three hand-crocheted crosses with little beads that this child had given to me before she left. I cry for her and anyone who is raped and forced to carry their rapist’s baby.

Nancy Kezlarian, Los Angeles

The writer is a licensed marriage and family therapist.

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To the editor: Abcarian’s column prompts more questions. Where is the public outcry over finding and bringing to justice the monsters who are raping these children? These girls are not impregnating themselves.

Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas has a brilliant solution. He promised to end rape in his state. Why has no one else thought of that? Why don’t the rest of us follow his lead and apply his “logic” to ending school shootings, mass shootings, racism, bigotry, climate change, starvation and war?

The possibilities are limitless. All it takes is a promise.

Valerie Curtin, Sherman Oaks