| Maj (R) Jennifer M. Stephens PhD (ABD), EJD, DML |
Speaker, Author, Coach
Escape from the Dungeon: Jennifer's Survival Story
| Making a difference today with a Vision for Tomorrow.... |
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About the Book:
This is a story of psychological terror brought on by the hands of my mother. I am the second
oldest of 16 children and the stories I am about to describe relay what it was like to live under the
terror and reign of our mother. The abuse started about 35 years ago in 1970 and who knew there
would be 16 direct victims and many other people affected by her manipulations when all was said
and done. Hind sight is truly 20/20 and I think if things were handled differently with the 1987
felony child abuse charges in Waukesha County, there would not be this tale to tell today in 2005.
There are two distinct time periods in this story: the 17 years prior to 1987 and the 18 years after
1987. You will find parallels in both sections that will boggle the mind. What you will see is a
very large break in the system but above all, the master manipulation from Jennifer's mother that
would rival the greatest minds. By manipulating her children, the social workers, the lawyers, the
prosecutors, mom got off with nothing in 1987 when she was facing 18 counts of felony and
misdemeanor child abuse charges, $180,000 in fines and 30 years in prison. Her ability to walk
away from that without a scar only enabled her psychotic manipulating mind and that allowed her
to abuse again without fear for the next 18 years. It is heartbreaking to live with the fact that these
actions have been addressed in the past and she ended up inflicting the same thing on Jennifer's
brothers and sisters as soon as the Department of Social Services stepped out of the situation in
the late 80s.
This is a story of psychological terror brought on by the hands of my mother. I am the second
oldest of 16 children and the stories I am about to describe relay what it was like to live under the
terror and reign of our mother. The abuse started about 35 years ago in 1970 and who knew there
would be 16 direct victims and many other people affected by her manipulations when all was said
and done. Hind sight is truly 20/20 and I think if things were handled differently with the 1987
felony child abuse charges in Waukesha County, there would not be this tale to tell today in 2005.
There are two distinct time periods in this story: the 17 years prior to 1987 and the 18 years after
1987. You will find parallels in both sections that will boggle the mind. What you will see is a
very large break in the system but above all, the master manipulation from Jennifer's mother that
would rival the greatest minds. By manipulating her children, the social workers, the lawyers, the
prosecutors, mom got off with nothing in 1987 when she was facing 18 counts of felony and
misdemeanor child abuse charges, $180,000 in fines and 30 years in prison. Her ability to walk
away from that without a scar only enabled her psychotic manipulating mind and that allowed her
to abuse again without fear for the next 18 years. It is heartbreaking to live with the fact that these
actions have been addressed in the past and she ended up inflicting the same thing on Jennifer's
brothers and sisters as soon as the Department of Social Services stepped out of the situation in
the late 80s.
When ordering, if you would like Jennifer to
autograph the book, just provide the name of the
person she should endorse it to....
autograph the book, just provide the name of the
person she should endorse it to....
Excerpt page 38
September 14, 1987 - This is a day that I will never forget, it was the day that I looked into my
mothers eyes and saw my own mortality. It was the day that I wanted to give up trying and just
pass away to the next world. This day, is ingrained in so many of the kids minds that each one
that witnessed it can tell you a story of psychological warfare, utter pain, mental anguish, and
overall defeat. This day was worse than anything I have faced in 14 years in the military. This
day was worse than anything I could imagine, it was the day that my mother tried to kill me and
was the day that I saw the devil in her eyes. So much of the last 17 years have built up to this
moment and this day was merely the straw that broke the camels back.
This day started like any other day in our house, but it ended being a day that changed our lives
forever. After school that day I was walking to my babysitting job which was a couple of miles
away. One of the sneaky things I did as a teenager was to switch my clothes and hair when I got
to school. Mom always made me wear skirts and two pigtails in my hair up until this day (I
think she was reliving her high school years through us) and I snuck a pair of pants to school and
a brush. When I got there in the morning after being dropped off I would go to the bathroom and
switch out of my skirt and comb out my hair. Ted knew what I was doing but he never said
much, he knew the deal. Well I took my skirt along with me when I was walking to the house I
was to baby-sit at but I was still wearing my pants. Unbeknown to me, my mother was
following me in the car. She came up to me and found that I was wearing a pair of pants and had
my hair down and not in pigtails which was one of her number one rules I was not allowed to do.
She shoved me in the car and refused to let me continue to the job and she made me take off my
pants in the car and she threw them out the window. To this day I do not remember how Mr.
Maloney found out I was not going to be working there anymore, I think I was in too much
shock to remember that. She started to beat me in the head, a 17 year old girl, in the car and
saying things that I just can not write down on a piece of paper without cringing.
All I could do was cry to myself but knew it would be over soon, until she stopped at the hair
cutters. She said that since I cared so much about my hair and that I would not wear the pigtails
that she would have it cut off. She had my father take me in and say: cut it short, and then they
left me there to get it cut. I cried in the chair the whole time and told the lady that mom was
forcing this. She cried too and said she would try not to cut it too much. My dad came back to
pick me up and he immediately looked at my hair and said your mother is going to be mad. I
tensed because I knew what was coming. I got home and no sooner did I walk into the door that
the bug eyes my mother is so famous for came out and she went straight for my hair. She was so
mad she ran over to me and started pounding on my head and my back. I screamed in pain and
disbelief and this went on for a while. Then she got even more crazy, she made dad get the other
two girls down from the room to watch what was about to happen to me.
Mom dragged me to the bathroom by my hair holding my face up to the mirror and screaming
profanities at me. She took me by the neck with her forearm and strung me up on the wall with
my feet dangling. She had freakishly strong grips that you could not get out of and she made the
girls watch as she terrorized me. I was screaming, the girls were screaming for her to stop but she
would not. She pushed on my neck and put her face up to mine and simply yelled at me, do you
want me to kill you, and do you want me to kill you now! and the only words that would come
out of my mouth was: yes, yes, yes just kill me now and get it over with. She dropped me and
yelled at the girls to watch what would happen to them if they ever disobeyed her and she took
the knife and started chopping off my hair to the scalp. Just chopped and chopped in her fit of
rage and beating me to my knees. I drained of life in that very moment. When she was done she
sent us all to our black prison cells of our rooms and the girls cried for me that night. I slumped
down on the bottom bunk, curled to the fetal position and prayed to God that I would not wake
up.
September 14, 1987 - This is a day that I will never forget, it was the day that I looked into my
mothers eyes and saw my own mortality. It was the day that I wanted to give up trying and just
pass away to the next world. This day, is ingrained in so many of the kids minds that each one
that witnessed it can tell you a story of psychological warfare, utter pain, mental anguish, and
overall defeat. This day was worse than anything I have faced in 14 years in the military. This
day was worse than anything I could imagine, it was the day that my mother tried to kill me and
was the day that I saw the devil in her eyes. So much of the last 17 years have built up to this
moment and this day was merely the straw that broke the camels back.
This day started like any other day in our house, but it ended being a day that changed our lives
forever. After school that day I was walking to my babysitting job which was a couple of miles
away. One of the sneaky things I did as a teenager was to switch my clothes and hair when I got
to school. Mom always made me wear skirts and two pigtails in my hair up until this day (I
think she was reliving her high school years through us) and I snuck a pair of pants to school and
a brush. When I got there in the morning after being dropped off I would go to the bathroom and
switch out of my skirt and comb out my hair. Ted knew what I was doing but he never said
much, he knew the deal. Well I took my skirt along with me when I was walking to the house I
was to baby-sit at but I was still wearing my pants. Unbeknown to me, my mother was
following me in the car. She came up to me and found that I was wearing a pair of pants and had
my hair down and not in pigtails which was one of her number one rules I was not allowed to do.
She shoved me in the car and refused to let me continue to the job and she made me take off my
pants in the car and she threw them out the window. To this day I do not remember how Mr.
Maloney found out I was not going to be working there anymore, I think I was in too much
shock to remember that. She started to beat me in the head, a 17 year old girl, in the car and
saying things that I just can not write down on a piece of paper without cringing.
All I could do was cry to myself but knew it would be over soon, until she stopped at the hair
cutters. She said that since I cared so much about my hair and that I would not wear the pigtails
that she would have it cut off. She had my father take me in and say: cut it short, and then they
left me there to get it cut. I cried in the chair the whole time and told the lady that mom was
forcing this. She cried too and said she would try not to cut it too much. My dad came back to
pick me up and he immediately looked at my hair and said your mother is going to be mad. I
tensed because I knew what was coming. I got home and no sooner did I walk into the door that
the bug eyes my mother is so famous for came out and she went straight for my hair. She was so
mad she ran over to me and started pounding on my head and my back. I screamed in pain and
disbelief and this went on for a while. Then she got even more crazy, she made dad get the other
two girls down from the room to watch what was about to happen to me.
Mom dragged me to the bathroom by my hair holding my face up to the mirror and screaming
profanities at me. She took me by the neck with her forearm and strung me up on the wall with
my feet dangling. She had freakishly strong grips that you could not get out of and she made the
girls watch as she terrorized me. I was screaming, the girls were screaming for her to stop but she
would not. She pushed on my neck and put her face up to mine and simply yelled at me, do you
want me to kill you, and do you want me to kill you now! and the only words that would come
out of my mouth was: yes, yes, yes just kill me now and get it over with. She dropped me and
yelled at the girls to watch what would happen to them if they ever disobeyed her and she took
the knife and started chopping off my hair to the scalp. Just chopped and chopped in her fit of
rage and beating me to my knees. I drained of life in that very moment. When she was done she
sent us all to our black prison cells of our rooms and the girls cried for me that night. I slumped
down on the bottom bunk, curled to the fetal position and prayed to God that I would not wake
up.