https://www.foxnews.com/us/woman-forced-give-up-daughter-rapist-pay-child-support
Just read the article. It's pretty horrible if indeed a rape victim was forced to handover custody of her own child to her rapist. Given that all of this originates out of Louisiana, and Louisiana isn't exactly known for its enlightened treatment of women lately, I fear that may indeed be what happened.
That said, there are missing pieces on both sides of the story that don't quite add up for me. It is unclear why Barnes hasn't been charged with rape. He is apparently accused of statutory rape, and that shouldn't be hard to prove even after all this time, since there is presumably very clear DNA evidence in the form of the child who emerged from the encounter.
It also doesn't add up for me why Abelseth would have lost custody simply for giving her child a cell phone as the article says.
So there are definitely things about the article that don't make sense to me. But--again--Louisiana seems really intent on turning back the clock on the status of women, so I definitely wouldn't put it past the justice system in Louisiana to do something that is, indeed, just as chilling as it sounds.
