The sentencing of a sex offender provides some measure of justice for the victims and for society, but it doesn't erase the trauma of the victims, something they will carry with them for the rest of their lives.
Cortoney Rogers, 43, Fairview, was sentenced to 15 years in prison during a hearing Monday in Newton County Circuit Court after pleading guilty to two counts of child molestation.
The hearing included victim impact statements from Rogers' victims, who have given The Turner Report permission to post their statements.
It took a lot of courage for them to put into words what happened to them and to share those words now.
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Thank you, your Honor, for allowing me to share the impact the defendant’s crimes have had on my life.His abuse left no visible, physical scars, but the emotional and mental scars from the night he molested me remain and still affect me, to this day, in a number of concrete ways. The repercussions continue to impact my existing relationships and my ability to form new connections.
I am hypervigilant in public and wary of new people. He robbed me of a sense of safety and security.
I have been in therapy for nearly a decade. In therapy I learned that the defendant’s abuse permanently altered the chemical and physical structure of my brain. It forever changed the way I see the world, how I interact with the people around me, and how I view myself.
I have battled eating disorders because – for years – I have struggled not to hate this body that he touched.
I am hypervigilant in public and wary of new people. He robbed me of a sense of safety and security.
I have been in therapy for nearly a decade. In therapy I learned that the defendant’s abuse permanently altered the chemical and physical structure of my brain. It forever changed the way I see the world, how I interact with the people around me, and how I view myself.
I have battled eating disorders because – for years – I have struggled not to hate this body that he touched.
In my own marital bed, my husband who I love can only sleep behind me if I am on my left side.
Otherwise, I am immediately returned to the night I laid frozen while the defendant thrust his erect penis into my lower back and butt over and over and over again. I was a middle-schooler.
I was a child!
One of the biggest ways his crimes affect me even now is in my parenting. I know my daughter picks up on my anxieties. I don’t want her to live in fear or to be constantly on alert like I am. I want my little girl to know that we are not the sum of the terrible things that happen to us. But she will never have the childhood experience of a sleepover at a friend’s house or stay the night with her cousins because I cannot put her at risk like that.
I was a child!
One of the biggest ways his crimes affect me even now is in my parenting. I know my daughter picks up on my anxieties. I don’t want her to live in fear or to be constantly on alert like I am. I want my little girl to know that we are not the sum of the terrible things that happen to us. But she will never have the childhood experience of a sleepover at a friend’s house or stay the night with her cousins because I cannot put her at risk like that.
I am constantly on guard when it comes to her and how she navigates the world. I have to be. Her safety is always my number one concern.
I stayed silent for so long because I thought I was protecting my family from him. As young as I was, I worried about my sister, his then-wife, and how she would react. Whether she would believe me, and what that would do to her life if she did. And what would happen if she didn’t.
I stayed silent for so long because I thought I was protecting my family from him. As young as I was, I worried about my sister, his then-wife, and how she would react. Whether she would believe me, and what that would do to her life if she did. And what would happen if she didn’t.
I worried my father would hurt him and then I’d have to live with that on my conscience. Since that night, I have kept my own loved ones at a distance so I wouldn’t have to be around him.
Writing this statement has been incredibly difficult.
Writing this statement has been incredibly difficult.
My depression has deepened. My sleep has suffered. My anxiety has spiked significantly. Just thinking about speaking here today makes me feel like I need to vomit. And I can’t help but wonder if my big sister would be here to support me today – on one of the hardest days of my life – if my abuser hadn’t been her husband.
What he has done has poisoned my relationship with her.
When I learned that in addition to what he did to me, the defendant also had abused another victim
for years, I was devastated. My worst nightmare was reality: the man who inflicted so much pain, trauma, and ugliness on me chose the same and worse for another child.
When I learned that in addition to what he did to me, the defendant also had abused another victim
for years, I was devastated. My worst nightmare was reality: the man who inflicted so much pain, trauma, and ugliness on me chose the same and worse for another child.
At first, I blamed myself for not speaking up sooner. I carried immense guilt and shame. But that guilt and that shame, those are NOT mine to carry. They are his.
He chose to molest me when I was a child. He chose to rape another child. He gets off on hurting children. He is the worst of the worst and the absolute scum of this earth. He is not sorry for the choices he made. He feels sorry for himself. We’ve all gotten to see that. He has complained about his conditions each time we’ve been here. He is not apologetic. He is not remorseful. He is evil. I have watched countless people in the community pray over the defendant’s health, donate money towards his medical bills, and praise him for his strength.
He chose to molest me when I was a child. He chose to rape another child. He gets off on hurting children. He is the worst of the worst and the absolute scum of this earth. He is not sorry for the choices he made. He feels sorry for himself. We’ve all gotten to see that. He has complained about his conditions each time we’ve been here. He is not apologetic. He is not remorseful. He is evil. I have watched countless people in the community pray over the defendant’s health, donate money towards his medical bills, and praise him for his strength.
A local man even donated a kidney to him!
I want this same community to know who he really is – a pedophile.
Please, for the safety of our daughters, sons, nieces, nephews, and those in the generations to come, let him and all other criminals like him know how our community sees and how this Court will punish sexual crimes against children. Lock him away. Let him rot in prison.
Your Honor, I ask that you give the defendant the agreed upon sentence. That is not only what he deserves, it is the justice that his other victim and I deserve as well.
Please, for the safety of our daughters, sons, nieces, nephews, and those in the generations to come, let him and all other criminals like him know how our community sees and how this Court will punish sexual crimes against children. Lock him away. Let him rot in prison.
Your Honor, I ask that you give the defendant the agreed upon sentence. That is not only what he deserves, it is the justice that his other victim and I deserve as well.
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Your Honor,The sexual abuse went on for years, and now I have to live with this for the rest of my life. I have a really hard time trusting people, and I often feel anxious and unsafe.
Because of all of this, it has made me feel like I have grown up faster than I should have. I don't live with my siblings anymore, and I barely even see them now because of what has been going on.
This has affected my relationships with people and the way I connect with people. A lot of my childhood was taken away from me, and I'll never be able to get those years back. It's almost like my purity was taken by that man.
This has affected my relationships with people and the way I connect with people. A lot of my childhood was taken away from me, and I'll never be able to get those years back. It's almost like my purity was taken by that man.
NO child should ever have to go through something like this.
No child should never have to feel like they are a grownup. And the effects this has on me are going to stay with me till I lay in that dirt. It's like his hands were supposed to protect me from the storm and not turn it into a never-ending hurricane.
Thank you for listening to what I have to say and for understanding how much this has taken from me.
Thank you for listening to what I have to say and for understanding how much this has taken from me.
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