Meet Douglas…

I am a survivor and my hope and my prayer is that in telling my story, someone will hear it and know that they are not alone. This is something that we deal with as child survivors. We feel that we are alone and have no one to turn to – especially behind these walls.

Incarcerated: 30 years

It wasn’t until I reached a point in my healing where I could talk to my father again. It took me 36 years. I lived in absolute terror of my father. He was abusive on all possible levels. He molested me when I was seven. It’s something that I’ve learned to handle with a lot of work. I just couldn’t live locked away anymore. In my father’s household, boys don’t cry and don’t show emotion, so I shut down. The only emotion acceptable to my father was anger. I enlisted in the Navy at 17. I stayed angry. I learned the way my father raised me was set in stone. At home my job in life was to protect my younger brothers and sisters. By the time I got out of the service, between my training and the way that I was raised, I didn’t see Scott as a person, when I took his life, he was a target. I emasculated him because of my childhood trauma of being harmed and my anger towards all sex offenders and child molesters. I didn’t have the tools I have now to deal with someone hurting the girls. If someone hurt them they answered to me. It was like flipping a switch, especially after I found out he raped my friend’s wife. I am a survivor and my hope and my prayer is that in telling my story, someone will hear it and know that they are not alone. This is something that we deal with as child survivors. We feel that we are alone and have no one to turn to – especially behind these walls. I’m working on accepting how empty I was of empathy, compassion, and feelings. The Victim Offender Education Group and the Veteran’s Healing Veterans Program laid the groundwork for the trauma and healing. They helped me deal with my criminal thinking, how I wrongly took the law into my own hands. I had to learn that contrary to how I was raised, taking an action like that is not my responsibility. I am not the law. It’s helped to tell my story and to be able to walk side by side with my sister on our path of healing. She’s the one that got me to understand that forgiving my father was not for him, but for myself.

📸 Dougles’ 🎤Interviewed by Edwin and Miguel, our inside West Block Correspondents

Meet Kelsey…

I don’t think that the public realizes that there are non-violent 3 strikers such as I in prison still for petty crimes like stealing a 12 pack of beer.

Incarcerated: 20 years

In junior high, I was sitting in my electronics class and the intercom came on “Kelsey, report to the vice principal’s office ASAP.” The VPs office means trouble 99.9 percent of the time, so the class went “Oooh!” I was worried to death. “I heard you placed 2nd place at the California State BMX championships last weekend” I was so relieved, I couldn’t believe what he said, wow. “Yes sir, Mr. Frankino.” “I want to ask you if you want to start a BMX team here at school, make a track on the grounds and have BMX races on the weekends, you could even have practices at lunchtime. I want you to pick a five man team of the best riders.” I said “Yes Sir.” We became the Valley View Vikings BMX team. We got a tractor from one of my friend’s dad, who was a farmer and literally dug up the school grounds and made a BMX track. I was our team captain, all in ninth grade. I was “Joe Moto.” A couple of weeks later one of my BMX friends came up to me at the VV track with a dirt bike magazine. In it there were photos and an article of me taking second overall at the state championship. It was the greatest time! If it wasn’t for my dearest mom taking me to all the races I would not have known my potential and that pretty much says it all. I never got the opportunity to race the World Championships, sorry to say. Thanks, Mom, for everything. I love you so much. You were 1st overall mom. 📸: Ms. Smith’s and Kelsey