WARNING: This post contains details of child abuse.
A girl who was found imprisoned in a closet when she was eight years old has told of how, 15 years on, she struggles with memories of the horrific abuse she suffered.
Lauren Kavanaugh, now aged 23, slept, urinated and lived in a tiny closet for most of the first eight years of her life and was only set free when authorities discovered the starving girl in the mobile home in Hutchins, Texas in 2001.
Lauren suffered sickening sexual and physical abuse at the hands of her stepfather and mother – who had initially given her up as an infant, but was returned custody when she was two years old.
They both were given life sentences and Lauren was given a new home back with her original adoptive parents Bill and Sabrina Kavanaugh, but that didn’t mean the trauma ended there.
Lauren appeared on TV program Dr Phil this week, telling the host that she has flashbacks from her childhood and has often struggled to cope.
“My life’s been pretty hard,” she said during episode one of the two-part special.
“I’ve been struggling a lot. I hardly sleep anymore. My anxiety is terrible.
“Sometimes I have flashbacks about my past, my childhood.
“I can’t listen to country music because that’s all they ever played to drown out my screaming. When I hear it, it just all comes back.”
Lauren's girlfriend, Janae, who appeared on the show alongside her partner said that the former abuse victim had developed disturbing ways to cope with the trauma.
"If we are somewhere that doesn't have a closet, she will go to the shower, turn on the scalding hot water and sleep in there," she said.
Lauren told Dr Phil that she has struggled with drugs, alcohol addiction and depression.
The story of a little girl who had only ever been taken out of her closet to be raped shocked the world when it emerged.
Lauren was so underfed she weighed about the same as a two-year-old and was fed using a method previously administered to Holocaust victims.
Her sexual assault injuries meant she required reconstructive surgery.
In an earlier appearance on Dr Phil when she was 18, Lauren recounted her traumatic childhood.
"I was locked in a closet for six years. I could not get out, no matter what I did. It was always dark. I didn't get fed. I didn't get to eat," she said.
"I had to go to the bathroom in the closet, where I slept. I had a pillow on the floor and maybe a blanket every now and then if I was good. I would cry until I fell asleep."
She said her parents only took her out of the closet for them and their friends to sexually assault her.
"If I screamed or yelled, that really made them mad," she said.
"I had to do what they said, so I could stay alive."
Through her recovery, Lauren has experienced some triumphs, including graduating college and finding a relationship.
At the end of the second episode, Dr Phil gave the young woman words of advice and offered her a free stay at a high-class mental health facility, which she accepted.
If you or a loved one is suffering, Mamamia urges you to contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.
Top Comments
I pray ever night for the protection of children everywhere. I hope she knows that she is an amazingly strong person. We as a community need to be aware of neighbors and their children. Children missing from school. Parent "oh we changed schools"
Authorities need to follow up with where and why and childs Attendance at new school.
Just horrific. This makes me sick to my stomach. No wonder she is still suffering so. I hope she gets the absolute best care there is; she deserves nothing less.