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Escape from the Dungeon: Jennifer's Survival Story from the Wrath of Anger, Intimidation and Abuse

by Major Jennifer M. Stephens, 2nd oldest of the 16

250 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #05-1490; ISBN 1-4120-6579-8; US$23.95, C$29.95, EUR19.50, £13.50

Compelling story of survival of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of a mother of 16 children through intimidation, manipulation, and terroristic methods over the span of 35 years.

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About the Book

About the Author

Excerpts

Catalogue Information

About the Book

www.jenniferstephens.org

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 relays 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 wouldn't 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 I still can't believe today andI was part of the situation from the beginning and a catalyst for this coming to light. What you will see is a very large break in the system but above all, the master manipulation 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 mom 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 my brothers and sisters as soon as the Department of Social Services stepped out of the situation in the late 80's.

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About the Author

Jennifer Stephens is the 2nd oldest of 16 children and was part of this abusive situation from the very beginning. Jennifer has spent her entire life striving to succeed in spite of the foundation that was laid by her abusive mother. She is currently a Major in the United States Army and has spent the last 14 years taking care of soldiers and her two children Blakely and Samantha. MAJ

Jennifer Stephens entered the military in September 1991. In 1994 she went to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, GA where she was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Transportation Corps and 1998 MAJ Stephens went to Schofield Barracks where she served in the 524th Corps Support Battalion in the 45th Corps Support Group (Forward) through May of 2000 supporting 600 troops. She then served as the 545th Transportation (Harbormaster) company commander where she had three detachments assigned to her: 545th Harbormaster, 605th Transportation Logistic Support Vessel (LSV 2) and the 193rd Transportation (LSV 5). She was responsible for all Army vessel operations in the Pacific Theater. MAJ Stephens then worked as a Active Component/Reserve Component (AC/RC) liaison with the 336th Transportation Group at Fort Sheridan, Illinois where she spearheaded the USARC exercise Nationwide Move '02 transporting troops and equipment spanning 18 states and over 1,000,000 miles and she earned the Army Transportation Officer of the Year award. Currently MAJ Stephens is working at the University of Wisconsin- Whitewater where she heads up the ROTC program for students.

She has Bachelor's Degree in International Business and Finance from the University of Louisville, KY, and a Masters in Business Administration and Global Management from the University of Phoenix, AZ. MAJ Stephens is also currently in the Concord School of Law earning her Juris Doctor degree.

She continues to fight the fight for those who cannot fight for themselves and will continue to be vigilant in her child abuse efforts. Jennifer hopes to be in public office one day where she can make a difference for women's rights, single parent programs, military and veteran's affairs.

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Excerpts

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. Unbeknownst 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 wasn't 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 wasn't 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't 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 wouldn't 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 couldn't 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 wouldn't. She pushed on my neck and put her face up to mine and simply yelled at me "do you want me to kill you, 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 wouldn't wake up.

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Catalogue Information

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