Hispanic Woman Abby Alvarado Abused For Years By Her Uncles

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

Abby Alvarado was 8 years old when the Child Protective Service took her from her mother and sent her to live with her two brothers at the home of an uncle in Hawaii. His uncle Eusebio Castillo was a sergeant in the US armed forces, and his wife, Laura Castillo, worked as a babysitter. The next 17 years of her life with them would be a nightmare. Until Abby turned 25, she was sexually and physically abused by both of them. When she turned 15, she says that her uncles, who had legally adopted her along with her siblings, forced her to have three children with Eusebio that her uncles said were their children.

"They were in bed and they asked me to sit on the bed with them," Abby, 31, tells PEOPLE. "Let's talk. This is what we are going to do and now. End of story". In 2005, when she was 17 years old and studying in high school, Abby had her first daughter. Three years later, she gave birth to her second daughter and then a boy in 2011.

Abby says she finally had the courage to leave in 2013 when she met her future husband at her uncles' home in San Antonio, Texas, where the family relocated. "He came to church one day and something told me he was the person who was going to help me," says Abby of her partner. With Rudy's help, she ran away from her uncles' house in July 2014 with her three children and reported them to the police.

"I knew I was going to grow old and he was going to want someone young," says Abby of her uncle Eusebio. “I thought, 'I have two girls. They will be the next 'There is nobody else here'. I did it for my daughters and my son because they are my whole world”.

When Abby escaped, the Castles fled from San Antonio but were arrested in 2017. In June 2018, Laura Castillo, 46, confessed to sexual abuse and was sentenced to 33 years in prison. Eusebio Castillo, 48, pleaded guilty in October and received five life terms.

Today Abby can finally rebuild her life in peace. "I can sleep now without having to panic when Rudy tries to hug me," she reveals of her partner. "It feels great knowing that I no longer have to be afraid, knowing that she will never get out [of prison]," adds her uncle. She hopes her story will help other victims of abuse break free. "I don't want people to feel sorry for me," he concludes. "I am opening up for other women and other people to hear my story and learn from it."

The full story is in PEOPLE magazine for sale this week.