Nobody in the Family Believed What Her Stepdad Did

Unfiltered Stories

Today on our channel, Jazmin Granados shares her inspiring journey of overcoming adversity. From a young age, she faced mistreatment by her stepdad and was not believed by her family, which led her into depression and rebellion. Join us to hear how she has worked to heal and build a life of purpose and empowerment, turning her past struggles into lessons of strength and resilience.  #survivorstories #healingjourney #resilience   Follow Jazmin on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jazmin.granadoss   Thank you for watching Unfiltered Stories! We offer a platform for our guests to speak openly about their life stories and journeys, shedding light on the challenges they faced and the resilience they've shown.  Our mission is to raise awareness about survivors by delving into their stories, exploring the impact of their experiences, and how they've managed to heal and rebuild their lives.  By sharing these stories, we aim to break the silence surrounding those challenging memories and create a compassionate environment.    🌅 FOLLOW US 🌅  Facebook ➮ https://tinyurl.com/UnfilteredFB  Tiktok ➮ https://tinyurl.com/UnfilteredTT  Snapchat ➮ https://tinyurl.com/UnfilteredSN

Transcript

00:00My name is Jasmine. I'm from New York and I'm going to be sharing my story talking about how

00:05my childhood was taken away at a very young age and how it was for me growing up in the

00:11foster care system. Growing up, my dad was involved and my mom was very involved as well.

00:17It was me, my older brother, and my little sister. My dad, he was an old man. I remember we

00:24used to

00:24live with my grandma as kids from the ages of one to like five. And I remember my dad used

00:31to like

00:31come home, go the time, and he used to hit my mom. And me and my brother would like hide

00:37in the room

00:37and like we'll just like look underneath the door and like all we see is like my dad like you

00:41know

00:41hitting my mom. And we were just scared. Eventually, my grandma ended up kicking out my dad. He had left

00:48and shortly after, that's when my mom got with my stepfather. When my stepfather entered into our

00:54lives, there wasn't like any really like red flags. There was like no signs of abuse or anything

01:01until we moved out to like their first apartment. He would keep me in my room for hours. He'll hit

01:07me

01:08sometimes with his hand. I remember there was also a time where they gave me something to eat. He gave

01:15me a plate. I don't know what it was but it was too spicy for me. And I told him

01:20I didn't want it

01:20and it was too spicy for me. And he was like no like you're gonna sit there and you're gonna

01:25eat it.

01:26And so I started like forcing myself to eat what was in that plate. And I remember like I threw

01:31everything up. I just couldn't hold it in my little system. And he got mad at me. And this man

01:37literally

01:38made me drink my throw up. He was like you're not getting up. You're not going anywhere until you finish

01:44everything that's in your plate. My mom feels like without a man she's nothing. Like she can't

01:49succeed without a man. Because she never had a job in her life. So she feels like she needs a

01:53man for

01:54everything. As long as that man is providing her a home and food and he's as long as he's putting

02:00food on the table and we're living under this roof she's fine. Because he's the man of the house.

02:06And anything that he says she goes by. At the age of six I didn't really know it was wrong.

02:12But I knew that it was not okay. I felt scared. I was even more scared because my mom she

02:19wasn't

02:19doing anything about it. She wasn't sticking up for me. She kind of just ignored everything and

02:25she allowed him to continue hitting me abusing me and my two other siblings. I had no social life

02:32only when I was in school. That was the only time I was able to hang out with friends

02:36and chat with kids my age. When I would come home he would immediately tell me to go to my

02:42room and

02:43that's where I spent most of my days in my room with no light pure darkness for hours. While my

02:50other siblings which were biologically his were able to just run around go outside go to the park

02:58ride their bikes around in the backyard. And me and my older brother and my sister were just locked in

03:04our rooms in pure darkness with a lock. We weren't allowed to come out of our rooms unless we were

03:10doing something beneficial. Unless we were doing something with his kids which was probably like

03:16rub their feet. He will make me and my little sister rub their feet. I remember one day I ended

03:23up going to

03:24a sleepover at my grandma's house. And this was a thing we did once in a while. I went to

03:29my grandma's

03:29house and I had a sleepover and the very next day my abuser came to pick me up. And I

03:35kept telling

03:36my grandma I was like no like I'm scared like I don't want to go I don't want to go.

03:39And they were

03:40like but why don't you want to go? I didn't want to tell them what was going on at home.

03:44And I was

03:44like I'm just scared and I'm scared of him. And they ended up telling me they were like they asked

03:49me

03:49my grandparents asked me is he touching you? And I said yes. And they said where? And so I pointed

03:55at

03:55my areas. And I was like he's touching me here here here. I remember there they got they called

04:00my aunt. They called my uncles. My grandpa. And they were saying they were like she's scared to go

04:06home. Like what do we do? And then I remember he was downstairs. He had just pulled in. My grandfather

04:12went downstairs to speak to him. And they asked him why is she so scared to go home? What are

04:18you doing

04:19to her? And he responded with I won't do it again. Right there they were like you guys have to

04:25call

04:25the cops. But I guess one of my uncles they had said how no you guys can't call the cops.

04:31What if

04:31she's lying? They didn't call the cops. And they basically just took his word off I won't do it

04:38again. And they allowed me to go home with this man. When I ended up going home with him he

04:42had told

04:43me why did you say that and you're never going to go back to your grandparents to have a sleepover.

04:48And shortly after when we got home he just locked me in my room and I never went back to

04:53my

04:54grandparents again to have sleepovers. I remember the first time he touched me. We were inside a car

05:01and he was driving and I was right behind him. He had dropped off my mom and my siblings to

05:07go to the

05:07store and it was just me and him. And he ended up reaching his arm out behind me and he

05:13touched my

05:13legs and he was going up my legs. He started grooming me. He started touching me. He used to play

05:20with my

05:20hair. Put my hair behind my ear. He used to touch my legs. He used to tell me to wear

05:26dresses. He used

05:27to look at me very flititiously. I didn't know that it was wrong really as a little girl but I

05:33did know

05:33that I felt uncomfortable. I remember the first time that he like touched me and scraped me. I remember

05:41I was in my room and it was maybe like two in the morning. Everybody was sleeping. We used to

05:47sleep

05:47with like locked chains. And I remember that he came inside my room and I heard a little chain.

05:55And when he came inside, I was just laying down my bed and he started touching me. Touching my breasts.

06:01I had like no breasts. He was touching my breasts. I'm touching my legs. And then that's when he like

06:06put

06:07his pants down and I started rubbing his penis on my private area. And then he like inserted like a

06:13little bit of it. He was just telling me like to be quiet and don't make noise. Like one of

06:18the very

06:18first few times that I remember. And then when like when he finished doing whatever he did like

06:23he left the room. And he was just like don't tell anybody. Nobody's gonna believe you. I mean he was

06:30right. Nobody believed me because I ended up telling my mom about it and she didn't believe me herself.

06:36And that's one of the very first few times that I remember. And there was also another time when I

06:42remember that my mom, she had left the store and he would make her take all his kids, my three

06:49brothers. And then it was me, my little sister and my older brother. And he used to keep us in

06:55our

06:56rooms locked the whole day in pure darkness. And it was me and my sister in the room and then

07:02my brother

07:02was in the other room. But when you come out of my brother's room, the living room is right there.

07:06I remember my stepfather ended up going into my room and he told me to come out. And when I

07:12came

07:12out, he locked my sister back inside the room. And then he brings me in the living room. And right

07:18there is when I had like this dress on. And I remember this dress. It was a black dress and

07:24it

07:25had polka dots in the bottom. He was sitting in a couch and he started like touching me. He removed

07:31my

07:31dress and he started like kissing on me. And that's when he like took my dress off and he started

07:37like

07:37rubbing his penis on me again. And when he finished, he told me to go into my room and he

07:43locked me back

07:43in my room. And then I remember my mom came back from the store and he ended up stepping out.

07:49And I

07:49guess my brother saw something because on the doorknob, it had like a little hole. And I guess

07:54my brother seen something. And when my mom came in, she went straight to the kitchen. She was prepping

07:59dinner. And my brother went and he was telling, mom, mom, like I have to tell you something.

08:05And I automatically knew that he knew something. And so I ran to the bathroom and I locked myself in

08:12there because I knew my brother was going to tell my mom. And my brother was like, mom,

08:15mom, like I saw him. I saw my dad, my stepfather, and he was touching her dress and he was

08:22kissing

08:22on her. And mom was like, no, no. Like, what are you talking about? You're crazy. Junior,

08:27stop making up lies. I ended up coming out of the bathroom and it was like nothing happened.

08:33Like my brother didn't say anything. I remember my grandmother came to visit us after not seeing us

08:39for a while. And I remember my grandma was telling me like, hey, what ended up happening?

08:45You know, after you left? Did things change? Did he stop touching you? And there I started crying.

08:52And I was like, no, like he's still touching me. Still hitting us, abusing us. And I remember my

08:58grandma just started bawling her eyes out. And my mom was crying. But it's like, you knew about it.

09:04So my mom was there crying and my grandma was crying as well. And I remember my grandma, she was

09:09like,

09:10speaking to my mom. Like, what are you going to do about this? We have to call the cops.

09:14And my mom was like, no, no, no. My mom was scared. I guess she was so scared that she

09:19was

09:19going to get her kids taken away. And it ended up getting like late. And my grandma had to take

09:24the bus back to her town. My grandma ended up leaving. But she told my mom, she said, if this

09:31man comes inside the house, don't let him come inside. Keep the door locked. And if he tries or

09:38attempts to come inside the house, you call the cops. And I remember my mom was telling

09:43me, Jasmine, are you sure? Are you lying about this? And I was like, no, like he's really

09:49touching me. He's molesting me. It was like midnight. And I remember my mom, she told us

09:54to go to bed. And we went to bed. The door was locked. And I remember I heard knocking.

10:00And it was him. He was coming back from work. My mom opened the door to this man. And from

10:07there, I remember I heard him talking. But I didn't know what was going on because I was

10:12so far away from their room. But I remember I ended up falling asleep. And the next morning

10:18I woke up. And when I came out of my room, it was my mom and my stepfather in the

10:22living

10:23room. And my mom told me, Jasmine, I told him what you said. And he said, you're lying.

10:29And right there, he giggled. And I was like, is that not your sign right there? And ever

10:36since that day, she just avoided everything. Like, I was a liar to her. To her, everything

10:43I'm saying is not truth. And I'm just doing it for attention. I remember my stepfather used

10:50to hit us for any little thing. If my book bag was dirty, let's say my folder wasn't

10:56organized, he will find that as an excuse to beat me. And he will hit me with the bell,

11:01pull my ears, just keep me in my room locked. And then I remember my brother, one day, we

11:08were out in the living room. And my stepfather ended up coming home because it was raining.

11:14For the longest time, I used to hate the rain because I knew when it rained, my stepfather

11:19was coming home. And I knew that he was going to either hit us or keep us locked in our

11:25rooms.

11:26He ended up coming home one night and he seen my brother out in the living room and me and

11:31my sister. He immediately told my brother to go in his room and he locked my brother in

11:37the room. Shortly after, he went inside my brother's room and he noticed there was a hole

11:43in the wall. And when he noticed that hole in the wall, he started hitting my brother

11:48and he told my brother to put his hands out flat. And when my brother put his hands out,

11:54I remember he had like a nail and he tried to put it inside his hands. And my brother

11:59like quickly like took his hands away and he was like, put your hands. And my brother put

12:04his hands and then he tried to put the nail again. And then he threw him on the floor and

12:08he had his leg on top of him, pressing him towards the floor, putting all his weight on

12:13my brother. And I remember my brother was like gasping for air. And right there, I was like,

12:18what do I do? I remember my eyes were just looking at the house phone back and forth, back

12:23and forth. And I was like, I have to do something about this. Like I have to get help. Like

12:28I just,

12:28I can't keep living like this. When my stepfather finished hitting him, because he used to

12:33also hit him with cables on his legs. And I used to witness that shortly after he came

12:38out of my brother's room, blocked my brother in his room. And I remember the very next day

12:43we had school. One of the teachers noticed actually that in the back of my ear, there

12:49was like a bruise. And they questioned me. The teacher asked me, what is this bruise?

12:54Why do you have a bruise in the back of your ear? And I said, it was my stepfather. He

12:58pulled

12:58my ear because I had on a shirt that had diamonds and like little glitter. And I was messing with

13:05it. And since my stepfather seen that I was messing with one of my shirts, he got mad and

13:11he pulled my ear and he had like ripped a little piece of my ear. And my ear was very

13:16bruised

13:17up the next day. The teacher, she had went to the principal and she told the principal what

13:22I said. And I told them, you know, he pulled my ear. And I remember they had sent CPS over.

13:28They went inside the house and they seen that there was food. They seen that we had toys,

13:34that we had our own room, even though me and my sister shared it. The rooms looked nice. There

13:38was no red flags for them, aside from the little bruise on my ear. And I remember he said that

13:45we don't listen, that we're doing things that we're not supposed to be doing. He basically

13:51brainwashed the CPS workers and they fell for it. And they said that there was no signs of abuse.

13:57And then they said, if they misbehave, this is what you do. And they said, you put them against

14:04the wall and you make them put their hands up behind their head for 30 to an hour. I remember

14:10CPS left

14:11and I just knew that we wasn't going to get help. But when he said, nobody would believe you,

14:17I believed it because nobody did believe us. Nobody tried to help us. And my mom, she was

14:23siding with him. My mom was saying, yeah, they're, they're lying. That's not true. They don't listen,

14:30this and that. And then I remember the second time when he abused me again and he ended up

14:36hitting my brother, like torturing my brother and hitting him with cables. And I was like,

14:41that's enough. I can't. And I remember that same night I went into my room. I remember I seen my

14:48sister, we were in the same room. And I told my sister, I was like, we need to get help

14:52right

14:53now. And she was scared. And I was like, come on. Like I was probably like seven and I was

14:58packing a

14:59backpack that I had. And I put clothes in there and I packed the bag for my sister. And I

15:05told my

15:05sister, I was like, we're leaving. We need to get help. And I remember I took the AC out of

15:10the

15:10window and I went through because that window led to the back. And my sister was really afraid.

15:16She was scared. She was maybe five. And she was like, no, I can't. I'm scared. And I was like,

15:23come on. Like, you know, we have to do something about this. Like I'm going to help you. We're going

15:27to get out of here. She wouldn't want to go. And so I stood back because I'm not letting my

15:32sister

15:33stay by herself, especially after what happened to me. And I have to protect my sister. I have to

15:39protect my siblings. I ended up staying home that night. The very next day, I ended up going to

15:44school. And it was like the last day to spring break. And we were going to be off for like

15:51two

15:51weeks or so. I was like, I just can't be there another two weeks living there and just getting

15:56abused and getting beat and watching my siblings getting tortured. So I remember I was speaking to

16:01my teacher and I was like, I have to talk to you. And she was like, what's wrong? I was

16:05like,

16:05he's touching me. And he hits us and he's hitting us with cables and with the bell. And I remember

16:12she went right across the hall and she told this other teacher. And then they ended up bringing us

16:18to the principal's office, which cops were already there at the school. And I told him he's abusing me.

16:25He's touching me. He's raping me. And I was like, he's beating my brother. Like my, my brother had

16:31like bruises and scars on his legs. And I remember right there, they immediately took us from my mom

16:38and my stepfather under their care. They took us. And I remember they took us to the hospital so we

16:45can get a, a body check. And I remember my brother, he had like marks on his legs and they

16:52checked me.

16:53And they ended up actually also doing a rape kit. And I remember I was laying there and they were

17:00checking me down there and using these tools. And I was just confused. I didn't know what to feel.

17:06I was just scared. I was numbed after everything that I went through. And I remember they were checking

17:11me, whatever. And they had confirmed how, you know, I was actually touched and he actually did

17:19rape me. And once they got those results immediately, we were, they spoke to my mom and they said,

17:25do you know anyone that can take them? Like it was an emergency placement now. And my mom has said,

17:30yes, I have a friend. And we ended up going with this friend of hers, which I don't know how

17:37they

17:37didn't see any red flags because my mom's friend, she didn't have a dining room table. So there was

17:43nowhere for us to even sit and eat. She didn't have a room for us, for all six of us,

17:50nothing.

17:50However, they still allowed us to stay with this friend. And that friend and her daughter,

17:57they made our lives even more miserable. I thought me being in foster care, I'm finally away from the

18:03abuse. And I'm finally going to be able to be a kid and experience things that I never got to

18:08experience. I was wrong. That lady and her daughter used to blame me for everything. Oh, it's your fault

18:15that your mom got her kids taken away. Just telling me so much harsh words as a kid. And

18:22they used to like slave us around. They used to tell me, oh, carry my bags and pick this up

18:30and

18:30clean the bathroom. And my, they made my brother clean the bathroom one time. And the lady, she had

18:36the belt in her hand and she had it up. And my brother, as he's cleaning the bathroom, he's like,

18:41carry it. She's like, carry up, carry up. If you don't clean the bathroom, like I'm going to hit you

18:46and stuff. And she ended up hitting us as well. She was emotionally abusive, physically, verbally.

18:54And I remember I just had enough. I was like, if I don't speak up for my siblings and for

19:00myself,

19:01nobody else is going to speak up. I spoke up. My mom has supervised visits. And I remember we ended

19:07up

19:07having a visit on a Tuesday. Me and all my siblings were there. And I remember I told my mom

19:12and the

19:13workers there, I was like, I don't want to be there anymore. Like this lady is abusing us. She's hitting

19:19us. She's harassing us. And she's, and they were like, okay, well, it's, it's too late. We can't do

19:27anything about this, but we will do something about this Monday, whatever. Cool. I remember we went back

19:34to this lady's care and it turned out to be Monday. We went to school. I remember we were put

19:39in the

19:39bus to go back home and I didn't come out the bus. I was like, no, I'm scared. Like that

19:45lady is

19:46hitting us and I'm not happy. She's abusing us. So since I didn't want to get out of the bus,

19:53one of

19:53my brothers didn't want to get out from the bus neither because he was scared. And I remember since

19:59we wouldn't get out the bus, they ended up calling one of our workers that was already assigned to the

20:03case. And so they have brought us back to the school. And since none of us wanted to be there

20:09and there was clearly a sign of abuse going on at that household, they ended up taking us away from

20:15her. And then their mistake again was they asked my mom if she had anybody else that could take us

20:22in.

20:22My mom said, yes, she has a friend. Now we ended up going to this other friend of hers. She

20:28had two

20:28floors and at first everything was fine. They were really sweet. They were really good to us.

20:35They bought us clothes. They bought us toys. Me and my sister shared a room. I remember we moved in

20:42into this new foster home. And when I had went inside my room for the very first time, I opened

20:49the closet door and I seen that there was a watch. And I was like, okay. I was like, there's

20:54a watch in

20:54the closet. I left it there. I did not want to touch it. I didn't say anything because I was

20:59like, if it's there, it's there for a reason. Somebody must have put it there. So I left it

21:03there. Now, a couple of like months later, they end up going into the closet and they find the watch

21:10and they're accusing us about stealing the watch. So they had chairs lined up. And I remember it was

21:17me and my siblings all lined up sitting on the chairs. And they were basically saying how, oh,

21:23one of you guys stole the watch and you're not going to get up from this chair until I find

21:28out

21:28who did it. And all my siblings, they went one by one. And my siblings were like, it wasn't me.

21:33It

21:33wasn't me. It wasn't me. And then when it came to my turn, I was like, it was not me.

21:38It was already

21:38there. And they were like, you're a liar. You're a liar. It was you. And she was like, you're going

21:44to

21:44stay in that chair and you're not going to get up until you say it was you until you admit

21:49to it.

21:50And I did not admit to it because it was not me. And I remember her son told me, just

21:55say it was

21:56you. Because if you don't say that it was you, you're going to be there for the entire night.

22:01And I was like, no, because it was not me. And they were like, no, like, I know it wasn't

22:06you,

22:06but just say it was you. So I ended up saying that it was me. And she was like, okay,

22:10not for that.

22:11You're going to bed with no dinner. You're going to bed early. So I remember it was maybe like

22:16seven o'clock and I didn't have dinner or nothing. She sent me upstairs to my room. She

22:21said, take a shower and you go to bed. And I remember the bathroom, it didn't have a light

22:27bulb. I don't know if they did that on purpose because they knew I was scared of dark. I took

22:31a shower and I'll leave the door a little cracked open because I was scared. And so I remember

22:36when I came out of the shower, I went to bed, whatever. And it was like a regular night.

22:41I remember the very next day we were having breakfast and we also had like a cup of milk

22:47and I did not like milk at all. And they will force us to eat things or drink things that

22:54we didn't like. And you were not allowed to get up from that table unless you finished

22:59your meal. And I remember one time I almost threw up because I don't like milk. And she

23:05was, and she made me stay in that table for like three hours until I finished drinking my

23:10milk. It makes me more sad because my brother, he's so like traumatized. And my brother,

23:16he was fine before all of this happened. And now he has like mental disorders. And I blame

23:23it on him because now my brother has to like live in like this residential household where

23:30they like give him extra help and they teach him how to do laundry and teach him how to shave

23:34and do all these things and how to shower. And it's like, if he, I really feel like if my

23:40brother

23:40didn't go through what he went through, he wouldn't be in that state. He would have been independent. He

23:45would have probably had his own place by now, probably be driving a car. He wouldn't have a

23:50hard time, you know, getting a job, working, but because of, you know, what my brother went through.

23:56Now he's, he's so traumatized. I forgave my mom a long time ago, but as many chances as I give

24:03to

24:04my mom, she keeps breaking my trust. I really believe to this day, my mom still blames me for

24:10what happened because my mom used to tell me, Oh, it's your fault that I got my kids taken away

24:16and you're a liar and you was never raped. And why are you making up things? And I'm like,

24:22Oh my God. But you literally have the paperwork where it says that I was actually raped. Like you,

24:29I got a rape kit done. And it's like, you have the evidence where it states that it happened and

24:35you're still like in denial. For what reason? They just always thought I was the issue. And it's like,

24:42no, like I'm not a liar. Like this is the facts. This is what happened. And I don't care what

24:49you

24:49guys say. It's not my fault. Okay. I'm a survivor and I did what was best for me and my

24:55siblings.

24:56It's never a kid's fault. And I stand on that. Till this day, I'm not close with my mom, but

25:02I do call

25:02and I check up on her and we have small conversations and she's told me like, I'm sorry for what

25:09you went

25:10through and forgive me. And I know I wasn't the best mom and you know, she apologized and I did

25:17forgave her. But I feel like inside of her, she's always going to believe that it was my fault. And

25:25she's always going to blame me for what happened to my siblings because they got taken away from her.

25:30I ended up leaving the foster care system when I was 20 and going on 21. My last current foster

25:37mom,

25:37she was really supportive. She actually helped me get into this housing that I'm in now. And she

25:44helped me get my own apartment. She helped me get the help that I needed. Now that I'm situated,

25:49I got my own place. I have a job. I love my job. I love what I do. I ended

25:55up going to therapy,

25:57getting the help that I needed. I actually just got off antidepressants like about three months ago.

26:04And that is something so major to me because I thought I was always going to have to depend

26:09on these antidepressants. I'm definitely in a better mental state. I'm happy. I'm healing.

26:15I feel free. And I know that this man can't hurt me anymore.

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