Human Wreckage True Crime

The Girl in the Closet – Lauren Kavanaugh

• Thomas W

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Lauren Cavanaugh was just three years old when the abuse began. She was confined to live in a dark, lice-infested and urine-stained closet and was referred to as a little secret by her mother, barbara Atkinson, and her stepfather, kenneth Atkinson. The closet was four foot by nine foot, and Lauren would only be allowed to come out of the closet when the sadistic couple wanted to abuse her. Welcome to this episode of Human Wreckage. In this episode, we cover the case of Lauren Kavanaugh. For six long years, lauren Kavanaugh lived in a closet, not metaphorically, literally a dark, airless, filthy space barely big enough for her small, fragile body. She was only three years old when the door first closed behind her, and it would not open again in any meaningful way until she was nine. By then the damage had been done Her bones were brittle, her body starved and her spirit nearly broken Nearly. Lauren's story is not one easily told, nor is it one that should ever have to be repeated, but it must be remembered, not because we want to dwell in darkness, but because her survival is a flicker of light that refuses to go out. In that tiny prison where she was denied food, love and even the light of day, she found some way to keep breathing. Some quiet, indestructible part of her refused to give up. There is something devastatingly brave about a child who can live through that kind of suffering and still learn to smile, still laugh, still trust. Lauren Kavanaugh would later become known as the girl in the closet, but that title barely scratches the surface of who she is. She is not a symbol, not a cautionary tale. She is a person full of pain and strength, terror and hope. This is not just a story of abuse. It is a story of survival, of what happens when evil goes unchecked, yes, but also what happens when courage meets care and healing is given a chance to grow. Lauren's journey is long and far from simple, but if you're willing to look beyond the closet door, you'll find something astonishing A girl who lived through hell and chose to live anyway. Let's get into it.

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Lauren was denied food, physically beaten and sexually abused by her mother and stepfather. Over the course of five years. She was systematically beaten with a paddle as well as blunt and sharp objects, and was burned with cigarettes. As she lay in the darkness, she could hear her six siblings laughing and playing outside. When the other members of the family would go out of town on trips, lauren would be locked in the closet. As Lauren sat in the dark closet, she often glared at the sliver of light coming in through the gap at the bottom of the door. In fact, if she stared at it long enough, her mind would open a portal to another place. According to Lauren, this was her escape hatch, but according to experts it was disassociation.

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The abuse was uncovered when Kenneth told a neighbor, jeannie Rivers, about Lauren while Barbara was away from the home. Jeannie went inside her own home and told her husband, Joe, who called the police. It just got to the point where he couldn't take it anymore. It's unbelievable. I had no idea it was going on, recollected Jeannie. When officers arrived at the home, lauren was eating spaghetti. She was eating as much as she could.

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Recollected Hutchins police officer Gary McClain. While Lauren was eight years old, at this point she looked like a toddler. She weighed just 25 pounds, was filthy and had matted hair that was infested with lice. When I looked in her eyes, it looked like she'd been in a dungeon for days and days. I thought my God, how can anybody do that, said Officer McClain. Lauren was taken to Children's Medical Center of Dallas where she was treated for malnutrition. According to the medical staff. Her skin was peeling off her back and her buttocks and her teeth were broken and her stomach was bloated. In fact, she was so malnourished that her organs were shutting down and it was estimated that she very likely could not have survived much longer. Her esophagus was clogged with feces, carpet fibers and plastic, and she did not know how to sit in a chair, write with a pencil or recite her eggs. She had not been potty trained and did not recognize the sun or basic objects.

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Both Barbara and Kenneth were arrested and charged with injury to a child. The other children who were living in the home they ranged in age between 22 months and 11 years old were placed into emergency foster care. None of the children had been abused, however. The mobile home where they all had lived was filled with dirty clothes, trash and animal feces. It would be revealed that the siblings had been ordered to lie about the existence of Lauren. An investigation would uncover that CPS has investigated allegations of abuse twice before in the home, but the family had moved before they could question them. In fact, shortly after Lauren's birth, she had been fostered but then placed back in her mother's care, despite the concerns that Barbara could not take care of Lauren properly. Barbara and Kenneth were sentenced to life imprisonment in 2002. They're eligible for parole in 2031.

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After the ordeal, lauren was adopted by Lauren Sabrina and Bill Cavanaugh, who showered her with love and affection. As Lauren grew up, she spoke about her abhorred upbringing. She recalled how when her mother first put her in the closet, she thought it was punishment for crying. Unbeknownst to her, it would become her permanent home. She recollected how they put on country music to hide her screams as they abused and raped her. I couldn't do anything in the darkness. I slept in there and had to use it for the bathroom. The carpet was drenched in urine and I lay under a thin wet blanket. She said Children who are abused during their first three years of life often face irreversible cognitive damage. Far too often these children are never going to be as functional or as bright as they could have been due to the fact they were neglected and abused during their most formative years.

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Lauren's road back from the trauma she endured was long and bumpy. She went through years of psychotherapy and doctor visits and diagnoses. Shortly after Lauren was rescued, studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggested that she faced a bleak future marred by antisocial behavior, crime, drug and alcohol abuse, disease and early death. For a while, it looked as though Lauren had truly overcome her trauma and would lead a regular life. Lauren went on to study psychology at college and is a staunch supporter of other victims of sexual abuse.

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However, in December of 2018, lauren, who was 25 years old at the time, was arrested and charged with sexually abusing a minor. Lauren had met her 14-year-old victim on Lauren's Facebook page, where she had been offering support for other victims of abuse. During an interview with police, lauren admitted she had a sexual relationship with the underage girl. Greg Westfall, a criminal defense attorney in Fort Worth, said that the case should be dismissed due to Lauren's traumatic upbringing. Trauma affects the developing brain of the child, so the brain grows according to experiences, he said, when children have a steady diet of harm and danger, we're going to anticipate a much more dire outcome. He suggested that counseling was more appropriate as opposed to a prison sentence. Is she a predator? Hell, no. Is she someone who is going to be able to better communicate with a 14-year-old than an adult? Hell, yes, he said. In March of 2019, lauren was indicted on three counts of sexual assault of a child. October 2021, the charges were dismissed and Kavanaugh was released from jail after the prosecution and local experts arranged treatment for her.

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Thanks for joining me again. Truly a sad case. If you like what I do, please like and subscribe. Till next time, please take care of yourselves. Thank you you.