A 32-year-old Birmingham, Alabama woman says a judge recently granted visitation rights to her step-uncle, who allegedly repeatedly raped her when she was a child and fathered her two sons.

Jessica, who has asked to have her last name omitted to protect her children, said she came forward to show how the state is failing rape survivors.

Jessica told WIAT that she was continually raped by her mother’s half-brother. Jessica said her uncle was never convicted despite DNA evidence.

“Well, it all started when I was 12 or 13 years old, and he started climbing in my bed at night,” she said.

She told the local TV station that she was impregnated 4 times as a result, once at 14, when she miscarried. Another time at 16, when she gave birth to a baby boy. Again at 18, when she had her third child who later died due to a disease common in cases of incest. And once more at 19, when she had another boy

“I literally just felt like I didn’t have any options,” she said.

Jessica told The Washington Post she was forced by her family to marry her rapist, which was later deemed illegal by a court due to a “familial relationship.”

After getting out of jail for a drug-related crime, the uncle took her to court for visitation of their two sons and won, according to The Post.

A DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson told the newspaper that the uncle was caught with possession of methamphetamine and suboxone and arrested with his 12-year-old son in the car with him. Despite the conviction, a judge granted him visitation.

“You have to stand behind what’s right, and you have to stand up for what you believe in,” she said in explaining why she came forward. “You know, it’s been a very long, hard road for me. But it’s going to be worth it. It may not benefit my case, but somebody in the future will benefit from this.”

“We are one of two states in the Union that do not have a law that terminates the rights of a rapist,” said Rep. Juandalynn Givan (D) Jefferson County.

Representative Givan says her fellow lawmakers are wasting time passing senseless bills.

“I think the legislature is failing the women of Alabama. The justice system can do no more than what we enact into law,” she added.

Her step-uncle still has visitation rights to her two children.

The judge warned Jessica that she will have to spend 48 hours in jail for each visit she denied her rapist.

Rep. Givan has already taken steps to pre-file legislation for the next session that would strip rapists of their parental rights, reports WIAT.

“It’s the craziest thing I ever heard in my life,” said rape crisis advocate Portia Shepherd. “On the state level, people were shocked. How could Alabama even be missing this law?”

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