Her Father Threatened Her Family and Abused Her Trust

Unfiltered Stories

In today's episode of Unfiltered Stories, we have the privilege of hearing Veronica Pryor Faciane share her deeply personal and impactful life story. From a tender young age, Veronica faced unimaginable challenges that no child should ever have to endure. She was subjected to the profound betrayal of trust and safety within her own family. Despite the immense trauma and the weight of threats that silenced her, Veronica's resilience and strength shine through as she bravely shares her journey with us.   Through her own experiences, Veronica has found a powerful calling in life. She has chosen to dedicate herself to supporting others who have faced similar traumas, using her own healing journey to guide and empower those in need. As a therapist, Veronica creates a safe space for individuals to process their experiences and work towards healing and growth. Her story serves as a beacon of hope, reminding us that even in the darkest of times, there is the potential for transformation and purpose. Join us as we listen to Veronica's unfiltered story with open hearts and minds, bearing witness to the incredible strength of the human spirit.   #unfilteredstories #survivorstories   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 Veronica Pryor-Fashon, and I am a overcomer of over 28 years of incestuous abuse.

00:09I'm the oldest of five children, four living, and when it started was when my baby sister was born,

00:16because when he came to me, he told me, you don't want anything to happen to your little sister,

00:21do you? And I'm looking like, what are you talking about? I'm five. And he was like,

00:26do you want me to hurt your little sister? And I was like, no, then if you don't want me

00:31to hurt

00:32your little sister, or if you don't want me to leave your mom, because you don't want your mom

00:36sad, do you? And I was like, well, no. Well, then if you don't want these things, then you're going

00:40to allow me to do this, and you're not going to tell anyone, because what goes on in this house

00:45has to stay in this house. As we grew older, that's when I found out that he had started touching

00:51her

00:51too. And it was around the same age, because I was 10 when she came to me. So she had

00:56to be close

00:57to five. And when I went to my mom to try to tell her, because he used to be abusive

01:01to her,

01:02I know like over the years and everything, and he was very smart with like doing troubleshooting on

01:07electrical stuff and mechanical things. Like I said, it was Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. You don't know how

01:13he would come home. And you can be trying to walk on eggshells, because you just wanted peace.

01:19You didn't want him to be fussing at you. You didn't want because even trying to learn

01:24how to do math or certain things, if he spent time with you, you would get hit by making mistakes.

01:30Like I said, it was just a life of living, walking on eggshells. I remember we used to go to

01:35one of

01:35my cousins, my older cousin's house, and she used to watch us. She started noticing some things

01:42changing us because I know she had spoke to me about it. And she said, I brought it to my

01:46mom,

01:47well, her mom, which was my grandmother's old sister. And she said, and she questioned my birth

01:53father. And when she did that, he stopped allowing us to go over there for her to babysit us. It's

01:59so

01:59disheartening because as I got older, the sexual acts, because at first it started out with rubbing

02:06his body parts on my mouth when I was young, it was no penetration at that time. Then he would

02:12go from

02:13there as I got older and start rubbing it on my private parts. And he was just rubbed until I

02:18got

02:18older. And I think as I got older and when I brought it to my mom about my little sister,

02:23because when he told me, my sister told me that he had started touching her, I remember being

02:28extremely angry. And I'm like, he lied to me. He told me that he wouldn't hurt her if I did

02:34these

02:34things. Then he also used the Bible. So it was very, it's like he started grooming me at a young

02:39age.

02:40Boy would say that I'm his concubine and, and he had the right to do these things. And as I

02:46got

02:46older, it was more things that he groomed me for. We would go to church nonstop. In a community,

02:51we looked like the perfect family. Nobody knew what was going on behind closed doors. And he knew that

02:58nobody would really believe what was going on behind closed doors because how he carried himself. And as we

03:04got older, then I had two of my brothers was born. And later on, my baby brother was born. And

03:10we are

03:1116 and a half, almost 17 years apart. My baby brother, however, just passed in 2022. He had an

03:18aneurysm. And I used to ask him because he played semi pro ball and he played ball in school. And

03:23he

03:23was a pretty big, big young man. And I just noticed that he started going down. And I was like,

03:29Tim,

03:29what's wrong? What is going on? And he wouldn't talk about it. I remember one time I, my, one of

03:35my

03:35brothers called me and he was like, you need to come check on him. He's spazzing out. And I don't

03:40know what's going on. I call an ambulance and he's not cooperating because I was the oldest. I felt,

03:45I almost felt like it was my fault because I didn't want to be alone in that house. When I

03:50prayed for

03:51siblings, he never sexually assaulted my brothers. He used to be physically abusive to them. As I got older,

03:58that's when he started penetrating me. Anytime a guy, if I would try to bring a guy around,

04:03he would run them off. And it was so bad that like when it was time for prom and all

04:09those things,

04:09I never had a chance to experience. I never had a chance to experience none of those things like

04:14normal children would. Because I remember starting to work at the age of 12, they had this JTPA web

04:22program where you can take your work during the summer. And I started working because he,

04:27as I got older, and I was like, I said, around the age of 12, he started having problems with

04:32working. And I guess his mental health started going down. And I remember asking, why don't you

04:36go get you some help? Nothing wrong with me. I have Lord in my heart and all this other stuff.

04:41And

04:41if you ever questioned him, you would get beat. You just didn't want to do that. But I had a

04:46mouth

04:46on me and I still have a mouth on me when I feel it's a need to speak up. And

04:51I used to speak up for

04:52myself. I went from working during the summer to working at Popeye's. And I was making $3.35 an hour.

04:58And I remember, because I was around 16, asking for more and more hours because I wanted to make

05:04sure my siblings had the stuff that they needed for school. And I stayed there so long because so

05:11many people always ask me the question, why did you stay? Because I felt obligated to take care of my

05:17siblings and my mom, because I used to watch like for their anniversaries. When I was getting older,

05:22he would never buy anything. And he would always try to tear her down to the lowest extreme.

05:28I graduated with honors. I had high grades, I think like a three point something average.

05:33I had scholarships. I was going to nursing school and nobody knew in the midst of all that,

05:38I still was watching the door every night. A lot of times I didn't get sleep. And I learned how

05:43to deal

05:44with going without sleep because I wanted to make it. I had to get me out of that house and

05:49my

05:49siblings. As I got older, I went to college and I wound up having to drop out of nursing school

05:55because I was facing some other challenges at that specific nursing school because of my color

06:01that I wasn't used to. Because the school that I went to for high school, all my friends was

06:06multiple different races. And so their families never treated me differently because I was black.

06:12When I went to college, that was a different experience from the nursing school when I got

06:16accepted into. So I was like, I can't do this. I got too much I'm dealing with at home. I

06:21can't deal

06:21with this too. So I dropped out and I applied to two HBCUs, Xavier and Diller. I didn't even know

06:27what

06:28I was going to go to school for. I just knew I had to go to school because I had

06:31to get me out and

06:32my sisters them and my brothers them out that situation. So I went to Xavier University of Louisiana

06:38Louisiana and I majored in accounting. Did good there as well. But my father at that time had

06:45stopped working for others and had opened up his own mechanic shop. And he was working at this big

06:50company where fixing on their 18 wheelers or what have you. Well, I remember one time I was telling my

06:56mom, I said, Mom, I can get us out of this. I was going to get an apartment because I

07:01had, I could take

07:02out student loans and take out debt. And I was working still. And I was like, you can get out

07:06of this situation. I'm going to just say before nighttime came, she hadn't told him because he

07:12hadn't ruled us to tell. We would feel, I know the same thing that I felt if I didn't tell

07:16him,

07:17he always told us he would know. I know what you're thinking. In hindsight, it's like, how would

07:21somebody know what you're thinking? But when you've been beat down, when you, when you've been

07:26molested, raped, I mean, because he would say that he's doing this to save. I don't want you to get

07:31out

07:31there in these streets and get a disease or what have you. As I got older and we were working

07:38at

07:38that shop. I remember one instance, like I told you when I was telling my mom and she wound up

07:43telling

07:44it. And he said, Oh, you think you're going to be able to get out of this? He was taking

07:49control of

07:50any money that I had. I wasn't allowed to have anything. He said that God made us to take care

07:57of

07:57just like Mary and Martha and them was taking care of Jesus in the Bible and everything that

08:03we're supposed to be his servants and take care of him. That instance, he would make me, when that

08:08happened, when I told her that, and I was trying to get them out, I remember when he would say,

08:12Oh,

08:12you don't want to be a part of this family. He would make me sit on the floor and eat

08:16my food like

08:17a dog out of a bowl. Sometimes it got to the point, like he would forcibly, when he started having

08:22sex with me, it was like he was taking hate out on me. As I got older, and I did

08:29was able to move

08:30to Baton Rouge, found a job and as an auditor, and I asked my brother, my middle brother, if I

08:36can move

08:37in with him, I still had not told them what was going on. And I'm thinking, finally, I'm out the

08:42situation. And that was in 1999. When I had the interview, I remember the interviewing team,

08:48they was like, we see what you're making now. Do you understand you taking more than a half of a

08:55pay cut to work here? I'm like, I'm fine. And it was like, you willing to do this? I'm like,

09:00yes,

09:00ma'am. And they were confused. It's like, that doesn't make sense. I was like, I just want to

09:04try something different. So I thought I finally got away. Well, in February of 2000, I got a phone call

09:12that they didn't know if my mom was going to live because she had experienced trauma in the head

09:18to do brain surgery. It was late at night. And I was in Baton Rouge and they were still down

09:24in New

09:24Orleans, in the New Orleans area. I told them what had happened with my mom when I got down there,

09:29Dr. Kalikia, which was one of the top brain surgeons in our area, he came to talk to me because

09:35my father looked like he was all destroyed. But all our way driving down there, I'm thinking,

09:41what did he do her? Because it's like, I'm out of the situation. And I thought things was going to

09:47be safe because my other siblings had to moved out. My baby sister had, she was married long before I

09:52was. And so I'm thinking it's safe. He's not going to touch Timothy. That's a boy. He may fuss. He

09:57may do

09:58that, but he's not going to touch him. But I guess he got extra irate with my mom because both

10:04of the

10:04arteries in the back of her brain were severed. And Dr. Kalikia came to speak to me. I knew what

10:10he meant. He was like, we know there's some type of trauma because this just does not happen. This

10:15is not from blood pressure. This is from some type of force, but we can't see anything from when we're

10:21doing surgery. Do you need to talk to me? And I just looked at him. And so I was like,

10:27well, sir,

10:27I don't know. I wasn't there. I stay in Baton Rouge. I'm not sure what happened. But in the back

10:32of my

10:33mind, I think I remember mom having like two or three miscarriages because of the things that he

10:40did. It got so bad one time when he did, after she wound up coming through it, because the next

10:47day

10:48she whispered what happened. They thought she was going to be a vegetable and she survived. And it

10:54was like, it's a miracle. And my stomach, I was sick to my stomach because I remember needed to go

10:59get it. It was like, we need to get some clothes. So I was thinking, well, I'll go get her

11:02clothes

11:02or whatever. And I was just calling you to go to the store and go buy some. And he said,

11:06I'm coming with you. So what there? And of course he raped me when I got home. And I'm thinking

11:11your

11:11wife is in a hospital, barely making it. And this is where your mind is at. I was paying all

11:17the bills

11:17and taking care of everything. My mom was too, because she was a paraprofessional in the school

11:22system down there. Well, when she got sick and stuff like that, that's when I found out he hadn't

11:28been paying anything because her salary wasn't enough to do that. And I wasn't sending any money

11:33home. I was taking care of my home. I thought finally I was out this situation. Well, when I

11:39got home to go get her clothes and then I was leaving, I went to check the mailbox and I

11:45saw

11:46a letter that said that they were about to foreclose on the home. And I'm like, do you know this

11:52is

11:52going on? He was like, well, that's your responsibility. You should have took care of

11:55that. And so of course the house got foreclosed on and the bank took it. Well, I was made to

12:00get a U-Haul truck for them to pack their stuff and to get ready to get out of there.

12:05And I'm like,

12:06well, where are you driving? Because I'm leaving. Well, we're going up to the country. The country

12:11was where I was staying with my family. Because when my mom got sick, I wound up taking my little

12:16brother and he needed to go to school. But because of the type of job I had with the state,

12:20I did a lot

12:21of driving because of the audits around the state and he needed stability. So my aunt let it be,

12:26say, come stay with me and I'll help you with him. Well, he wound up moving up back up here

12:33and he

12:33wound up moving with my other aunt. Well, I'm still thinking I'm safe because I'm in a house with the

12:38other one. Well, they wound up talking my aunt into getting my grandparents' house and fixing it up.

12:43He was like, so we could stay in a house together. On June 14, 2004 was the last night I

12:51was raped by

12:51my father. And it was the night before my wedding. And I was up there saying, I never knew that

12:58David

12:58had unctions of what was going on because he would say, Veronica, hindsight, he said, when I would get

13:05you flowers, he would always get mad. And if I'm holding your hand, I watch how he'd be jealous.

13:10And he was like, I would walk so many times at my apartment because he was like, the way he's

13:16acting, like that's his woman. And he was like, it just didn't make sense. And so the night of my

13:22wedding, after we said our vows, I was like, I said, David, I need to tell you something. And he

13:29was like, what? I was like, and I want to let you know that it's pretty heavy. And if you

13:34choose not to

13:35be married to me, it's okay. And so the night of our wedding, I told him what was happening to

13:41me.

13:41And he cried. And he was like, I knew it. He said, but why you didn't say something sooner?

13:46I would have took you out of that. And I was scared because he was trying to hurt him and

13:51all kinds of stuff. And I was like, this just didn't make sense. Because now I had to drop the

13:57balls. I got a husband now, so I had support. And so because I had to told David everything before

14:02we went to go on our honeymoon and all that other good stuff. And he was like, no matter

14:06what, I'm going to be here for you. One day, my aunt called and she was like, you need to

14:11check on your mom. Because it looked like she had a black eye. Then I kept having nightmares

14:17that something was happening to my little cousin. And so I checked on my mom and she was like,

14:21no, I'm fine. But she wouldn't take the shades of them thinking she's not fine. And that same

14:26night, because David came over there with me, my little cousin came out the room and she

14:31hollered. She told her, go put some clothes on. And when I left out there, when we left,

14:35it was just something in my stomach. And David, when we left and I bust out crying as he was

14:42driving, he was like, what's wrong?

14:43I was like, he touched, he touched it hurt.

14:50He was like, how do you know that? I said, because those words, she said them same words

14:56when somebody came to visit to me. And my sister, I said, he's touching her. She had already been

15:02blessed and that's why she was touching her. And he was like, and he was like, well, Veronica,

15:09you don't know that. I was like, I just feel it. I feel it. He said, but she hasn't said

15:14nothing.

15:14So I would try to ask. He was like, and she never would say anything. Well, one time my aunt,

15:20my great aunt was talking to her granddaughter about good touches and bad touches. And my little

15:26cousin said, you mean like my papa? Cause that's what she called her, my daddy. My papa doing me.

15:33And that's when it came out. And so I called my auntie, which was his sister to come get him.

15:39And so my aunt was saying, she called my grandfather. She's like, Roosevelt, you need to

15:43get over here. So she, he talked to him and he kept telling her, you need to get you some

15:47help.

15:47Well, listen. And so my aunt had to took her grandchildren and everything. And then they

15:52kept calling me about my mom. Cause of course she's there by herself with my little brother.

15:56I don't know what he was seeing. Cause he still was with them. And, um, and this was like after

16:012003, cause he hadn't graduated. And of course I was managing married in 2004. So I was like,

16:08I didn't tell my husband. I didn't tell no one. I was like, I'm going to press charges. I had

16:14to

16:15get my mind together. Cause if I was going to be press charges, I knew I had to air out

16:20all our

16:21dirty laundry. When I went to go press charges, I didn't know my aunt and my little cousin had

16:27already started the process for her. And so they were saying, you mean this person here? And he

16:32had a picture of him. They was like, he's already under investigation. And I was like, I said, I don't

16:38want my little cousin to have to go through testifying. I said, I will testify myself. I can

16:44do this. And I was like, cause I don't want her to go through this. And so they had to,

16:48he was like,

16:49it's going to take some time. And I don't remember how much time, but I remember getting a call when

16:54they said they was going to pick him up. Well, once they picked him up, the person, the investigator

16:59said, it's like he was relieved. And with him, with me going to testify, he wind up saying he would

17:06take a plea. And so they wanted to give him 50 years. Well, they wanted to give him more than

17:13that, but he pleaded to so, so many charges. So it was like four charges based on his age and

17:18me

17:19still hoping that he would change because I, I knew something that happened to him. I knew that he was

17:25in a thinking people do things because of their life's experiences. And I was hoping that he would

17:31change or at least have a chance to change and possibly get out in his older years. So I say,

17:36why don't y'all give him 30 years year for year that he messed with me? They did not agree

17:40with,

17:40they talked to me a long time. My husband, none of them agreed with it, but I was hell bent

17:45on him

17:45having a possibility. And so the judge said, I'm going to do this. Cause he told him, he said,

17:50but your daughter's still trying to show you grace. The same one that you said hated you is trying to

17:55show you grace and give you a possibility of getting out. And he said, but I'm a writer on your

17:59jacket.

17:59I don't care if you go to parole or not, I don't want you out. And so, um,

18:03they gave him 30 years. And so his release date, I think it's supposed to be like 2035.

18:10He's been going up for parole every two years, every two years, they would allow him. And after

18:16my baby brother passed, because when my mom passed, I wasn't able to do anything. So my cousin had to

18:21go

18:21to release, get the release sign for me to even bury my mom because he, she was still married for

18:28us. The state was concerned. And she was like, don't worry about it. I'll take care of it. So she

18:32took care of

18:33that. He didn't come to the funeral. Of course, we didn't want him to, he had the opportunity to

18:37come, but he didn't come. I guess he was going to be embarrassed. Cause of course he was a well

18:42-known

18:42minister and he didn't want, I guess, to be seen in shackles or whatever with my mom and my brother,

18:48both experiencing the aneurysms. Cause I don't know what happened to her that night or what actually

18:55triggered my brother. But I know that is just like an explosion. You keep in so much and you just

19:02explode because we all have blood pressure problem. And so it is my thought that because of them not

19:08being able to deal with all that trauma in the thoughts that just, they kept cycling the negative

19:15thoughts instead of turning to the positive and, and leaning on things that was positive.

19:20They just kept the question of why, because I know when I was in that state and I just happened

19:26to live through mine, when I was in the bed, sleeping days in, after I would come home from work,

19:32not wanting to do anything at anything. And I just kept why, why? And to me, that became a curse

19:40word

19:41because you will never get the answer as to why somebody does something. I had to make the decision

19:47in spite of whatever the why is, is it going to heal me? And no, it wasn't. So I had

19:53to get the how,

19:54how can I make myself better? Do I want this to go on to my children? My husband deserved better

20:00than

20:00that because in the bed, he had to be very mindful. You couldn't come up on me because I was

20:06startled

20:06easy. I would fight in my sleep. He was like, Veronica, it's like you was handing stacks in your sleep.

20:12And it's like all those different things stayed in me for the longest. And now he's like,

20:17you're actually resting because I had blood pressure problems, sugar problems, all, or diabetes,

20:23like all kinds of problems. And now my body is at, how you say it, in a, in a, in

20:29a balanced state.

20:30Do I still have problems? Yes, I do. I looked at it. I say, now I say, why not me?

20:35I have the capability

20:37and why not me being able to do this? Because I'm able to show others that, you know what?

20:43You may have had a trauma no matter what it may be, but you can get out if you choose

20:48to.

20:48Everything is a choice. And I chose to get out. It doesn't stop me. Like I say, from having

20:54challenges. My triggers are not as excessive. Can I go to the family church? No, because he would rape

21:00me a lot of times right before going to church that morning. It's hard for me sometimes to even go

21:05to

21:05a church, but I still have my beliefs. I still worship my God because I know that he didn't

21:12make him do that, that he had a free will. And that's what he has to pay for. And that's

21:16what

21:16he is paying for. And it didn't make sense for me, for him, to him to be in prison. And

21:21I stay in

21:22prison in my mind. Only one thing is I want to encourage those, no matter what your trauma is,

21:29especially females. Especially females, if you're a mother, a sister, and you're trying

21:37to raise children, you can raise successful children. Even going through your own mental

21:41health challenges because of your trauma. You just have to be consistent and be honest

21:46with them. And then, how you say, you'll start seeing the fruits of your labor, the fruits of

21:52you reparenting yourself for what you need. Because nobody knows what you need like you do.

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