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In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors.
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Kidnapped San Jose girl's trauma leaves family seeking help
Tuesday June 17, 2003
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) After initially declining offers of
outside financial and emotional support, the mother of a 9-year-old
San Jose girl who was kidnapped and sexually assaulted by a
stranger says her daughter's fragile condition has convinced her
the family needs help.
Roselia Tamayo said her daughter has had to go to a hospital
emergency room several times since she talked her way out of her
ordeal on June 8. The trauma of being taken from her home and raped
repeatedly during her 2{ days as a captive has caused the girl to
shake with fever and pain, and she can't sleep through the night
without medication, Tamayo said.
``She cries; she gets angry; she's in shock,'' Tamayo said of
her daughter in an interview with the San Jose Mercury News. ``She
wants her life back like before, but she can't.''
On Monday, Tamayo opened a bank account at Washington Mutual and
said she would be grateful for donations to her daughter and to
help pay the family's mounting medical bills. They have no health
insurance and are paying all the expenses on their own, but Tamayo
told the Mercury News she does not feel she can leave her daughter
to return to her landscaping job with a construction company.
The suspect, Enrique Sosa Alvarez, allegedly tied up the girl in
her San Jose house, beat her mother and brother when they tried to
rescue her, and threatened to kill her several times, according to
a police report. The 23-year-old has been charged with nine felony
counts including rape, sexual assault, assault and burglary
charges that could send him to prison for up to 115 years.
In the first few days after the girl talked her abductor into
dropping her off at a liquor store, Tamayo said her daughter's safe
return was all she needed. Since then, she said, it has become
apparent that the family needs to move to get away from the painful
memories. Tamayo also hopes to send her daughter, whose name and
photograph were widely publicized before anyone knew she was a rape
victim, to a private school where she would be less likely to meet
with teasing.
On Monday, an advocate from the state-funded Victim/Witness
Assistance Center visited the Tamayo family. Once they apply to the
center, they could receive reimbursements within a few weeks. But
between dealing with personal shock, caring for a traumatized
youngster, and waiting in emergency rooms, Tamayo said, she has not
had time to seek reimbursements.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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