Family violence: son sent to jail his mother, who bullied him

Andrew Copley’s story shocked many. 38-year-old man wrote a statement to the police on his own mother. He accused a 66-year-old woman of child abuse, that is, himself. The proceedings went on for a long time, as much as four years. But in the end, Andrew’s mother, Christina Copley, was jailed for three years.

“I don’t call this woman mom. I just can not. I always called her just by her name, because my mother would never have done what she did to me. Only a real monster could do that, ”said Andrew.

The man wrote a letter to himself – on behalf of an adult to the boy he once was. This letter cannot be read without tears. Andrew has only happy childhood memories of the days he spent with his grandparents. He was also happy when he ran away from home. But most of the time Andrew lived with Christina. He did not have a father – he left the family when the boy was very young.

“Christina never wanted me to be born. She said that she would be glad if I died in childbirth. She wanted a girl, and the third boy was born – me, ”writes Andrew.

The boy was constantly beaten. He often hid at the far end of the garden and sat there for hours alone. But his mother found him and beat him again. “I have developed immunity against pain. I didn’t feel the blows anymore, ”- recalls Andrew. After the beating, the mother dipped her son into an ice bath so that the traces of the beatings were not so noticeable.

Gifts that Andrew got on New Year’s and birthday, his mother immediately took away and sold at garage sales. The boy had only one consolation – his beloved dog named Dylan. “Christina threatened to take Dylan out of town and leave him in the woods if I didn’t tell her that I loved her,” Andrew recalls.

The boy was always terribly thin: there was no food for him in the house. Christina bought herself chocolate and chips, cooked dinner. But the son got only empty pans. Sometimes Andrew did not eat for several days in a row: “I begged for scraps from classmates, I ate food for hamsters or dogs.”

Classmates laughed at the boy, and neighbors called him “the saddest boy in the world.” But Andrew never told how he was living. I was afraid it would only get worse. Much worse though? His mother put him naked on the street all night, locked him in a closet, forced him to hold his hands over the flame – so that it was very painful, but there were almost no visible traces.

So ten years passed. When he turned 14, the boy found himself a part-time job. Soon the first payday came. “Christina demanded that I give her money. I refused, and then she smashed the wine bottle on my head. Then I ran away from home. She was chasing me, but I still ran away – left for good, as I was, ”said Andrew.

The boy went to live with his father. He drank black, but living with an alcoholic turned out to be more pleasant.

But sometimes Andrew still returned to his mother’s house to visit his younger brother. He was afraid that Christina would now come off on him.

The boy grew up, but he never said goodbye to his childhood demons. The psychotherapist diagnosed post-traumatic syndrome. Andrew is now on antidepressants.

At the trial, Christina denied everything. But the judge sent her to jail for making her son’s life hell. And Andrew is now trying to help other children in a similar situation.

“I just had nowhere to go, no one to complain to. No one should have such a childhood, ”he says.