When Crysta Abelseth was 16 years old, she met 30-year-old John Barnes at a bar and he offered to give her a ride home. However, instead of carrying her home, Abelseth says he took her to his house. She then said he raped her on his living room couch.
Abelseth, now 32-years-old, claims she was left pregnant from the encounter and that most people assumed the child belonged to her boyfriend at the time. “... And I let them believe that,” she added.
Abelseth gave birth to her baby girl and began to rebuild her life. However, around the time when the girl was 5 years old, Barnes had discovered he might have a child and he proceeded to try and pursue custody.
A DNA test proved that Barnes was in fact the father of the child, and custody was then split 50/50 between the two of them. Abelseth soon learned that she could report the rape and she pressed criminal charges against Barnes, however, she says that since the filing nearly a decade ago, nothing has come of it.
This year a judge granted Barnes full custody of the now teenager after he alleged that she had given the girl a cellphone. Now she has to pay him child support. “He’s threatened me multiple times, saying he has connections in the justice system, so I better be careful and he can take her away anytime he wants to,” Abelseth said. “I didn’t believe him until it happened.”
