'Specific memories and timing — "time anchors" — are important in proving old sex crimes, Rachel Mitchell, sex crimes bureau chief for the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, tells New Times, because the age of the victim at the time of abuse can vastly alter sentencing guidelines.
"It's not uncommon for victims, especially teenage male victims, to tell you, 'I was this age when it happened,'" she says. "Then, when you get 'time anchors' from them, you find out they were actually older. It's a normal thing to do where you have a coping mechanism [in which] they imagine that they were younger, because, 'If I were older I wouldn't have let it happen.' I think that's probably a little bit of what you've got going on here."
Kevin, however, maintains that the abuse began when he was as young as 6 and went on throughout his teenage years. He estimates that Nelson sexually abused him on at least 30 occasions.'
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When Kevin found out that his abuser was given 6 months in jail plus registration as a sex offender... he tried to commit suicide twice.
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