Jessica Renee - The Man Behind the Curtain

The Man Behind the Curtain

Copyright 2022 by Jessica Renee and Valerie Dimino

Possibilities Press

All rights reserved.

This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Certain names and identifying characteristics have been changed.

Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible, Copyright 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible and CSB are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Baptist Faith and Message (2000) quotations sourced from bfm.sbc.net/bfm2000.

Cover design by Clarissa Kezen of CK Book Cover Designs

Interior layout by Amber Helt of Rooted in Writing

ISBN hardcover: 979-8-9859400-0-8

ISBN paperback: 979-8-9859400-1-5

ISBN e-book: 979-8-9859400-2-2

www.valeriedimino.com

For all the other warriors,

with stories told, untold,

or soon to be told

For Nana and Poppy

For Bella,

loyal companion

This is the true story of Jessica Renee and her family, who have been estranged because of the criminal actions of her stepfather, Mitch. Though Jessica had some opportunity to speak out as the criminal case against Mitch unfolded, her words were often limited, interrupted, questioned, and twisted. They were made into tools in a complicated, unfair game. She was forced to reveal her story, many times over, on other peoples terms, often only to be met with further suffering. For years since, she has longed to take ownership of the narrative, knowing she has more to telland she hopes that sharing her story in this way might help others to find courage and comfort in surviving their own journeys.

Through interviews, emails, and court transcripts, I have immersed myself in the details of Jessicas story in an effort to help her speak, to write the words on her behalf. We have worked in close collaboration throughout this project to ensure that I represent the events and her perspective accurately.

There are many sides to every story, of course, but these are facts:

1. When detectives came to Mitch Wilsons door and asked to speak to Jessica, he did not ask why or what was wrong; he merely pointed in the direction of her bedroom door.
2. When the detectives interviewed Mitch at the police station later that night, he slid his car keys across the table and described to them where hed parked. The detectives told me they interpreted this to mean that Mitch knew he was not going home.
3. When the detectives asked Mitch that night whether Jessicas accusations against him were true, his response was, If she says its true, then thats what it is. It is what it is.
4. After four years of criminal investigation and court hearings, Mitch was convicted on thirteen counts and sentenced to eight years in prison. He will be registered as a violent sex offender for the rest of his life.
5. Jessicas mother maintained her relationship with Mitch, sat with the defense team throughout the court hearings, and reduced contact with her daughter to the point that, to this day, they have no relationship.

These facts form the foundation upon which the rest of Jessicas story stands. While others may rememberor choose to portraycertain details differently, what follows is her account of those pivotal years and how they challenged her, shaped her, and ultimately strengthened her.

Jessicas perspective is corroborated by several experts far too familiar with stories like thisthe detectives who worked on her case, her lawyer, her counselorall of whom youll hear from later in this book. But first we need to experience this through Jessicas eyes.

Some names and identifying details of people and places have been changed, including when they appear in excerpts from court transcripts or recorded interviews.

While the words are mineshaped by all that Jessica and others have so generously shared with methe experiences, battle scars, and devastating strength that helped to form the words are hers, carried silently for years.

It has been an honor to help her find her voice.

I spent much of my adolescence keeping quiet. During the years that my stepfather, Mitch, was abusing me, fear and shame drew a thick cloak over any words I might have been tempted to say about it. The investigation and trial that followed often forced me to speak in ways I wasnt ready to, yet at the same time they enveloped me in a silence that was deeper and darker still, a numbed half existence that left me skeptical of everyone around me, questioning even my own identity. Those years stretched on almost as long as the abuse itself had, a continuation of it in many ways, coated with a new kind of torment. The tension with my family and the repercussions that the truth would have on our future loomed too large to ignore, often chasing away my words and making me regret the ones I had allowed. There were long silences that thrummed in my ears, unspoken shouts that echoed in my mind.

But Im tired of being silenced. For the sake of my own story and others like mine, Im ready to speak now.

Theres no way for me to know what Mitch or anyone else involved in this story was thinking or what drove their actions. I only know how their actions affected me and altered the course of my life. What I present here are my memories and perceptions, meticulously reexamined and verified to the best of my ability, including by the professionals who worked on my case. Im well aware that others may want to try to contradict me andagain and again, stillto silence me. But this is my story. And I stand firmly behind its truth.

Sharing this at twenty-four years old, I have the advantage of analyzing these formative, traumatic experiences from some distance, now that Im safely on the other side of them. But that shaken eleven-year-old girl is still rooted inside of me, not just as a piece of my past but as a perspective I still draw from all too readily at times. I dont ever want to forget that version of myself, and I feel like I owe her a lot. But Im working on growing far beyond that piece of me, using it to fuel great things. It has not been an easy path.

As I work hard at carving out a life on my own terms, Im aware every day of all that Mitch took from me and all that Im still working to overcome. My mom and brother no longer speak to me, and many of my friends have turned away too. I dropped out of college due to the stress and time commitment of seemingly endless court dates. Ive had to cross paths with friends of my estranged family everywhere from the grocery store to my counselors waiting room, and I even worked with some of them for a few years, making for some painful office banter. Mitch robbed me of the comfort I should be able to find in friendships and especially romantic relationships. Self-confidence, work ethic, and even just the motivation to get out of bed in the morning sometimes feel out of reach. I see so many people my age believing that the wide world awaits them with infinite, carefree possibilities, and I ache to find that kind of hope for myself.