Man raped by own mum opens up on first abuse and says his 'dad encouraged it'

A man who suffered "vile" abuse at the hands of his drug-addicted parents has opened up on the first night he was raped. Logan Gifford survived a dysfunctional childhood that included regular sexual assaults in a cramped house in Las Vegas, US.

The 27-year-old political activist is now living a much happier life after recently becoming the legal father of his brother and welcoming another child with his partner. In an exclusive interview with the Daily Star, brave Logan spoke about the first time his parents abused him back in 2008.

He doesn't remember the exact age he was but does recall re-enacting the Barack Obama-John McCain election in fifth grade at the time, meaning he was around 10. At the time Logan and his two brothers were sleeping on couches in a poorly-converted garage.

"There was no insulation", he said. "So it was hot as hell during the summer and cold as hell during the winter. The kids and I all slept on couches. We didn't have any privacy and we were crammed together like sardines."

Logan said the abuse started after his father asked him not to go to sleep one night. "I stayed up and my father led me down a hallway [and into his parent's bedroom] and shut the door behind me. My mother was laying in the middle of the bed. She was covered up.

"When I heard my father close the door and lock it, she turned on the television and there was a pornographic film playing. My father started explaining the different parts of the female anatomy."

He added: "He led me to her and watched the first night that it happened. He encouraged the sexual actions during that and never intervened. Unfortunately, he was complicit in that way."

Throughout the years, Logan's mother has consistently denied the allegations. However, she entered an Alford plea to lesser charges of attempted sexual assault and lewdness with a child under 14, the same year her son brought forward the accusations.

An Alford plea is essentially a no contest plea, meaning the defendant does not admit guilt. Prosecutors stated they had sufficient evidence to convince a jury to convict the woman, who now resides in Massachusetts.

Logan said the abuse started off as "regular" a term he doesn't like using to describe it before his parents' drug addictions made it "more sadistic".

He said: "Unfortunately, as the drug addictions with my parents got worse, it became more and more sadistic, more and more personal and more and more heinous. It was incredibly disgusting. The worst it got, she was showing me a pornographic film about necrophilia and was getting off to it.

"She discussed the sort of substances the actresses or adult film stars would take in order to record scenes like that and discussed potentially giving me a substance to re-enact that."

Logan accepts donations to help raise his brother here.

If you or somebody you know has been affected by this story, contact Victim Support for free, confidential advice on 08 08 16 89 111 or visit their website, http://www.victimsupport.org.uk.

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