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Sex Abuse Survivor: "I'm Still on the Rise"

By Allison Dunn
The Blade
November 15, 2019

https://www.toledoblade.com/local/2019/11/14/taniece-temple-tells-story-of-faith-love-despite-abuse-by-toledo-pastors/stories/20191114088?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=editors-pick&utm_campaign=Headlines-Newsletter



Despite years of sexual abuse at the hands of her church pastors, Taniece Temple never lost her faith in God.

Her trust in God helped her through some of her darkest days, when she was passed around solely for her body between Toledo pastors Anthony Haynes, Kenneth Butler, and Cordell Jenkins. Faith kept Ms. Temple on the right path and now leads her to help others through their struggles.

“I still called on God’s name even when I was in church and they would be up there preaching and they were sexually abusing me. I would pray to God in those moments,” Ms. Temple said. “... we all have free will and that is one of the things society needs to capitalize on — a person who chooses to hurt you, to set your house on fire, to kill somebody, to molest you, to do anything that is ungodly — that is on them because He gave them the choice to do right or wrong, and they chose wrong.”

While The Blade does not normally identify victims of sexual assault, Ms. Temple agreed to identify herself and publicly share her story in the wake of the criminal case against the pastors concluding.

Ms. Temple traveled to New York earlier this week to appear on NBC’s ‘Tamron Hall Show,’ which was taped on Tuesday. As she sat on stage sharing her story in front of an audience of strangers on national television, Haynes’ wife, Alisa Haynes, and stepdaughter, Alexis Fortune, entered pleas in federal court in Toledo for their attempts to get Ms. Temple to change her testimony in his trial.

Ms. Temple learned about the pleas after she got off the stage.

“I haven’t even [given] thought to those two. Honestly, I’m happy that my case is over with,” Ms. Temple told The Blade on Thursday prior to the show re-airing because of scheduling conflicts Wednesday with the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.

Alisa Haynes is expected to serve 24 months in prison, while Fortune will be sentenced to 48 months in prison.

“That judge didn’t have the final say, they still have to answer to God. I’m just satisfied and I’m at peace that my case is over,” Ms. Temple said.

Ms. Temple did take the stand in March against Pastor Haynes, who started abusing the then-underage girl when she moved in with the Haynes family because her mother could no longer care for her. Ms. Temple recalled how she felt prior to testifying. She prayed.

She told herself she had to tell her story as a survivor, not a victim. She only wanted the truth to come out.

She outlined to the federal jury how she trusted Haynes after he vowed to be her father in front of his congregation at Greater Life Christian Center. But soon after she moved in with the pastor’s family, he began abusing and manipulating her, which led to nearly three years at his mercy, she said.

It eventually led to her abuse at the hands of other pastors — Butler, previously of the Detroit-based Kingdom Encounter Family Worship Center, and Jenkins, the former pastor at Abundant Life Ministries.

Ms. Temple testified she had sex with the pastors in various locations — their homes, hotels, vehicles, their churches — and she was paid following the incidents.

It felt like her body had become a machine. She wasn’t caring for herself or loving herself in the way she should, she said.

The abuse became overwhelming, and it hit a breaking point one day at school. Ms. Temple disclosed the information to a guidance counselor. The cards quickly fell and federal investigators took over the case.

Haynes was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison for engaging in sex-trafficking with a minor, sex-trafficking of a minor, sexual exploitation of a minor, and obstructing a sex-trafficking investigation. Jenkins, too, was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the sex trafficking scheme.

Meanwhile, Butler was sentenced to an agreed upon 17? years in prison, while Jenkins’ ex-wife and former county administrator Laura Lloyd, was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison.

After testifying and walking out of the front doors of the U.S. District Court in Toledo, she felt free.

One of the most difficult things she’s had to deal with since the news broke about the case is other people’s judgments and thoughts.

“Regardless of the people that don’t support me, regardless of the people that talk bad about me, that looks foolish on them talking bad about a victim,” Ms. Temple said. “I’m the one who had to lay down to get touched.”

Now, she’s taking that experience and using it to help others who have been trafficked, sexually abused, homeless, or gone through any sort of trauma — through her nonprofit support group, Pretty, Loved, and Destined.

“Those were things that were taken away from me that I gained back, and I feel that any girl or anybody that’s traumatized ... those are things that are taken away from us,” Ms. Temple said about the group’s name. “To have my nonprofit and a name that I’m instilling back things that were taken from other girls.”

On group’s website, lovedsupport.com, Ms. Temple says she aims “to be a voice, a shoulder, and a mentor to any girl who is in need of me.”

If someone comes to Ms. Temple, she wants to be in the position to help lead them to the proper channels to law enforcement, mental-health services, or even serve as a support system because she’s endured various forms of trauma.

“I almost want to be like a mediator. If they’re halfway through their trauma, I want to be the one to push them over to the other side. If you have to go tell on your abuser, I want to go with you to do that. If you want to look in the mirror to build your self-esteem, I want to do that. If I have to sit in my office for hours to help you on homework, I want to do that. Just anything I can do to help them,” she said.

She’s met with approximately 15 women since the nonprofit was founded last year. She’s looking forward to meeting with more, as she now has an office space at 440 S. Reynolds Road, Suite E. An open house will be held at 6 p.m. Dec. 14.

Ms. Temple is a sophomore studying social work at The University of Toledo, and she plans on obtaining her master’s degree. With her combination of education, experience, and faith, she plans to grow her nonprofit organization to help others.

Ms. Temple goes to the Family House Shelter every other week, and she’s also working to start an organization on campus for women’s empowerment.

“What I have experienced in my life, I should be pregnant by now. I should be on drugs right now. I should totally be losing myself. The fact that I’m even in this position, the fact that I’m even in my own apartment ... I’m not failing, I’m still on the rise and that just shows how great God is,” she said. “The fact that I’m even able to or have the courage to tell my story to millions of people knowing that everybody is going to have their own opinion, that shows God is real too, because I know this is not me, this is God’s work and I’m just doing it.”

 

 

 

 

 




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