(Source: WBRZ) PONCHATOULA- It’s one of the most egregious cases victims’ advocates tell the WBRZ Investigative Unit they have ever seen, after a judge awarded full custody to a woman’s abuser and forced her to pay child support.

This story dates back decades and involves a woman who was raped at the age of 16 by a man almost twice her age.

Crysta Abelseth knows all too well about overcoming adversity. The now 32-year old is a mother of a teenager that WBRZ has made an editorial decision not to identify because she’s a minor. Abelseth’s daughter is the child of a rape.

Abelseth met John Barnes in the City of Hammond back in 2005. She says he offered to take her home after a night out at a local restaurant with friends.

“Instead of bringing me home, he brought me to his house,” Abelseth recalled. “Once inside, he raped me on his living room couch.”

Abelseth did not know Barnes before that night, but came away from it pregnant.

“Everyone assumed it [the pregnancy] was from a boyfriend, and I let them believe that,” Abelseth recalled. Posted By Ghost