After a Florida girl was accused of lying about her adoptive father raping her, she made sure to obtain evidence the next time it happened.
Taylor Cadle was taken in by her great uncle Henry Cadle and his wife after spending more than a year in foster care following her removal from her birth mother's home. Months later, Henry Cadle's alleged sexual abuse began, as reported by PBS NewsHour.
Years later, Taylor Cadle, then 12, disclosed the abuse to a member of her church in 2016, which prompted an investigation. She went into detail about the abuse with a child welfare worker, but Polk County Sheriff's Detective Melissa Turnage accused her of lying.
"From the get-go, she was rude, simple terms, rude. When she continuously asked me the same question over and over, I almost told her she should probably write down what I'm saying, because I didn't feel like she was listening," Taylor Cadle told PBS.
After sexual assault forensic examination tests found no evidence of semen or male DNA in Taylor Cadle's underwear, she was charged with filing a false report. Taylor Cadle said she was never told the tests' results, as reported by The Ledger.
Taylor Cadle ended up withdrawing her story out of fear that she would be sent back to foster care. She said her adoptive mother allegedly told her to plead guilty, which she did.
When Henry Cadle pulled over on the side of the road about a month later, Taylor Cadle began sneakily taking photos of details that could not be proven last time, such as the time and location. She also reportedly caught Henry Cadle on camera exposing himself.
After arriving home, Taylor Cadle, now 13, called 911 while walking the family's dogs. This time, the officers arrested Henry Cadle. He pleaded no contest in 2017 to custodial sexual battery of a minor, and was sentenced to 17 years in prison.
Taylor Cadle, now 21 and a mom-of-two, said that she decided to share her story now so that authorities can use it as a lesson moving forward.
Scott Wilder, the spokesperson for Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, told The Ledger, "We refused comment to 'The Center for Investigative Reporting' because it became clear they were not interested in accurately reporting an investigation that occurred in 2016. They produced a story with half-truths and a misleading narrative. Henry Cadle was arrested by our agency in 2017 for custodial sexual battery of a minor and he was convicted and sentenced to 17 years in Florida State Prison."
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