Dear The People of Michigan My name is Imani Davis and I was just wondering if you all knew how great Michigan’s court system and the Department of Child Protective Services truly is. I mean, it is just truly remarkable in how it has helped me and my family over the years. I say that with mere sarcasm receiving little to no help at all. I’m now 18 years old but you see, when I was ten years of age I was being sexually, physically, and verbally abused by my then guardian at the time. It’s not something I am proud to say but it not something I am ashamed to say either. My abuse carried on for several years and soon my abuser stretched the abuse out to my little sister as well. Child protective services were called many times but we were only visited once by their agency. Even when they said they would come back after my sister left a serious hint about the abuse, which was an obvious red flag we lived in an abusive home but they did not return. I was a scared young girl at the time and I was afraid of being split apart from my twin brother and sister. As the abuse varied over the years I began to show signs of needing help. I told quite a few friends my story and quite a few of them seen the bruises and the obvious emotional pain I was going through. It was apparent my smile had completely faded as I begged my friends to stay quiet because I felt that nothing would be done and it would only make matters worse. My mother was fighting for custody of us for years and they kept telling her no as if she was the unfit parent but she kept trying and never gave up. She fought from afar living in Florida and we were in Michigan. I commend her for the fight. It wasn’t until my senior year of high school that I began to recognize the danger my brother, sister and I were really in. It took my abuser, trying to kill me for the 3rd time to finally report it. For so long I felt nothing was being done for us after all the Ingham County family courts had failed my mom and fought against her truths. I finally went to a social worker at Eastern High School to point out the obvious things that were happening to me and my sister. In all these years and the many people aware of the abuse it took that action for the system to have a concern. I was in an abusive household tortured for years. Child protective services were called many times and did nothing. Other adults walked in and out of that house seeing how those people, the guardians made by the state of Michigan treated me and my sister. All while my mother was fighting so hard to get us back to put us in a better place. My mother never lost custody. My mother was never abusive. My mother allowed her children to visit a short while and that visit created fraudulent documents being submitted to the courts placing us in the guarded care of these people. Not until the social worker got involved did the physical and sexual abuse come to an end. We were immediately removed from the home and returned to our mother. It’s approaching a year me, my brother and sister are living happily with our Mother now and I am grateful that something was finally done. It pains me that it should not have gone on that long. Child Protective Services failed us. The Ingham County Courts failed us. Now the abuser is in jail dragging the case out to mentally abuse us and now Michigan is allowing him to do it. He wants to be foolish and he wants to continue to make this a struggle for me and my family and the court seems to be just letting him pull these stunts to drag on the case so he continues to sit in jail without a sentence. This man is dangerous, he is manipulative, foolish, and needs to be sentenced to life in prison. I appreciate my lawyer and the social worker at school that lit the fire to get us out of the traumatizing situation and reunited with our mother. However, there are flaws within Michigan that need to be addressed. I know my siblings and I are not the only ones with rejected CPS reports. Of all the reports everything reported the abuser is now facing criminal charges for. Child protective services never followed up. Child protective services prolonged our abuse. In essence the system neglected us and allowed us to be in harm’s way. It is sad to think about how many other kids may be going through this similar situation and have probably given up because to them it seems that nothing will be done. No child should be in a state of giving up hope, or fearing to speak up because no one in the system is helping. No child deserves to go through what me and my family went through. Please share this as much as possible because people need to be made aware of how the system is failing kids like us.

The guardian is my grandfather. Now in jail on Capital Felony Offenses Charge 1: CRIMINAL SEXUAL CONDUCT - FIRST DEGREE (PERSON UNDER THIRTEEN, DEFENDANT 17 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER) Charge 2: CRIMINAL SEXUAL CONDUCT - FIRST DEGREE (MULTIPLE VARIABLES) Charge 3: CRIMINAL SEXUAL CONDUCT - FIRST DEGREE (MULTIPLE VARIABLES) Charge 4: CRIMINAL SEXUAL CONDUCT - FIRST DEGREE (PERSON UNDER THIRTEEN, DEFENDANT 17 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER) Charge 5: CRIMINAL SEXUAL CONDUCT - FIRST DEGREE (MULTIPLE VARIABLES) Charge 6: CRIMINAL SEXUAL CONDUCT - SECOND DEGREE (PERSON UNDER 13, DEFENDANT 17 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER) Charge 7: CHILDREN - DISTRIBUTING OBSCENE MATTER TO Charge 8: CRIMINAL SEXUAL CONDUCT - FIRST DEGREE (PERSON UNDER THIRTEEN, DEFENDANT 17 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER)

This was my past life. He is now serving 55 to life for his crimes against me and my sister. I just want you all to know you should never give up just because the world refuses to listen you just need to scream a little louder RAISE YOUR VOICE GET ANGRY. Do what ever you need to do to force them to hear your voice because it is not small. I am now 20 years old and thriving as an individual he may have taken my body for a moment but he never took my words NEVER SILENCE YOUR VOICE.

They cannot take your words from you.

#SilentNoMore