But she says the sexual abuse intensified during weekend visitations with her father. After six years of torment, Rachelle claims Mancuso stopped when she reached puberty. No longer interested in Rachelle, the two lost nearly all contact. Rachelle never revealed the terrible secret about her father to anyone, until the FBI contacted her during their investigation. She now feels that if she had told someone, Masha might have been spared. "It goes through my mind every day and I feel so much guilt," says Rachelle. "And I feel partly responsible for what happened to her, and I beat myself up about it all the time because I feel that it was my fault that I did not say anything."īecause she had lost contact with her father, Rachelle says she didn't know the details of the adoption. For years, she thought her father had adopted a boy, who she thought would be safe from harm. A chance encounter with a family friend informed Rachelle of the truth.
She says her "heart dropped" when she found out Mancuso had a daughter. Still, she says fear and shame prevented her from alerting authorities. "I didn't know what to do," says a tearful Rachelle. It was something I was going to take with me to the grave." "I had never told my secret to anybody and I didn't plan on telling my secret to anybody ever. Meeting Masha for the first time was a gut-wrenching experience for Rachelle. "I really wish that I had said something when I was a kid because maybe Masha would have been spared this hell of a life that she had to go through." "I want to tell Masha I'm very sorry," says Rachelle. Oprah commends Rachelle for admitting her feelings. "I want you to let go of the guilt of it," Oprah tells Rachelle.
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