Girl in the closet' who was tortured 'and raped' by mother and stepfather for 6 years after courts ordered adoptive parents to hand her back reveals her astonishing strength 12 years on.

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Girl in the closet' who was tortured 'and raped' by mother and stepfather for 6 years after courts ordered adoptive parents to hand her back reveals her astonishing strength 12 years on. Speaking to the Dallas Morning News in a series of powerful interviews, the now-20-year-old shared how she has struggled to gain control of her life after suffering six years of sexual, emotional and physical abuse at the hands of her mother and stepfather, Barbara and Kenneth Atkinson. 'I'm hoping one day I'll be able to have a normal life,' Lauren, who now lives in Canton, Texas USA with her adoptive mother, told writer Scott Farwell. 'Of course, my life hasn't ever been normal.'

Lauren Kavanaugh was found emaciated, living in a urine-soaked closet and weighing the same as a 2-year-old when she was 8 in 2001.

When Lauren was born she was given up by her mother for adoption - but she changed her mind and won her back when she was 2. Her mother, Barbara Atkinson, and stepfather, Kenneth Atkinson, had 5 other children but singled her out for abuse because she was 'bad'.

They were both convicted of injury to a child and sentenced to life. Lauren, who was re-adopted by the same couple who adopted her as a baby, was staying with relatives when she was raped again in 2005.

She has revealed how she has endured years of painful memories and problems at school but now just hopes for a 'normal life' Source: Daily Mail UK.

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