Teen Tweets of Abuse 144 Times, Kills Herself

Teen Tweets of Abuse 144 Times, Kills Herself

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A Texas teen tweeted 144 times in six hours about being molested by a family member and being forced into prostitution. Then 18-year-old Ashley Billasano killed herself—after announcing to some 500 Twitter followers she was going to do just that, reports the Houston Chronicle. No one sought help for her...

There's two sides to this fence. One, the truly troubled who need help. Two, the attention seeking idiots who 'suicide-prank' via the internet.

Who paid the price this time? Ashley.

Billasano went to authorities a year ago to report sex abuse, but there was not enough evidence for charges, said officials.

I'd like to know who these 'officials' are.

ETA: The 'official' was/is a CPS worker right out of college who didn't believe Ashley. Who's answer to this girl who needed help? 'I'll have to contact my supervisor') (See link below).

"That's when I changed," she tweeted. "I didn't care anymore and the people I was meeting gave me no reason to."

Billasano [then)suffocated herself, using a technique she found on the Internet,

R.I.P Ashley

peace

Ashley Billasano kept the pain locked inside her for years, allowing only a handful of people closest to her to have a glimpse. On Monday, the 18-year-old Rosenberg high school student let it all out in a torrent of messages on Twitter - the sexual abuse that she said ruined what should have been some of the best years of her life, her inability to see justice done on her behalf. Then she killed herself.

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Billasano had moved to Rosenberg to live with her mother after the allegations of abuse became known to the family

"She wanted justice from the very beginning," Escamilla said. "She said police and CPS acted like it was nothing. She said it was like they did not want to believe her. So, to go on living when someone hurt her, and no one ever did anything about it - wouldn't that drive you insane? To feel ignored by people who were supposed to help you. That was crazy. She had support from me and my boyfriend and her mom, but she did not have justice. She needed to get her point across and to make it known that she was wronged."

At the cost of her life. So some walking talking piece a stool meat is out there living it up - and she's dead. No one believed her. No one cared.

A spokesman for Texas Child Protective Services said privacy concerns keep the agency from commenting about whether an investigation followed Billasano's allegations. The Williamson County District Attorney's office, which reportedly had presented information to a grand jury, did not return a Chronicle phone call.

Billasano's mother, Tiffany Ruiz Leskinen, said her daughter confided the story of abuse to a teacher, who notified the police department in Pflugerville, where her school was located. The investigation led nowhere, Leskinen said.

"The detective told her that she had trouble believing her," her mother said. "Here is someone who has been abused and is forced to be silent for so long. Then the one person you go to looking for help says they might not believe you. The CPS caseworker was a rookie right out of college. She did not know anything and kept saying she had check with her supervisor."

R.I.P Ashley

That is horribly sad. Hopefully the person(s) who molested her are haunted for eternity.

reply to post by Cryptonomicon

I'm just going through her tweets and FB pages. It's not an easy read.

So young and her life just taken from her because 'he' didn't see her. The beauty in her eyes, the love and hope, the sparkle, her talent, all her dreams. Nope, all 'he' saw was a piece of meat he wanted. And after he was done he threw her out like yesterdays trash.

If one person had listened, just one, I wonder if it would have made a difference to her.

I also read she used 'Self Inflicted Injury' to help.

In the end even that coping mechanism didn't get her though the pain...

R.I.P Ashley

Oh goodness this is so sad, That poor poor girl My concern also goes to the other children as i was just looking through her myspace page and see that there is younger sisters,

www.myspace.com...

Nothing has been updated in a year or so but what a waste of a young women, It really saddens me that she cried for help and those cries where not listened too,

RIP Ashley,

Mom, Close Friends Keeping Ashley's Story Alive

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Most classmates at BF Terry High School in Rosenberg knew her as a happy, energetic honor student, but close friend Ashly Escamilla saw another side.

Escamilla knew about Ashley's lasting nightmares because of what the teen claims someone did to her.

"The truth needs to come out, and it's time that everyone knows. Everyone needs to know this story," said Escamilla.

With video.

Also so info from people who knew her, Disclaimer This is going on here say,

the thing was, all the evidence was on her phone, and her dad had taken her phone and deleted everything, CPS should have taken it when she first reported it, but it was a rookie investigator....

www.facebook.com...

reply to post by asala

Thanks for posting the FB page - there is another one that goes through the Tweets - a memorial also. I'll find it (again) and post.

Also:

We've reached out to several investigating agencies, but so far no one can tell us what if anything is being done about Ashley's allegations.

source

peace

A song dedicated to Ashley.

Warning. This is a tough listen. If you're hearts not breaking already - it will be.

He cries in the corner where nobody sees

He’s the kid with the story no one would believe

He prays every night “Dear God won’t you please...

Could you send someone here who will love me?”


Who will love me for me?

Not for what I have done or what I will become

Who will love me for me?

‘Cause nobody has shown me what love

What love really means, what love really means

R.I.P Ashley

reply to post by silo13


Although i feel for this young lady, i must stress that (as a victim of sexual abuse myself), i had very little to NO support from anyone around me whilst this was ongoing in my life, even afterwards, my mother refused to believe me...instead siding with the abuser over me. But what i would like to stress is that even with NO support or LOTS of support it is a personal choice on how you deal with it. There are those out there who receive support but still commit suicide, there are those who get NO support and don't commit suicide.

Decisions based on suicide (in this circumstance) are dictated by each individuals own peception of the events and its personal impacts. I would like to take the opportunity to also stress that after 9 years of pleading for help (from my own personal story), i would have to commend those that listened (eventually). The service offered to the public in these circumstances aren't always to blame and many lives have been turned around because of their intervention - I for one had my life turned around.

RIP Ashley, i hope justice is served on the animal (animals) who did this too you, and to all you others out there who may be or have gone through similar...there is ALWAYS light and the end f the tunnel, if you so choose there to be! Your NOT alone with your pain in this EVIL world we call home!

Child Abuse A Victims Perspective

Ashley's Story

And no one listened.

No one.

peace

reply to post by jrmcleod

But what i would like to stress is that even with NO support or LOTS of support it is a personal choice on how you deal with it.

The silver lining to the cloud? At least no one could take her ultimate choice from her. There is some peace in that. For her. Especially someone who doesn't even feel safe in their own skin anymore.

Am I sorry she chose to leave? You bet.

Would I have taken that choice from her? Nope.

But I'd of tried to listen.

peace

Originally posted by silo13
Ashley's Story

And no one listened.

No one.

peace

People will have read the pleas and the majority will have felt sad about reading it but as soon as they saw a "status update" or their attention diverted they'd have totally forgotten about it. Why? Because it isn't happening to them or their loved ones!

I hope all of you out there who DID see these reports and did nothing about it, find it VERY hard to sleep at night!

Originally posted by silo13
I'm just going through her tweets and FB pages. It's not an easy read.

Stories like this are just so tragic and wrong it's hard to muster words to respond with.

Rather than try to find a few, I'll just go ahead and admit that I wouldn't have the courage to read through it.

Do keep your own well being in mind.

Im sorry but if I tweeted my self, and heard somebody say what she was saying, no matter if people joke saying the same thing, I would still give the person my time and try my hardest to help. . There's no excuse to ignore cries for help, whether you think there fake or not it doesn't harm to ask.

We live in a world where if you hear a scream at night, or an alarm - you ignore it and think it's nothing, or their just not bothered. . . there must be a name for this current attitude people have towards these issues of ignoring/turning a blind eye.

RIP Ashley, Such a pretty, young girl, what waste of life X

reply to post by jrmcleod

I hope all of you out there who DID see these reports and did nothing about it, find it VERY hard to sleep at night!

Addition to the above?

I hope (they) never ever close your their hearts and minds to someone pleading for help... Never become too busy to listen or take the time to send one word of comfort. One word of hope...

How long does it take to type 'hang in there' or 'we love you'... Or even better... CALL ME!

peace

reply to post by silo13


Your totally right! If it was someone i knew, if i could get out of what i was doing i'd be round at their house having a chat and a cup of tea or whatever with them. These people need support, but not just from friends and family but from the system we have elected to put in place for justice. Justice isn't just about seeing a punishment for acts of crime, it can also be a form of closure and part of the healing process and this poor girl probably felt that all hope was lost when nothing was being done about it, she could only react in one way, and that way was the saddest way of all.

reply to post by silo13

What a sad, sad story. And I agree, those that saw the tweets and did nothing should be ashamed of themselves. And I can say that from personal experience.

Something similar happened to me 6+ years ago. That time it was thru the website Live Journal. A young girl (she was less then 18 at the time) who is like family to me posted she was going to kill herself. Her family was not aware that she even had the site so when I saw the message I had to alert someone. Her younger sister was at a friend's house, her mother was at work. The girl was known for her drama so first several calls were placed to the house, she never answered. Her grandmother rushed over there only to find her in her room watching TV. Her response to all the sudden interest? A smile and the question "what are you doing here, did you think something was wrong?" then she laughed about it. She had also unplugged all the house phones so she wouldn't have to hear the consistent ringing.

Am I sorry I alerted her family to the suicide post? Not a bit, although it did set a disturbing trend. Since then she has used threats of suicide to get the things she wants (money/attention), only now she doesn't do it publicly. Just veiled threats to her mother.

OiO

reply to post by jrmcleod

Although i feel for this young lady, i must stress that (as a victim of sexual abuse myself), i had very little to NO support from anyone around me whilst this was ongoing in my life, even afterwards, my mother refused to believe me...instead siding with the abuser over me. But what i would like to stress is that even with NO support or LOTS of support it is a personal choice on how you deal with it. There are those out there who receive support but still commit suicide, there are those who get NO support and don't commit suicide.

And your point being that Ashley was weaker than some?

Sorry for your pain and even more sorry for Ashley. Glad that some people have the dogged determination to roll with the abuse but I have to say the weakest, most vulnerable and most fragile are MOST in need of outside intervention and help. Someone to notice. Someone to care. Someone to act.

And to the OP. There was a teacher who knew of the abuse and went to the Police.
How is this teacher different than Joe Paterno who reported the crime to officials and then let it rest?
He felt he had done enough. I applaud that teacher for taking the initiative but am critical as well because they stopped there.

That was a boy (and perhaps many) and this is a girl (also perhaps her sisters).

Someone should go down for this.

I'm so sorry for this young lady and curse everyone who didn't take her seriously.

When it comes down to the wire, people should always choose their own lives over the ones who are attacking them. Know what I mean?

Peace, everyone!