Warning: The contents of this story may be upsetting to some readers.
The National Sexual Assault Hotline number is 1-800-656-4673. It is a 24/7 hotline.
Richmond Police say that 35-year-old Terry Gordon raped the three-year-old daughter of his girlfriend.
The girl's mother, Teresa Fish, 25, has been charged with criminal abuse of a child because police say she failed to protect her daughter. Fish spoke to LEX 18's Katherine Collins from the Madison County Jail.
Fish claims that she was asleep when she believes her three-year-old daughter was raped. Police said in an arrest citation that Gordon, the man accused of raping her daughter, was Fish's boyfriend, as well as her first cousin. According to that arrest citation, on June 17, 2019, a relative of the little girl told medical staff, DCBS, and officers that the child had facial bruising, bruising to her legs, and was bleeding from her private area. The citation says that the child bled from that area for five days while in medical care. The citation said that the child told relatives and investigators that Gordon had bruised her chin and sexually abused her. She also demonstrated how she says Gordon put his hands on her, and grabbed her throat in a strangulation motion.
"Gordon was the only person to have opportunity to rape the girl," according to the citation.
The arrest citation also said that Gordon had incest pornography on his phone during the night of the abuse, and that he claimed to be "addicted to" incest porn.
Gordon is also accused of washing the child's bloody bed sheets to try and hide DNA evidence. He was charged with first-degree rape of a victim younger than 12-years-old age, first-degree assault, tampering with physical evidence, and drug paraphernalia.
Fish has been charged with first-degree criminal abuse of a child, tampering with physical evidence, and drug paraphernalia. In the arrest citation, police say that Fish had known of her daughter's injuries for at least 24 hours and had not sought any medical attention for the girl, and that she was deceptive with medical staff and law enforcement as to the origin of the child's injuries. The arrest citation reads that Fish noticed blood in the child's underwear on June 16, 2019, but disposed of the underwear and did not seek medical attention for the child.
According to the arrest citation, Fish "suspected him of abusing the girl" but allowed him to be in contact with her.
From jail, Fish told LEX 18 that she had no knowledge of any abuse.
"Everybody that knows me, knows I would never hurt my daughter or put her in any situation to get hurt," said Fish.
Fish said that she has never been in any trouble with law enforcement before and that it was her decision to take her child to the doctor when she noticed the girl's injuries. She said she wouldn't have done that if she had something to hide.
Richmond Police also claim in the arrest citation that the apartment was in deplorable conditions, saying that there was dried vomit on the stairs, cat feces and urine throughout the home, trash bags piled in the kitchen, and "insect activity to the degree it was almost a hazard for officials to be in the apartment."
Fish disputed these claims, saying that her home is not how police describe it.
Gordon and Fish remain in the Madison County Detention Center.
