DazeVlog

A woman who was kidnapped and raped by her neighbor for more than three months as a teen has revealed how years of his psychological torment and physical abuse, leading up to and during the adbuction, left her temporarily brainwashed, and continue to haunt her 20 years later.

Jessyca Christianson, née Mullenberg, 33, was sexually abused by Steven Oliver for years before he abducted her from her father's home in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, when she was 13 years old. The now-33-year-old was told by doctors that she had a three to five per cent chance of being able to conceive after the rape and sexual assaults she suffered as a child. However, despite the odds, Jessyca is a married mother-of-two.

'We live for them because they are miracles,' Jessyca's mother Monica Lukasavige told Wausau Daily Herald about her grandchildren. 'He wasn't able to take that from her.' 

Living her life: Jessyca Christianson, née Mullenberg, who is pictured with her daughter and son, was kidnapped and sexually abused by her neighbor 20 years ago 

Terrible nightmare: Steven Oliver (right) abducted Jessyca (left) when she was 13 years old after years of sexually abusing her

Jessyca still suffers from post traumatic stress disorder two decades after her abduction, and in addition to her emotional pain, Steven's physical abuse caused her to have difficult pregnancies, as well as several surgeries on her jaw, where he repeatedly hit her. 

Staying busy is a coping mechanism for Jessyca, who has a daughter and a son with her husband of six years Curt Christianson. 

'I'm constantly busy' she told the outlet of her three jobs. 'I try to forget about it until I go to bed.'

Jessyca, whose parents are divorced, first met Steven in the third grade when he was a teacher's aide at her school. He and his son also lived next door to her mother and would often invite neighborhood children over to play at his house. 

In an essay published in Cosmopolitan magazine, Jessyca explained how he began sexually abusing her in his home by telling her she misbehaved and ordering her to the kitchen. 

'There, if I didn't touch him the way he wanted, he'd hit me,' she recalled. 'Eventually he was forcing intercourse and oral sex on me, sometimes twice a day.'

RELATED ARTICLES

• Previous
• 1
• Next

• 'I have to learn to dream again because he was my dream come... Mother who shunned a career in modelling to become a...

Share this article

Inspiring words: Jessyca (left and right) was rescued three months later and she has spent the last two decades sharing her story in the hopes of helping others

Fighting back: Jessyca's court testimony helped put Steven away for a 40-year prison sentence, which he has since served half of 

In addition to punching her and hitting her with a broom, Steven would psychologically abuse her, telling her she was 'stupid' and 'ugly' while threatening her with what he would do if she ever told anyone what he was doing to her.    

'The one time I resisted, he stabbed me in the stomach with the tip of a knife,' she explained. 'I bled all over, but he refused to take me to the hospital, ordering me to bandage myself. If anyone ever found out, he warned, he'd murder my entire family. After that, I didn't resist anymore.' 

In the essay, Jessyca questioned whether Steven recognized her vulnerability because she was molested by the father of her dad's girlfriend when she was five and then again by her father's roommate who forced her to 'give him oral sex repeatedly'. 

Jessyca thought her horror was finally over when her mother and stepfather moved to another town, however, Steven began showing up and asking her and her brothers to come over to play with his son - to the point that her mom even called the police.

Steven eventually moved into a trailer near her father's house in Eau Claire, where she visited every other weekend. In order to continue his abuse, Steven convinced Jessyca's father that join his children's publishing group, and using that has a ruse he later told her dad that he needed to take her to Madison, Wisconsin, to oversee a book of her work, claiming that Random House wanted to publish her writing. 

When Jessyca fell asleep he tied her up, and after she woke up, he told her that from now on she was Cindy Johnson and he was her father David. He added that if anyone asked why she looked sad or upset, she was to say that her mother and twin brother had died in a car accident.

Building her own life: Jessyca is pictured with her husband Curt Christianson, whom she has been married to for the past six years 

Happy family: Although Jessica was only given a three to five per cent chance of becoming pregnant, she has defied the odds and had two children 

Steven drove them to the Kansas City airport and held a hidden knife to her back when they boarded a plane to Texas. After switching hotels a couple of times, they started staying at a Days Inn by the airport, where she stayed locked in the room for more than three months. 

Jessyca's kidnapper dyed her blond hair brown and got a job as a maintenance man at the Days Inn. When he was away, she would try calling home until she realized that he had altered the phone so it would dial a number other than the one she was pressing. All of her attempts to reach her family resulted in wrong numbers. 

If she disobeyed or angered Steven in any way he would tie her to the bed or beat her. By the time a rerun of America's Most Wanted led to a tip that helped the FBI located them, Jessyca believed her name was Cindy Johnson and had trouble remembering her mother and stepfather until she was shown their pictures. 

'As soon as my mom got off the plane, I didn't need anyone's prompting,' she told Cosmopolitan. 'I ran into her arms. One hundred and five days after Oliver kidnapped me, I was back with my family.'

Jessyca's court testimony helped put Steven away for a 40-year prison sentence, which he has since served half of. She also reported her other abusers and they were convicted as well.

She graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Stout with honors after majoring in psychology and minoring in criminal justice and sociology. She also speaks openly about being kidnapped and enduring sexual abuse to help others who have faced similar trauma. 

Mother-daughter bonding: In order to cope with her post traumatic stress disorder, Jessyca works three jobs and tries to stay as busy as possible 

Important message: On the 20th anniversary of her abduction on September 16, Jessyca took to Facebook to urge others to spend time with their children and pray for those who are still missing their loved ones 

However, Jessyca's recovery has been difficult. She has struggled with people's questions about why she didn't try harder to get away from Steven.

'It's a question that's haunted me ever since. Everyone says, "I would have done this or that," but they weren't there. Could I have gotten away? No. I'd just turned 13, I weighed 100 pounds, and Oliver had previously stabbed me to keep me quiet. I figured if he had it in him to do that, he could kill me.'

Jessyca often fears for her own children's safety and last month she and her mother feared that someone had taken her five-year-old daughter when she never got off the bus after school. The frightened mom was reduced to tears after the bus driver told her that her little girl had never gotten on board the bus. 

Thankfully, Jessyca's daughter was still at school for a Halloween event, but Monica told Wausau Daily Herald that the experience was 'like you got kicked in the stomach'.

Jessyca told the outlet that if someone plans on abducting her children they will most likely do so within the period of her own kidnapping. This September, on the 20th anniversary of her own kidnapping, Jessyca spent the day with her daughter. 

She also posted a message on her Facebook page, writing: 'Today marks the 20th year anniversary of my kidnapping. Today 20 years ago changed my life and my family's life forever. 

'I wish back then that child abuse, physical abuse, psychological abuse, emotional abuse, and rape were discussed in school. Times have changed and now this topics are being discussed in school which is good and heartbreaking because children should not have to.

'Please take time to spend with your child or children today and remember to pray for those who are still missing their loved ones. Thank you.' 

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pa3IpbCmmZmhe6S7ja6iaJ6Voq6quI6aqa2hk6Gybn%2BSbGlwbmJkmrC5jK2uqGWbnrGvrc%2BpnJ1lopa9prCMp5yin5iXvLN5kGxkmpydnsG0ecyepKiqqWK1sL7Rop2im12Wr6XBwq2gqKZdna62utOsZGtoXa6yor7SZqanZpipuq0%3D