Angel Dwyer (pictured), b. 1992, was forced by her mother to marry at age 13, whereupon she was physically abused by her husband, X. Angel was homeschooled.
Angel’s birth in New Jersey was not registered. She never visited a doctor or dentist and she was not allowed to use the public library. Angel and her siblings were homeschooled for their entire lives in a secular family. According to Angel, “I never learned more than multiplication. I learned to read and write from the internet so pretty much I didn’t have an education.” After Angel’s father died when she was ten, all education stopped. At some point the family moved to Pollock Pines, California. Angel’s mother was emotionally abusive and controlling. When Angel was 13, at her mother’s urging, Angel’s 16-year-old boyfriend, X., came to live with the family. Days later, Angel’s mother performed a living room wedding without a license for the two children. X., now Angel’s husband, became her legal guardian. “Soon after the wedding, Angel’s husband became violent and abusive,” including in one instance strangling Angel while she was pregnant. Angel’s mother moved the family to Priest Lake, Idaho, to escape scrutiny.
In 2011, when Angel was 19 and pregnant with her third child, she reported the abuse with the help of Priest River Ministries Advocates for Women. X. was jailed for nine months for domestic abuse. Angel, now Angel McGehee, is currently a homeschooling mother who advocates against child marriage.
Date: 2011
Location: Priest Lake, Idaho
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