PHOENIX (AZ)
Phoenix New Times
May 20, 2019
By Elizabeth Whitman
When Annette Schuster was a child, she spent afternoons after school at an uncle’s house. He was kind to her, or so it seemed for a time. She recalled that he made her peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, gave her a bed to nap in, and rubbed her back, among other places.
At the age of 12, Schuster informed her mother that she would never return to that uncle’s house, citing the abuse. Schuster’s mother told her never to lie like that again, she said. Schuster closed her mind to what had happened and concentrated on graduating from high school.
In later years, she confronted family members, including the uncle, hoping for answers. She was repeatedly dismissed. The uncle’s ex-wife said he never would have done anything to hurt Schuster. The uncle himself told Schuster that he had done no wrong, that he had done nothing Schuster didn’t want, she remembered.
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