Alleged child rape survivor claims victimized again when DA lied, dropped charges
Valerie Owenby, known until now in court records at V.O., wants everyone to know her name.
Owenby grew up in the house her grandfather built, on a mountaintop in Henderson County. She lived there with her father, brother and grandparents at the end of a country road, surrounded by woods and very few neighbors.
The closest neighbor was James Franklin Sapp, who Owenby, now 22, said sexually assaulted, raped and terrorized her from age 5-12, most of her childhood.
“When I was 12 I started my period, and he decided not to do it anymore and told me to keep my mouth shut or my family would die,” Owenby said.