A Las Vegas man who suspects he’s the biological dad of his brother after allegedly being raped by his mother is now the legal father of the boy, a judge has ruled.
Logan Gifford, 26, came forward when he was 16 to say his mother Doreene Gifford had sexually abused him since the age of 10.
She was convicted and jailed in 2015, serving nine years before her release last year.
Logan suspected his 16-year-old brother, who is disabled, could actually be his son and earlier this year filed a paternity case asking a judge to order an advanced DNA test to determine who is the boy’s father.
Test results from both Logan and his father Theadore Gifford, who Doreene insists is her younger son’s dad, show they both share 9.99% of the boy’s DNA
This means it’s impossible to conclude which one is the biological father.
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However, family court judge Vinceen Ochoa said that as Logan was already caring for the boy and Theadore had refused to take part in the case, he would make Logan the child’s legal guardian.
As reported in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, he said: ‘I can’t make [Theodore] the father if he doesn’t want to participate,’ the judge said.
‘I’m going to grant the default and declare Logan Gifford to be the legal father of the child. This is the only solution we have.
‘The DNA test was done and eliminated everyone except for two individuals and only one of those individuals wants to participate in this case.’
Doreene, who now lives in Massachusetts as a registered sex offender, attended the hearing.
She said: : ‘I never had any doubt that Theodore was the father, but I cannot continue this case, mentally, physically or emotionally.
‘I feel that it’s best that we just concede this case and stop this madness now.’
Following the hearing, Logan said he was ready to move on from the case.
‘Clearly, we got the answer that we were anticipating,’ he said.
‘Finally, there was closure, not only for me, as a male survivor, but also closure for someone who didn’t ask for any of this. This is meaningful to him.
‘I didn’t want this to necessarily be made public, but it took that to get to this point.’
He said he hoped sharing his story publicly would inspire other male survivors of sexual abuse to speak out.
Doreen was initially charged with sexual assault and incest but maintained her innocence.
She eventually took an Alford plea on lesser charges of attempted sexual assault, which means she did not admit guilt but conceded that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict her in court.
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