Not believed: Charged with filing false report, Polk teen captured own evidence during rape [View all]

[WhiskeyGrinder]

https://www.theledger.com/story/news/local/2024/11/01/story-of-lakeland-womans-rape-as-teen-gains-national-attention/75942133007/

LAKELAND — Less than an hour after being raped by her adoptive father along the side of a country road, the 13-year-old girl stood in the darkness, clutching the cell phone that held video and photographic evidence of his crime.

Preparing to dial 911, the girl paused, thinking back to a year earlier, when she had gone to law enforcement to report Henry Cadle’s sexual abuse, only to have an investigator from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office accuse her of lying.

Taylor Cadle worried: Would that happen again? Still, she overcame her fears and made the call in 2017, and hours later she saw Henry Cadle being led from their home in handcuffs, the last time she would ever see him.

Taylor Cadle remained anonymous until Tuesday night, when PBS NewsHour carried a 10-minute segment exploring her story in a manner critical of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. The story has since spread on social media, gaining more than 1 million views on TikTok as of Friday.