Sometimes when Atkinson speaks of the girl, now 9, she doesn't call her by name. She calls her second child "it."

"It was the problem. It was what was causing everything," Atkinson, 31, said this week from behind a glass partition at Lew Sterrett Justice Center. "Out of sight, out of mind. I shut it away and don't think of it. … I couldn't stop her being in the closet."

Kavanaugh was adopted in July by a Van Zandt County couple, Bill and Sabrina Kavanaugh, who tried to adopt her at birth but were forced to return her because of a technicality.

Barbara Atkinson, who also is adopted, said she wanted her daughter back as a baby because putting her up for adoption was like failing. She later changed her mind but couldn't bring herself to

tell her parents.

Bill and Sabrina Kavanaugh are now the child's mom and dad.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2018/12/20/unrepentant-mom-girl-closet-lauren-kavanaugh-calls-child-blames-child-problems

>>4906287

Child Abuse Survivor Dubbed the 'Girl in the Closet' Allegedly Sexually Assaulted 14-Year-Old

Police in Lewisville, Texas, allege 25-year-old Lauren Kavanaugh — whose mom and stepdad are serving prison time for crimes committed against her — sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl she met via a Facebook page titled “The Lauren Kavanaugh Story,” through which Kavanaugh offered support to victims of abuse, police Capt. Jesse Hunter tells PEOPLE.

12/20/18 https://people.com/crime/girl-in-the-closet-lauren-kavanaugh-tortured-by-parents-accused-of-sex-assault-of-girl-14/