A court has ordered a DNA test be carried out in the case of a Nevada man who was sexually abused by his mom and fears his brother could be his son.
Gifford was just 10 years old when his mom Doreene Gifford began a years-long campaign of depraved abuse.
She was ultimately sentenced to serve between eight and 20 years in jail in 2015.
The now-26-year-old believes that his younger brother could in fact be the product of incest.
He is now one step closer to obtaining answers after a judge ruled that a paternity test could be carried out to determine if the 15-year-old is his son.
‘The court’s decision to order a DNA test marks a critical step forward in our journey toward truth, healing, and legal clarity,’ Logan told 8 News Now.
‘It’s what we’ve been aiming for this whole time, and we appreciate the assistance we’ve received to get this far.’
Gifford, from Las Vegas, believes his brother could have been conceived around late 2008 when another instance of sexual abuse took place.
His ordeal l first came to light when he reported his mom to the police at the age of 16.
Gifford told a court that he had been exposed to drug use in his youth and detailed how his mother’s abuse first started. She has long claimed she is innocent.
He said that his mom brought him into a bedroom she shared with his father, Theodore, in which a pornographic video was playing, when she sexually assaulted him.
The teen, whose identity Gifford has withheld, struggles with cognitive difficulties.
Children born as a result of incest are at a higher risk of genetic disorders and disabilities.
Gifford told the outlet that it was a therapist who raised the idea with him that he could be the father of his brother.
He added: ‘I was 17 at the time. That threw me for a loop.’
His younger brother receives a disability check and is now living with Gifford, who currently has temporary guardianship.
If it turns out that Gifford is the father, the ongoing court case will become a custody matter. If he is not the father it will still remain as a guardianship case.
‘To sit here and say that my brother may be the product of my sexual assault is a very visceral thing to think about as a male survivor,’ Gifford said.
‘But he’s here now. There’s no going back and undoing anything. And he deserves to have a quality of life where he’s comfortable, where he can be a kid.’
He has set up a GoFundMe to help cover the costs of the test and court action.
‘I’ve filed a paternity petition to get answers, not just for me, but for him—he deserves the truth,’ the fundraiser states.
‘The court process is tough, and with his cognitive struggles and our complicated family history, I need help to secure his future and give him the life he deserves.’
Doreene accepted a plea in the case of attempted assault sexual assault, and attempted lewdness with a child.
The plea she accepted is known as an Alford plea.
That sees a defendant concede only that prosecutors have enough evidence for a conviction.
Her public defender said in a memorandum at the time of her sentencing that Gifford had animosity for his mom and that his version of events was littered with inconsistencies.
The note said that Doreene was brought up around abusive parents who were in and out of prison, an abusive foster system as a child, couple with an abusive marriage and later abusing crystal meth herself.
Doreene was released on parole last July, but arrested again in January after she violated a condition of her release by contacting a victim.