By Arielle Mitropoulos, Krizia Williams
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CONCORD, New Hampshire (WMUR) — A woman who claims her adoptive parents kept her in a basement dungeon in New Boston shared her story in court Tuesday. In her lawsuit, Olivia Griffin asked for nearly $30 million to help rebuild her life. After hearing Griffin’s testimony, the judge approved the damages.
When News 9 first broke the story of the case in 2018, her name was Olivia Atkocaitis, but the first thing she clarified for the judge Tuesday was that she now uses the last name “Griffin.” She spoke about the pain her old name carries.
“Being told for 15 years that your life is not worth living, and any time you do something wrong, you were told 110 ways you should kill yourself. I don’t think I’m ever going to recover from that,” she said. “I was conditioned to not think that I was worth anything.”
Griffin was adopted from China at 14 months old. She said that for 15 years, she was kept in a room in the basement by Denise and Thomas Atkocaitis. Neither were in the courtroom Tuesday, but they have both pleaded guilty to criminal charges connected to the case.
Thomas Atkocaitis pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor of endangering the welfare of a child and served six months in jail. Denise Atkocaitis pleaded guilty to one felony charge of restraint and served no jail time.
Court documents describe Griffin’s living conditions as a dungeon or jail and point to a previous criminal prosecutor saying that Olivia was kept in conditions that he wouldn’t keep his dog in.
“If I did anything wrong, it would result in a beating. So I tried really hard to be good.” Griffin said.
She said she tried to escape multiple times but was repeatedly returned to the same family. She said she wasn’t in school from the first through the eighth grade.
Griffin testified she was tied to a metal column with a dog leash, subjected to racism and starved or force-fed until she vomited. She was fed things like peanut butter sandwiches with apple cider vinegar on the bread.
“She would tell me that she wishes China would just blow up, and she wishes she could ship me back there when it happened,” she said.
In 2018, she finally escaped by digging herself out of the basement.
“I have been villainized my whole life,” Griffin said. “So, I can’t explain to you the trauma I’ll have for the rest of my life, but if you can think of the worst thing that has ever happened to you in your life, having to relive that and then having it happen every day, that is what it felt like.”
The judge approved $29.5 million in damages. New Hampshire officials said the state previously settled with Griffin for $800,000.
Griffin said that despite the pain she has felt and will feel, she is now striving to help other children in similar situations.
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Woman who says she suffered years of abuse at hands of adoptive parents awarded nearly $30M News Channel 3-12.
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