Hello! My name is Gina Duncan, and I am seeking financial assistance for an attorney retainer and fees to protect my niece from an abusive birth father.

I have watched my sister be in survival mode as she has fought to protect her daughter (my niece) after my niece shared about physical and sexual abuse happening while she was in the birth father’s home. This visitation was court-ordered and placed my niece in harm’s way. My niece has a language delay/disability which makes it difficult for her to possess the skills needed to protect herself. She currently has a diagnosis of C-PTSD from the trauma she has endured while in the court-ordered visitation. The court system has failed to protect my niece in the past. We are terrified of the system failing her again.

Three attorneys and a guardian ad litem failed to fight for my niece previously. When my sister found the right attorney to fight for my niece, his team fought, got protective orders in place, and for the past three years, she has been safe from the birth father and his family. She has healed and regained self-esteem. The birth father is now attempting to start court proceedings again and regain visitation when the current protection order expires.

Since 2018, my sister has paid over $22,000 in attorney fees to protect her daughter. She currently is NOT in the position to pay the retainer and legal fees to fight the father’s latest attempt to gain access to my niece. My sister, due to surviving a domestic violence injury last year and separation from her spouse, alongside a medical condition which led to two emergency surgeries in 2024, has been unable to work for the past year. Not working is rare for my sister as she is a hard worker and often has worked two jobs to provide for her family.

We recently learned my niece’s case has been left “open/pending” with the Hamilton County Prosecutor's office for the past three years. My niece successfully completed a forensic interview in March 2022 reporting physical and sexual abuse, and still, the case remains open. When she was in the third grade, my niece reported that her birth father was “touching her,” had a forensic interview, but we quickly learned, if a kid with special needs cannot answer all the questions right, how many times, when, and where, etc., nothing gets done.

I do believe with financial assistance; this could be the final round to protect my niece as she (because of her age now) may be able to speak with a judge in private chambers and discuss the abuse issues she reported to a forensic interview team, DCS, and a psychiatrist and her desire to be safe. Please consider helping us raise the funds needed to cover the attorney fees needed to protect our girl.