My half brother and i were raised separately and told he was my uncle not my brother cuz our grandma adopted him. our relationship became extremely inappropriate when he was 14 and i was 8, he raped me, not in a malicious way but still. i forgave him. grandma didnt let him have friends, he was over weight, everyone but me made fun of him, he had it rough. our mother didnt raise either of us, i was raised by my great aunt. we found out 3 years later that we were siblings. he went to prison shortly thereafter on unrelated charges for almost 20 years. now he is out and says he is in love with me, that he is addicted to me, that the happiest he has ever been was the incident in the past. i know he is still shaky from being in prison for so long and still adjusting to the outside world and i dont want to make anything more difficult on him. i am in a relationship, one i have been in for over 10 years and i hope to marry my boyfriend someday but even if i were single i would not be interested in my brother. thats not to say i didnt have confusing feelings of my own at some point but he is my brother. i want to help him but he creeps me out sometimes, and says things that i dont know how to respond to. he obsessively calls me or texts me daily. what should i do? what can i do?
Your brother’s attraction to you is anything but normal. The fact that his fondest memories stem from having raped you suggests a high level of mental instability. Rape is not only immoral, but it’s a crime. In some states, if you reported his rape to the authorities, he could still be prosecuted.
You want to help your brother, but you are not a mental health professional. You can’t help him. He needs professional help. The best way to help him is to suggest that he seek professional help.
It’s also not your obligation to help your brother. He is an adult man. He is not intellectually disabled or otherwise incapable of helping himself. Having spent 20 years in prison means that he might have a parole or probation officer who can assist him in seeking professional help. Suggest that he contact his probation or parole officer for assistance. If he is unwilling to seek help, consider reporting his behavior to his probation or parole officer.
Finally, the tone of your letter suggests that you want to protect your brother but it’s important to put this problem in perspective. There’s nothing healthy about your brother’s behavior or his desires. You should do everything in your power to keep your distance. Call the authorities if he does not stop harassing you. Obviously you do not want your brother in legal trouble but his obsessive calling and texting is concerning and might even constitute stalking.
You have to do what is necessary to protect yourself from a person who has demonstrated his inability to control his impulses and who has a history of violence. Do not discount his past behavior just because he is your brother and you feel bad. Though there are exceptions, past behavior can be predictive of future behavior. Please take care.
Dr. Kristina Randle
