Yarenci Hernandez’s abuse started the night she met her father. Born in Mexico City, she lived with neighbors until, when she was about seven or eight, her father came to take her to Columbus, Ohio.
“Even from the moment that I met him – because that was really the first time I had met him – I can remember the uncomfortable feeling I felt,” said Hernandez.
She and her brother had no choice but to go with him. She said the sexual abuse continued until she was 16 and that she tried many times over the years to get him to stop, including threatening to tell her stepmom.
“And he would be like, ‘Well, tell her. She's not your mom. She can't do anything. You’re not legal here,’” said Hernandez. “Cause I wasn't. He didn't bring me here legally. ‘You'll just get taken away, sent to Mexico and see what you do there.’”
In 2024, Child Protective Services in Ohio investigated close to 70,000 cases of child abuse. About 3,400 of those cases were found to involve victims of sexual abuse.
Hernandez tried to run away many times. She attempted suicide. At 16, she left home for good.
At her boyfriend’s house, she called the police but they told her they couldn’t take any immediate action.
Hernandez was running out of options.
She called her therapist, who then reported the abuse to authorities. The resulting process made for the longest day of her life, said Hernandez.
“[I] went through clinic after clinic and interview after interview and the same questions and detectives and cops and case workers and nurses all asking pretty much the same questions,” said Hernandez.
Law enforcement declined to bring a case against Cisneros. Her family members didn’t believe her and prosecutors told her there wasn’t any evidence. She was placed in a foster home.
“I didn’t know what was going to be of my life but that emptiness I felt, of going into that room of my now-safe home where I was by myself. It was this little room where it was safe, but I felt like I was in jail,” said Hernandez.
A different way to handle her case
Jennifer Johnson is executive director of Canopy Child Advocacy Center in Cleveland, an organization that works with victims, prosecutors, police and social workers so child abuse victims only need to tell their story once.
“What happens and should be happening is when they are talking with the child they should be trained in how to do a forensic interview,” said Johnson.
She added that, while she doesn’t know all the details, a scenario like Hernandez’s isn’t very common - prosecutors bring less-than-perfect cases to trial frequently.
“There are situations where there's just not enough evidence. It doesn't even mean they don't try the case. Sometimes they do, and sometimes they still can't get a successful conviction,” said Johnson.
Johnson says prosecutors could have handled it differently. And if they had, it might have prevented the abuse of others: A few years ago, Hernandez discovered another underage girl had accused Cisneros of sexual abuse.
Years later, an indictment
In February 2024, Cisneros was indicted for abusing five children, including Hernandez. The incidents spanned from 2006 to 2021.
“I'm so angry because of course he did [it] again. Like, what did you guys expect?” said Hernandez. “You guys let this monster free. And I was so angry, I called my therapist crying and I'm like, ‘What do I do? Did I do the wrong choice by not continuing to fight more?’”
Cisneros pleaded guilty in December to some of the charges. His sentencing is scheduled for next month.
Hernandez isn’t sure if she'll attend. After being adopted, she went on to gain citizenship, marry, become a devout Christian and have three kids of her own. Now 29, she’s focusing on her future.
“I think the most important thing is to continue with my life and be successful. There’s no better revenge than your own success,” said Hernandez.
She and Cisneros’s other victims will never get their childhoods back, said Hernandez, but she hopes stories like hers are less likely to happen in the future.