US Teen Missing For 8 Years Was Sexually Abused By Mother, Claims Activist

A 25-year-old man in Texas, who was found alive eight years after he was reported missing, was sexually abused by his mother for year, according to an activist. Rudy Farias disappeared in 2015 at the age of 17 while walking his two dogs. But activist Quanell X claimed on Wednesday that Mr Farias was never missing, and instead was actually trapped at home with his mother, who subjected him to twisted abuse and "made him play daddy". He made the claims at an impromptu press conference.

Sharing details of the conversation he had with Mr Farias, Mr Quanell said his mother, Janie Santana, kept him under wraps for nearly a decade while lying to and abusing him.

The activist said Mr Farias told him he ran away in 2015 and returned two days later but his mother threatened him, saying he would get into trouble with police if he said anything.

"I asked him why he ran away. He said he got tired of her not respecting his boundaries. He wanted his own life. His exact words were 'I was tired of living like a slave'," said Mr Quanell in the video posted on Fox 26 Houston website.

"She would take him to work with her and he would do the required work she was supposed to do. But what troubled him the most was her crossing his personal boundaries. He said that she would make him sleep in a bed with her. And he said that she made him play daddy," the activist continued.

"He didn't like to get in the bed with her, that he would try and sneak out of the bed and sometimes hide under the bed but she told him that he had to be her husband," Mr Quanell said, choking up.

The activist also said that he didn't want the young man to see him shedding tears "but I couldn't hold them back".

"I never heard of a mother doing to a child what this woman did. That boy needs to go to the best drug rehab and best psychological, mental health facility we can find for him. He's a good kid. That kid was just severely abused," he said.

Mr Farias wasn't allowed to leave home for eight years, according to Mr Quanell. He explained that Mr Farias' mother would give him drugs and said he was afraid to go to the police.

"She convinced him that he was in trouble for initially running away and that law enforcement wanted to arrest him and put him in jail for running away," Mr Quanell said. "She had convinced him that all types of agencies were looking for him to put him in jail."

Despite all this, the young man didn't want his mother to go to jail.

New York Post said that the police refused to "discuss specifics of the interviews" and cannot confirm whether the reported contents of the interview are "entirely factual".

Farias was found unresponsive outside a church with cuts and bruises.