As a 12-year-old recovering from repeated sexual abuse, Collin was cut off from his mother.

Today, Collin is 22. He said he misses his mom and believes she does not deserve to be in prison. She should be pardoned, he said.

He also wishes he had never come forward about what his stepfather was doing to him. “Honestly,” Collin told BuzzFeed News, “I would rather have gone through the abuse for the rest of my life.”