How a rape survivor wed her HS sweetheart & built a family after they had a hit man kill her dad

[lowkey0z]

As a teenager Cheryl Pierson says she endured years of sexual abuse by her father, she told no one — not even her boyfriend, Rob Cuccio — because she was so afraid.

“My father used to threaten me on a daily basis,” she tells PEOPLE at her home on Long Island in New York. “He would say he’d kill me and kill anybody that I told. I believed him.”

As her situation worsened, her boyfriend’s suspicions grew.






“I was afraid to confront Cheryl about it,” he says. “We were having a little argument and it came out. I said, ‘I know what your dad is doing to you.’ I remember Cheryl’s face getting red.”

She initially denied it but ultimately confessed.

“Cheryl started to cry, and she said, ‘You’re right Rob, but you can’t tell anybody.’ ” he recalls. “I knew in that moment that there was no way I could leave her.”

Now 49 and an oncology nurse, he never has.

Cheryl and Rob, married for 28 years, have weathered health struggles, raising children — and a fatal decision more than 30 years ago that ended with her dad dead in his driveway and the couple behind bars

As Cheryl’s attorneys later argued in court, she believed she had no other option than homicide when her father, a 42-year-old local electrician named James Pierson, threatened to begin abusing her 8-year-old sister, JoAnn.

Neighbors and friends testified that they had their suspicions about what was going on between Cheryl and James, but no one ever came forward to report it.

One morning at her high school in 1986, Cheryl, then a 16-year-old cheerleader, mentioned a recent murder-for-hire plot she had seen in the news. She asked her classmates if anyone would kill someone for money.

Sean Pica, a fellow junior, said he’d do it for $1,000. By February of that year, Cheryl’s dad was dead — shot five times in the head and chest in his driveway.

Cheryl, Rob and Pica were soon arrested for James’ murder. It was at Cheryl’s first court hearing that her attorneys revealed her claims of repeated sexual abuse.

When Pica said he’d serve as a hit man, Cheryl told him her secret and discussed the possibility of killing her dad. Although she insists she didn’t know Pica was going to go through with it, she says she and Rob pieced together $400 for him in partial payment.

In the end Pica, then 18, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 24 years in prison.

Rob, then 20, pleaded guilty to criminal solicitation and was given probation. And Cheryl pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to six months in jail — serving about three and a half months before she was released early for good behavior.

On Jan. 19, 1998, when Cheryl walked free from the Suffolk County Jail, in Riverhead, New York, there were three people waiting for her: Rob, her brother, James Jr., and their friend Craig. They had a white stretch limo.

“It was one of the best days of my life,” she says. “The music was blaring. We popped open the sun roof.”

“There were still going to be many hard things that were going to happen to us,” she continues, “but it was still going to be one of the good days.”

That same night, Rob proposed to Cheryl and they soon began “the start of a brand new chapter.”

The couple waited three years after marrying to have their first child, Samantha, and three years after that they had Casey, another girl.

Cheryl made sure she worked jobs that would allow her to always be present in her daughters’ lives. She was there for every school play, dance recital and class trip.

“We were very protective of them,” she says. “I wasn’t going to let anyone hurt them. I’ve raised two beautiful, intelligent, caring and loving children, whom I’m very proud of.”

LMAO THEY GET A BOOK??

 

[CodeBlaMeVi]

Off the title alone. Wtf!?!?

​

 

[SmokyQuartz]

Who else had to read the title for a good 5 minutes?

 

[Standing on business]

I only clicked this thread to see what color they were.


I was correct

 

[BaggerofTea]

Humans are capable of some untold level of fukkery

 

[Gab]

I kept waiting for Sean Picas happy ending

 

[GoldCoastSaint]

Wow. How did Rob get off so easy, plus she was underage when he was fukking with her. I mean even for cacs this is bit much.

And poor Pica. Life ruined for $400 and cac matrimony. shyt is crazy.

 

[Malta]

 

[GoldCoastSaint]

I kept waiting for Sean Picas happy ending

I googled him. If it helps he got 3 degrees in prison.

 

[Ninjaz In Paris]

Who else had to read the title for a good 5 minutes

I had to go back and read it slow... like one word at a time because it's like my brain couldn't handle processing the amount of

 

[O.T.I.S.]

I googled him. If it helps he got 3 degrees in prison.

What else?

Did he serve all 24?

Edit: nevermind, I googled it

Pretty amazing, story should actually be written about him. Hes in social services and director of the same education program he used to get his degrees in Sing Sing

 

[L&HH]

So the dude they hired got 24 years and all they got was probabtion???

Ya'll remember Sara Kruzan? She killed her pimp when she was 17 for abusing her and she got life with no parole. Eventually The Teminator commuted her sentence but she still served 15 years:

Sara Kruzan - Wikipedia

Also doesn't The Son of Sam law prevent criminals from profiting from their crimes?

 

[lowkey0z]

What else?

Did he serve all 24?

16 Years in Prison and 3 College Degrees - Hudson Link - Higher Education in Prison

In the beginning, Sean kept his head down, stayed quiet, and just tried to survive one day at a time.

Fast forward nearly 30 years later, and Sean Pica is now the executive director of Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison, an organization committed to providing college education, life skills, and re-entry support to incarcerated and formerly incarcerated men and women. His story is one of redemption, hope, and community

 

[BabyGrl1990]

Weird.

 

[SheWantTheD]

WTF?!