When Jamilet Almaras took the stand in a Dallas County criminal court Thursday morning, she willed herself not to cry.

She’d spent the night before typing out everything she wanted to say to the woman who’d abused her during Almaras’ teen years — 800 words to express a decade of grief, anger and a journey to forgiveness.

“I’m nervous,” she’d whispered moments before the judge called her forward to deliver her statement.

Before taking the stand, she hadn’t been able to read through the statement without crying, Almaras said. But as she looked out over the courtroom, she felt a sense of peace. Her voice didn’t waver as she looked at Kaylen Cottongame, the woman who sat across from her, and described how the abuse she experienced at Cottongame’s hands had affected her life.

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