A DEVIL'S ACT
SUNDAY, FEB. 11, 1996
HURRICANE, W.VA.
"Daddy, what are we doing?"
Five-year-old Katie Lavigne’s world revolved around the silly, random things that kids latch onto. For her, it was spaghetti, cats (she dressed as a black one every Halloween) and the pink Power Ranger.
She had fallen asleep earlier, curled up next to her 7-year-old brother in front of the family rec room TV.
Now she was awake, outside in the biting winter air, carried in the arms of a monster heading across the street toward the Catholic Church of the Ascension.
"Daddy, what are we doing?" Katie was placed onto a grassy area and raped.
Following the assault, the monster grabbed Katie’s clothes and fled in the direction behind the church. Cold and naked, Katie walked back home and eventually went into the bathroom. Her father, Joe Lavigne Jr., heard her from his bedroom and got up to see her cleaning herself with a washcloth. He called for his wife to come help, and they thought she had diarrhea.
They ran a bath for her and once she got in, the water turned red. It was blood. When her mother asked Katie what happened, she replied, "Daddy took me outside and hurt me."