“All I wanted was a dad.”
Keisha Etienne was 9 years old when, she says, the man she had asked to fill that role began sexually abusing her.
In 2019, more than two decades later, Etienne went to the police, overcoming a massive fear to do what survivors often struggle to: speak out. The first-generation Haitian American and school counselor didn't want 90-year-old Albert Bassett imprisoned. She simply wanted him to acknowledge his crimes and be placed on Florida’s sex offender registry.
That never happened.
In May 2024, Bassett, 90 at the time, pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse and received 10 years of probation, with no requirement to register as a sex offender.
For Etienne, the outcome illustrates the uphill battle survivors face when navigating the justice system, particularly in Black, Brown and immigrant communities. The conclusion left her feeling silenced all over again.
"It brought me back to 9 years old," Etienne told The Miami Times. "It was demoralizing that after it took me years to find the strength to come forward, the outcome left me feeling silenced. It brought back the helplessness I felt as a child, when my pain went unacknowledged."
With the case closed, Etienne is telling her story to encourage survivors to speak out, even when the system fails them.
A case years in the making
In a victim impact statement, Etienne recalled how Bassett, her aunt’s boyfriend, entered her life around 1990, and how she asked him to be her father figure.
“But that’s not what I received,” she wrote. “Instead of love, affection, and support, I was met with lies, manipulation, grooming, abuse, and rape.”
Bassett persuaded Etienne's mother that he and her aunt could provide a better life for her, since her mother was a single mom. He called Etienne “daughter” and made “pinky promises” to keep the abuse secret.
When Etienne finally reported Bassett to Golden Beach Police in 2019, prosecutors initially charged him with four counts of sexual battery on a minor and three counts of lewd and lascivious conduct.
“The weight can feel heavier when you decide to go forward, and you may not feel as supported,” Etienne said, “especially being a person of color, a minority — whether you’re Latino, Haitian, Asian.”
Pandemic delays and turnover at the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office (SAO) caused lengthy periods of inactivity.
“That sort of delay can adversely affect the momentum of a criminal case and the morale of the victim,” said Etienne’s attorney, Aaron Karger.
Etienne hired Karger in 2023 after feeling ignored by new prosecutors. While the initial prosecutor included her in discussions about a plea requiring sex offender registration, subsequent prosecutors took over in 2020 and sidelined her concerns, she says.
“Since our first meeting where Ms. [Kathleen] Hoague — chief assistant state attorney — and Mr. [Arvind] Singh — assistant state attorney — tried to persuade me to accept the non-sexual abuse non-offender registry charge offer to Albert Bassett, my cries for what I thought was minimal justice have remained ignored and disregarded,” Etienne said.
The plea she didn’t want
Etienne’s objective was clear:
"Making sure that he does register as a sexual offender, so that others don’t fall victim."
The SAO declined an interview with The Miami Times, pointing instead to its closeout memorandum, which acknowledged Etienne’s requests. However, the memo also noted defense evidence showing Etienne and Bassett allegedly maintained a financial relationship until charges were filed in 2019. Karger said prosecutors suggested during plea conversations that a jury could view Bassett’s payments for Etienne’s childhood expenses, such as dental braces, as “reparations.”
The SAO also pointed to a deposition in which defense counsel asked whether Etienne would be fine with prosecutors resolving the case as they saw fit, to which she answered “yes." Karger strongly rejected the idea that Etienne’s response implied consent to waive registry requirements.
“Keisha did not conceive that ASA Singh could or would believe it ‘appropriate’... to override her bare minimum request,” Karger said. “Hardly a trauma-informed approach to the child sexual abuse victims that the office seeks justice for.”
Karger highlighted broader systemic disparities in how cases are resolved.
“Sexual abuse victims often ask that their abusers receive jail, and that is frequently granted — though often for defendants with fewer resources and less standing. Keisha asked for the bare minimum. So what was it about the defendant and his four lawyers that didn't allow that to happen here?”
Ultimately, prosecutors accepted a plea for aggravated child abuse without registry requirements, citing Bassett’s advanced age and health as reasons why registration-related residency laws would be too burdensome. In exchange, the defense agreed not to deny the sexual nature of the conduct and accepted restrictions similar to sex-offender probation, which Judge Alberto Millian approved in May 2024.
Sitting in that courtroom reopened decades-old wounds for Etienne.
“I’m a school counselor, so I know the psychology of it all,” she said. “But to physically feel like a child and almost feel re-abused and victimized was very disappointing.”
In her victim impact statement, she put it bluntly: “The saying, ‘In a world where money talks, the poor are silenced,’ resonates and serves as a reminder that justice is not always granted to those who deserve it.”
According to the Pew Research Center, about 86% of Black Americans report that the courts require major overhauls or need to be completely rebuilt to ensure fair treatment, with nearly 67% expressing unfavorable views of the legal framework due to deep-seated disparities in charging, sentencing and representation.
Karger hopes Etienne’s decision to go public will spark broader reforms.
“Now that Ms. Etienne is coming forward to tell her story about what it was like to be a crime victim in that system, we hope we can effectuate some change with the way that these cases are being handled — particularly cases that involve really egregious, awful factual allegations.”
Breaking cultural and systemic silence
Etienne’s decades-long delay in reporting what she experienced is far from unusual. According to CHILD USA, 33% to 70% of child sexual abuse victims do not disclose the abuse until adulthood, with a median disclosure age of 48.
In minority communities, those barriers run even deeper. Data from theNational Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community indicates that for every Black woman who reports sexual assault, 15 do not.
As a Haitian American, Etienne notes that cultural expectations often demand keeping family matters internal.
"One of the barriers culturally is to keep things inside, especially in the Black and Brown community," she explained.
Fear of disbelief and internalized guilt only compound the silence.
“We rationalize psychologically as a victim what you did to cause it, and if you feel guilty that it was you, why would you go forward?”
She also argues that investigators must consider the realities of delayed reporting. Abuse that occurred decades ago took place before smartphones and constant digital documentation. Karger noted that socioeconomic and racial disparities can compound those difficulties by making interactions with prosecutors and institutions intimidating.
Furthermore, National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) datashow lower legal substantiation rates for Black girls than white children in sexual abuse cases, despite research indicating sexual abuse histories among Black women range from 34% to over 60%.
Etienne’s work with children influenced her decision to report. It wasn't until Etienne attended a 2019 child sexual abuse prevention training that she recognized the grooming she had experienced and found the power to step forward.
From victim to victor
Though the justice system failed to deliver the outcome she sought, Etienne refuses to stay quiet. While no further legal action is planned, she is shifting her focus entirely to advocacy.
“Our goal now is that of awareness,” Karger said. “At times she felt silenced. And so that silence is no more.”
"I like using the word victor," Etienne said, choosing it deliberately over "victim."
Beyond advocacy, Etienne has turned inward to heal.
“One of the things I’ve been doing through this process is working in advocacy but also still on self. There are a lot of organizations that help, and I’ve gone to several of them and learned so much about the brain and what happens in traumatization,” she said.
She urges survivors to start small: confide in one trusted person, seek therapy, and build a support system.
“Community can be just one person — a family member or a friend that is an encouragement. For me, those were my sisters.”
Though disappointed by the justice system, Etienne hopes her story encourages others to seek help rather than retreat into silence.
“I share this because I do not want other survivors to experience this same outcome,” Etienne said. “You’ll feel so much lighter by starting with therapy, having a community and speaking to authorities if that’s what you decide to do. The heaviness will become a little less heavy, because you’ll feel like there are people holding you up.”
This story was produced by The Miami Times, one of the oldest Black-owned newspapers in the country, as part of a content sharing partnership with the WLRN newsroom. Read more at miamitimesonline.com.
