For a mother to leave a young child indefinitely is almost unimaginable. Maria,*, a 17- year-old girl from a small town in Central America, was forced to do just that when she journeyed to the United States in search of protection from a man who repeatedly kidnapped her, raped her, and ultimately fathered her child.

Maria was only 12 years old when she was first kidnapped and raped by a man in her community. She escaped from him only to be recaptured. Her family contacted the police several times but the police were incapable of protecting Maria. After giving birth to the man's son at age 14, Maria was kidnapped and repeatedly raped again. This abuse and violence continued for five years.

These are the circumstances that caused Maria's family to send her to the United States. The journey was too dangerous for her 3-year-old child to accompany her, so she left him in the care of her parents. Upon arrival in the U.S., Maria was immediately apprehended by Customs and Border Patrol. Faced with the possibility of being deported back to the small town where inevitably her abuser would find her, continue the abuse, or ultimately kill her, her fate was in the hands of a team of pro bono attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. She hoped that they would be able to help her secure much needed protection through asylum.

Damion Robinson, an associate at the Los Angeles' office of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, led the team of attorneys that represented Maria. "Until working on Maria's case, I really was not aware of how awful the circumstances of those seeking asylum can be," Damion said. Other members of the team included partner Adam Paris, associates Theresa Buckley, Alexa Lawson-Remer and Denis Shmidt, former associate Nick Jurkowitz, assistant Marina Green and paralegal Bart Quintans. Each individual played a key role in the case's outcome. Adam Paris was the partner that oversaw the case. Nick Jurkowitz initiated the work on Maria's case. Marina Green, a fluent Spanish speaker, did most of the translation, among other things.

According to Damion, "Marina was paramount in getting Maria to open up about everything that happened to her." Damion made sure to also give credit to Patrick Atkinson, who served as an expert witness, spending hours working with the staff at Sullivan & Cromwell. Patrick runs the God's Child Project, a non-profit for children in Guatemala. He also came to Maria's hearing to testify.

Damion reported that it took several hours of interviewing Maria for her to feel comfortable enough to provide details about the circumstances that led her to flee the country of her upbringing, leaving her son behind. Even after becoming more comfortable with the team at Sullivan & Cromwell, "it was still pretty difficult to get her to give us the details about what happened to her," Damion said. Eventually, it became easier for her to tell her entire story. "Now she's probably a little too comfortable with us and makes fun of my poor Spanish," Damion joked.

"Even after telling us her story maybe ten times, the first day we were in court for her merits hearing, she still got really nervous," Damion recalled. "When I asked questions that we had gone over before, she gave really short answers and said she didn't understand," Damion continued. "Luckily Maria's immigration judge stepped in and asked her a few questions that made her more comfortable and by the end of the two-day hearing, Maria turned out to be an excellent witness and told her story very consistently and compellingly. The judge found her to be very credible and was clearly moved by her story," Damion added.

Damion noted both his and Maria's nervous anticipation of the judge's decision, which occurred a month later. It took the judge almost two hours to render an oral decision. She found in Maria's favor on each claim - asylum, withholding of removal, and Convention against Torture. According to Damion, "The judge also relied heavily on Mr. Atkinson's expert opinions about the conditions in Guatemala."  Damion recalled Maria's tears of joy upon leaving the courtroom. She told him and the other Sullivan & Cromwell attorneys that even though she had confidence in them, she never actually believed she would get asylum until she heard the judge give her ruling. "It was a great experience helping someone seek relief and I would absolutely do it (take on a KIND case) again," Damion stated.

Now, that Maria is safe, Damion and his teammates are trying to get her son asylum as well. He is eligible for asylum automatically based on Maria's application. Damion hopes to soon report a reunification between Maria and her son. If we at KIND could speak to her son, we'd tell him, "Rest assured that you are in good hands." Thank you for your incredible team work Damion, Adam, Theresa, Alexa, Denis, Nick, Marina, and Bart.

*Name changed to protect the child's identity