12 years a prostitute - Pregnant at 11, woman wants to save others from

Cassandra Terrelonge got pregnant at age 11, which led to a 12-year 'career' in prostitution.

Speaking with THE WEEKEND STAR, she stated that she is imploring single mothers not to follow her path.

"I didn't even know I was pregnant. All I knew is that I was sleeping a lot and my period was missed. I didn't even know what the two lines on the pregnancy test meant but I just had a strong feeling that something was wrong. When my mother found out, she passed out," the 28-year-old told THE WEEKEND STAR.

Terrelonge was seduced by a 19-year-old she admitted she liked, one day when they were alone.

"I remember telling the guy no but he continued and I liked him, so I didn't tell anyone what happened," she said. "It was the first time I had sex, I got pregnant."

Terrelonge said she became the 'talk' of her Thompson Pen, St Catherine, community, causing much embarrassment for her and her family.

Her son, who has since been diagnosed with autism, was born months later, and things got even harder; she even tried to drink bleach when she felt overwhelmed.

"My mother wasn't working because she had to stay home with the baby while I went to school at Jonathan Grant High. There were kids from my community that went to my school and everyone would start talking. My breasts would leak so I told mommy I wasn't going back to school, and, of course, she gave me a proper cussing," she said.

With an infant to care for, a 13-year-old Terrelonge lied about her age to secure a job as a bartender.

"The bar owner took one look at me and told me he knew that I was not 21 but said he was going to give me the job because I had a child. I worked with him for three weeks and I gave mommy the money to take care of my son and I felt like a woman," she said.

Shortly after she saw an advertisement for a massage therapist, the job promised $10,000 per week; she would be doing much more than massaging.

My innocence

"My cousin lent me her birth paper and I told my mom that I was going to work at a guest house. He (the owner) didn't believe that I was an adult but he still gave me the work. Men were attracted to my innocence because I got several clients that weekend. I remember feeling so dirty that I felt like ripping my skin off when I was showering," she said.

Terrelonge said that although her mother pressured her to return to school, she delved further into prostitution as she was determined to make a life for her son.

Her son had to undergo many tests that were too much for Terrelonge's pockets. She said that her babyfather wasn't contributing and she found work where she could, including as far as Negril.

She started nursing school while selling her body at nights but said it was hard to balance both, especially with her son's medical bills piling up.

As soon as she turned 18, she travelled to Antigua to work as a dancer/prostitute. It was there that she found out she had various illnesses including a kidney infection and endometriosis.

She went to Barbados and continued dancing, even as she was receiving treatment. But she was deported in 2011, and bounced between several islands as a 'working girl'.

"In 2012, I felt unfulfilled and I got baptised because I was really tired of the life I was living. I started going to church but a month after, the pressure hit and my son got sick. I backslided and I was back to my old ways," she said.

Terrelonge said that her health was always an issue even as she pleasured clients.

"I was in excruciating pain during intercourse but I would just take painkillers and bear it. That same year while in Suriname, I got a lung infection. I had tooth problems also so I borrowed a loan of EU1,800 from my boss to do surgery but I sent the money home instead,"she said.

'Normal' job

She returned to Jamaica, working the clubs and 'Back Road', before heading back to church. Even though she sometimes had to beg for assistance, she was determined to live right, finally landing a 'normal' job in 2017.

With no one to babysit her son while she was at work, she sought assistance from the then-named Child Development Agency, who kept him for a while.

After she got back custody of her son, she researched natural food and drink; that would be the start of her natural juice business, Shiloh's Anchor.

"I started with 12 bottles and it has grown. I still find it a challenge a lot of times to care for my now 16-year-old son but I will never return to a life of prostitution. My advice for young girls is to stay as far as possible from that life. Do not live in the fast lane even when things seem impossible. Don't give up on God," she said.