He Says He Was Sexually Abused by His Mother: Is His Younger Brother Actually His Son?
Logan Gifford says his mother sexually abused him as a child — and now, a DNA test has left him questioning whether her youngest son is also his child
8 News/Youtube
NEED TO KNOW
Logan Gifford alleges his mother, Doreene Gifford, sexually abused him as a child
She gave birth when Logan was 11 — a paternity test showed both Logan and his biological father are likely matches
Doreene was convicted of attempted sexual assault and incest in 2015
A Las Vegas man who says his sex offender mom subjected him to years of childhood sexual abuse now fears the unthinkable: that his younger brother may also be his biological son.
Logan Gifford, 26, has stepped in to care for his 15-year-old younger brother — the child their mother gave birth to when Logan was 11 years old. The teen has disabilities, according to Logan, who said his brother requires additional support at home and school.
Their mother, Doreene Gifford, was convicted in 2015 of attempted sexual assault, incest and lewdness with a child under 14, per court documents.
Logan maintains that his mother repeatedly sexually assaulted him throughout his childhood, beginning when he was 10 and continuing for seven years, per the Las Vegas Review-Journal, 8 News Now and his GoFundMe initiative for court costs.
She took an Alford plea — meaning she did not admit guilt but acknowledged that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict — and was sentenced to 8 to 20 years in prison when Logan was 17.
"Sending her to prison was halfway vindicating since I thought the largest problem of my life was originally dealt with," Logan told 8 News Now.
After nine years behind bars, Doreene Gifford is now a registered sex offender in Nevada — she was released on parole in July of 2024, but was arrested this January after violating a condition that she have no victim contact. She was not listed in Clark County inmate databases as of August 2025; Logan told 8 News Now she currently resides in Massachusetts.
In a statement on his GoFundMe for legal expenses, Logan said he is now in a custody battle over the teen, who had previously been living with their biological father.
"I believe he might be my son, a haunting possibility tied to the abuse I suffered around the time he was conceived," Logan wrote.
“Look at the mess that I’m left with,” he told the Review-Journal. “I didn’t ask for any of this. I was a child when all of this happened and yet now I’m responsible for picking up the pieces of something that really is still continuing to have an impact in my life and dragging me to deal with that. I feel that as though it is my obligation or my duty to [him] to do this and find out who his biological father really is.”
Earlier this year, Logan filed a paternity petition in Clark County Family Court and asked for a judge to approve an advanced DNA test.
He told 8 News Now and the Review-Journal that his DNA and that of his biological father both matched the teen's at 99.9%, suggesting that either man could be the father, due to shared genetic overlap among siblings.
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The judge offered Logan the option of pursuing more advanced testing, which could help clarify the boy's parentage.
DNA testing between a full sibling and a potential father can be challenging because both may share about 50% of their DNA with the child. Full siblings often match at the same genetic markers used in standard paternity tests, making it difficult to determine paternity without advanced genetic methods or additional family samples.
"It's ugly and visceral, but it doesn't change the fact but it needed to be done," Logan told 8 News Now. "If it comes back negative, I'm still filing for custody, because it doesn't change the obligation that I have to him now."
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
Read the original article on People
