McKeesport native Tanya Kach's book opens wounds with father
Jerry Kach says he feels betrayed by the portrait his estranged daughter painted of him in a new book and numerous media interviews.
"If you want to go out and tell your story, go on trash TV and have your 15 minutes, fine. But don't drag me down with you and besmirch my good name," Kach of Elizabeth Township said on Wednesday. "I love my daughter. But her last words to me were 'Have a nice life, Jerry.' Those words really hurt."
Tanya Kach was 14 when she ran away from her father's McKeesport home in February 1996 to be with her middle school security guard, who was 23 years older. Thomas Hose, now 53, held her captive as a sex slave in his bedroom until she revealed her identity in March 2006 to a deli owner, who secured her rescue. Hose is serving five to 15 years in a prison near Harrisburg.
Tanya Kach, who turns 30 on Friday, said her father doesn't believe her account of being kept under Hose's mental and physical control, and that after she escaped, her father verbally abused her, refused her support and ultimately said he didn't love her.
She wrote a book about her ordeal, titled "Memoir of a Milk Carton Kid, The Tanya Nicole Kach Story," and started a series of interviews to promote it. Yesterday, she appeared on the "Dr. Phil" show and has appearances scheduled on "Inside Edition" and local television stations.
On the "Dr. Phil" episode, Kach said she had to cut her father out of her life two years ago because she "didn't need the negativity" in her life.
Jerry Kach said he's the one being victimized now.
He said he often asked her for details about her captivity, "because certain things just didn't add up to me." But Tanya Kach got defensive, he said, and started arguments with him and his wife, Jo-Ann Kach.
Jerry Kach said Tanya's former attorney, Lawrence Fisher, began to manipulate who was in her life. Fisher, of the North Side, co-authored Tanya Kach's book.
"For someone who says they were controlled for all those years in that house, she is now under the control of her former attorney," Jerry Kach said.
Tanya Kach said Fisher is a "major source of support" for her. She describes him as somewhat of a father figure but also "like a brother."
"She was desperate for a support system, and not many people gave that to her," Fisher said.
In her book, Kach accuses others of betraying her since her rescue, or failing to support her progress as she obtained her high school General Equivalency Diploma, learned to drive, started college classes and bought a home in Clairton.
She said she attended services at a church in Elizabeth until parishioners turned "mean" toward her. She also accused Joe Sparico -- the McKeesport deli owner who she revealed her story to 5 1⁄2 years ago -- of turning on her.
Joe Sparico no longer owns the deli and could not be reached for comment.
Tanya Kach said a former therapist offered to give her a place to stay, and then "completely changed her mind," after Kach's federal lawsuit against the McKeesport Area School District and police department was thrown out on appeal in December 2009.
Kach alleges the therapist "ultimately wanted to profit off the proceeds of my lawsuit." Jerry and Jo-Ann Kach said Tanya Kach cut ties with that therapist when the woman expressed disapproval of Tanya Kach's fiance, Karl McCrum.
She said since her rescue she "doesn't go anywhere near" the Hose residence where she was held captive. She said she doesn't know if Hose's parents are still alive and "doesn't care." No one answered the door at their Soles Street home yesterday.
She's had no contact with Thomas Hose.
"I don't want to see his face or hear his voice."
She said she wants to tell her story to "be the voice of those who can't speak up for themselves."
"The names of sexual abuse victims are usually withheld, and that puts a sense of shame on everything," Kach said. "I'm not ashamed, and my message is that no one else should be either. I know I did nothing wrong."
