They had changed the locks and thought they were safe.
Jean Wholaver of Middletown and her two daughters, Victoria, 20, and Elizabeth, I5, were finally free from the husband and father that the girls had accused of sexually abusing them.
Neighbors said they were astounded at the strength and bravery of the youngest girl, a sophomore at Middletown High School who all her friends called Izzy.
“She got up there and said he had abused her,” said one neighbor whose daughter was best friends with Izzy.
Still, Izzy was worried about what the kids at school might say after she made the allegations against her father, Earnest Wholaver, in August.
“She didn’t want to go back to school,” said a close friend. “She didn’t want the kids to say things or pick on her. Izzy was a good girl.”
Izzy’s allegations against her father were bolstered when her sister, who left home after graduation to try to become a model, stepped forward and said she was abused, as well.
“In August, it just hit the fan,” said a neighbor, describing the chain of events that started when the girls came forward with their accusations of sexual abuse. “He was out of the house.”
Friends and neighbors agreed to comment on the condition that their names not be used, fearing possible reprisals.
Earnest Wholaver was arrested and charged in the abuse allegations. He was arraigned on the charges in Dauphin County night court and freed on $100,000 bond last summer.
All the while, Izzy was nervous, neighbors and friends say.
“She was afraid of her father,” one neighbor said, adding that her father often made the girl cut the grass and do what the neighbor called other “hard labor” while he watched from the porch.
But lately, things had been looking up. Izzy returned to school in the fall with no problems. Friends offered support, not ridicule.
“She was doing OK,” said a friend.
She was even feeling a little more secure at home, according to neighbors and friends. Her father was still free, but he was barred from any contact with his family as a condition of his bail. And Izzy’s mom had changed the locks.
“Izzy felt more secure,” said the parent of Izzy’s best friend. “She said, ‘we just got the locks changed.’ She felt safe.”
Even Victoria moved back home last month, bringing with her 9-month-old Madison. Izzy helped baby-sit while Victoria worked as a waitress.
Izzy appeared happy, friends and neighbors say. And she was thrilled with her early Christmas present, the class ring that her mother, an X-ray technician at Harrisburg Hospital, had gotten her. It was engraved with her nickname.
Izzy was showing it off Friday, as she exchanged gifts with a friend.
“She was so proud of that school ring,” said the parent of one of Izzy’s friends, She’ had ‘Izzy’ printed right on the side of it.”
As police canvassed the: neighborhood, residents were quick to point a finger at Earnest Wholaver, who is being sought for questioning in”‘ the case.
“Izzy wasn’t afraid anymore,” said the mother of a friend, tears rolling down her reddened cheeks. “They had changed the locks.”
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