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A STUDENT who grew up believing her dad lived in a castle was stunned to learn he was a convict serving a 50-year sentence – and then discovered she was conceived in prison.
Olivia Skye-Moore, 20, grew up believing her dad, John Moore, lived in a castle and had no idea he was a prisoner until she was five and he was moved to a prison that no longer offered conjugal visits.
The visits, designed to preserve a family unit but known for allowing inmates to have sex with a partner, meant that Skye-Moore, her brother Johnny, and her mom, Erin Skye-Moore, 46, could spend quality time with him.
But it was only as an adult that Skye-Moore discovered that during these visits after meeting at a prison cultural event in 1998, the loved-up couple, who wed in 2001, conceived her and her 18-year-old brother.
During childhood visits to her dad, who was initially jailed at 16 for burglary but later for breaking out of prison, Skye-Moore would innocently enjoy hunting for bugs with him.
In 2020, the computer science student welcomed her dad home after he served 32 years in prison and said she’s grateful to have the family reunited.
Skye-Moore, from New York, said: “I didn’t find out I was conceived in prison until I was older, but I think it’s really unique. No one else has a story like that.
“We’re Native American, so they had ceremonies, and my mom went to one and met my dad there. It was like a dance social in the prison.
“They got married in prison. He had his wedding at a courthouse, and they were married by a judge on prison grounds.
“Their relationship is so loving, he cares a lot for my mom. He struggled a lot in his lifetime. Prison is all he’d ever known, he grew up in the system.
“When he met my mom, he really calmed down and was like, ‘I want to spend my life with this woman.’
“I used to go up and hang out with him. We used to flip rocks over and look for bugs. I thought he lived in a castle.
“When he went to Connecticut [from a prison in New York], I found out he was in prison. It was really sad.
“I didn’t understand because he’d always shown me nothing but kindness, he had always been so caring and sweet to me.”
Due to the length of John’s sentence, the couple decided they didn’t want to wait until he was free to have kids.
When Skye-Moore was born, John had spent almost half his life in prison but immediately retired from his gang and was calmed by family life, even getting involved with the prison school program.
A self-employed delivery man, John, said: “Both my kids were made in the visitor room.
“Erin being pregnant was exciting – very scary, but exciting. A lot of it had to do with trying out how to be a normal family in a non-normal situation.
“After I first held Olivia, I never got into a fight again. After I touched Olivia, I stopped everything.
“I went to the gang and told them I was retiring, I said, ‘That’s it, I’m done.’
“Once she had Olivia, she’d bring her in every day. I’d change her and feed her, and the same with Johnny when he came along.
“It calmed me down even more. The more family things we did, it put me in a family mindset.”
The couple met while John was in jail when Erin visited to take part in a Native American ceremony.
John said: “Erin was part of the Native American organization that came into the prison for the ceremonies.
“We happened to hit it off, she asked me to write to her. Before I even loved Erin, I liked her. She was funny, she wasn’t judgemental.
“When I met her, it started to calm me down, we were extremely in love.
“I always pursued Erin with full steam, I was always in love with her. One thing led to another, so we got married.
“I always look at Erin as the person who pulled the thorn out of my paw.
“I’m here, free, because of her really. She was such a positive influence on me that I wanted to work on myself more, I wanted to make myself better.
“Not many marriages from prison last, we’ve really had to work. It was really hard for us and for the kids.
“There’s been a lot of things which I wish I could have been around to do.
“It’s been worth it now we’re here. We’re strong, we’re a family, I love my kids to death. This last year has been the best in a long time.
“I feel lucky. We have a lot of fun. We have had a lot of trips and a lot of excitement since I’ve gotten out.”
