Why Dog the Bounty Hunter’s daughter Lyssa falsely accused Duane of rape at 11: "I had been..."
Lyssa Chapman, the ninth child of Duane Chapman aka Dog the Bounty Hunter has endured a life marked by hardship and resilience. Raised in a chaotic environment where her father battled drug addiction and her mother struggled with alcoholism, Lyssa’s early years were anything but ordinary. Despite the odds, she has managed to carve out a new path, a story she recalled in her memoir ‘Walking on Eggshells.’ From an early age, Lyssa experienced instability at home. She became pregnant at just 14 and gave birth the day after her 15th birthday. With little to no support, she found herself raising a child alone while trying to survive.
She noted, “I got pregnant at 14. I gave birth the day after my 15th birthday. Right after I had the baby my mom moved with her boyfriend…At one point it was just me and my daughter and I was coming up with $500 rent every month by babysitting.” However, one of the most shocking revelations in Lyssa’s journey was a false allegation she made against her father at age 11. She accused Duane of raping her, a claim she later admitted was untrue. She confessed, “I had been molested by a friend of his. It was a horrible life that I never wanted to go back to, living with him and Beth and the fighting and the drugs. When I got to my mother’s, although she drank, it was much more peaceful.”
As per Fox News, she now believes that her mother’s resentment towards Duane may have influenced the situation. Her allegation caused a rift between her and Duane, leaving her alienated from her father’s growing television empire. However, in later years, they reconciled, and she now describes their relationship as “as healthy as we can be.” Lyssa’s life took another downward turn when she was arrested in 2011 for disturbing the peace. She remarked, “When people ask me, ‘How are you still standing?’ I just say ‘God.’ He’s the one role model who’s been there my whole life. He’s the one person who loves me unconditionally and I really feel that if it was not for my relationship with God I would not be standing.”
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She has also become an advocate for young mothers, hoping to educate them about the realities of teenage pregnancy. While Lyssa has repaired her relationship with Duane, another of his daughters, Bonnie Chapman, has publicly severed ties. Bonnie made headlines when she accused her father of racism and homophobia, claiming he had been fired from ‘The System’ on UnleashedTV for using racial and homophobic slurs.
As per People magazine, she remarked, "I'm sorry, but I can't defend my Dad's racism. When it comes to 'The System' on UnleashedTV, my father was fired by the platform for using racial and homophobic epithets toward my fellow cast members on the show, which is about social justice advocacy and protesting violence and racial bias by police. I have expressed time and time again my ever-growing disappointment in my father's progression into his old racist ways." Duane and his then-fiancée Francie Frane denied the allegations, dismissing them as an attempt to sabotage their wedding. In a statement, they called Bonnie’s claims “false and a misguided attempt to derail our wedding.” Lyssa, however, has stood by Dog, claiming that Bonnie and her half-sister Cecily have been manipulated by outsiders.
