Rudy Farias Breaks Silence Over Missing Years: 'I Lived in a Prison'

A Texas man who was thought to be missing for eight years—but had actually been at home the whole time—has broken his silence.

Rudolph "Rudy" Farias IV was reported missing when he was 17 by his mother, Janie Santana, in March 2015 and found alive at a church in Houston on June 29.

But police later revealed that Farias, now 25, was actually only gone for a day, but he and his mother had maintained the ruse for eight years by using false names. Prosecutors did not file any charges against Santana and her son.

Quanell X, a community activist who was present when detectives interviewed Farias, alleged that Farias had been held captive by his mother during the years he was presumed missing, and that she had drugged and sexually abused him. However, police said no allegations of abuse had been reported by Farias.

Now, in an emotional interview with Fox 26 and ABC 13, Farias has shared his story in a bid to set the record straight.

He said that although he could have left over the years, he felt manipulated into staying.

"It's like I lived in a prison. It's like I lived in a jail my whole [expletive] life. I just wanted to be free," he said. "It felt like Stockholm Syndrome honestly, just held against my will mentally, not physically."

He added: "She never locked me in or you know handcuffed me or anything like that. I had free will to leave... it just felt like brainwashing honestly, it just kept confusing me just the way, you know, she would manipulate me into staying like, 'Oh, you're gonna get arrested because you have a speeding ticket or something.'"

He denied that his mother had sexually abused him, but said she pushed boundaries and made him uncomfortable.

"She didn't force herself on me or anything like that... It would never be anything like that. Just stuff that really made me uncomfortable," he said.

"I used to have to sleep in her bed sometimes... just boundaries she would push or make me uncomfortable, and I would say 'Stop,' and she's like, 'Why? Why? Why? What did I do? I didn't do anything wrong.'"

He described how he had to hide when people came to visit.

"Somebody would come over, my mom would just tell me to stay in the room, keep the door locked, don't let them in [and] don't make any sounds. Don't do anything,'" he said.

He did that even when family members came over, he said.

"I would just have to listen to my family be happy and cheerful on the other side of the [expletive] door," he said. "I wanted to scream for them, but at the same time I just couldn't because the only person I could trust was my mom. She told me so many things about my other family that I didn't know and I wasn't able to verify."

When asked if he felt his mother had taken advantage of him, Farias said: "Heavily."

And asked if they have a normal mother-son relationship, he said: "Not after all of that. Not after everything she did and to be honest, I don't want one with her."

Now that he is away from his mother, Farias said he feels relief and "at peace."

In a message to his mother, he said: "Just leave me alone. Just let me live my life. I just want to be happy and I'm happy now and I'm working on it."

Farias and his mother could not immediately be reached for further comment. Newsweek has contacted the Houston Police Department and Quanell X for comment.