The older sister of a Queens woman suspected of killing and castrating her father last weekend spoke out Tuesday, saying he abused both of them throughout their childhood.

Carleen Goodridge — the older sister of 26-year-old Brigitte Harris — says she had no choice but to tell her painful story before there was a rush to judge Harris.

"It's obvious that my sister needs help," said Goodridge.

Harris, an airport security guard, allegedly bound, gagged, and castrated their father, 55-year-old Eric Goodridge. His body was discovered Saturday in Harris' Rockaway apartment.

The elder sister, a 28-year-old Army reservist and mother of three, says she must now discuss the trauma of being molested since age four, when her father got legal custody of her.

"He picked me up from Staten Island and during the ride home I was like, 'Yah! I'm going to live with daddy,'" recalled Carleen. "The very first night he molested me, simply put. The very first night, from the minute I lived with him, the very minute."

Carleen says the abuse for her went on until she was 12 and her father left for his native Liberia. But she says the molestation continued for her younger sister, on and off during his visits from Liberia, until Harris was 18.

"Have I recovered from this? You can't recover from this!" she said. "You can't hold it in either."

Carleen says her step-mother confronted her father about the abuse some years back but he was never brought to justice. She says her sister never had a boyfriend and has had many questions.

"She couldn't forget it,” said Goodridge. “She didn't want to forget it. She wanted to know why. She called out for help over and over again, over and over again. I didn't want to deal with it at all. I wanted to forget it and it effects on my life. I tried not to let it. That's the difference between me and her. It affected her tremendously."

Harris, seen above in a picture on her MySpace page, is currently undergoing a psychiatric evaluation at a hospital on Staten Island. Her lawyer says Harris will voluntarily surrender to police at the appropriate time and he is confident she will be exonerated.

"The evidence will show there are many mitigating circumstances the district attorney will have to take them into consideration when he charges this case if there is eventually an arrest," said Harris’ attorney, Arthur Aidala.

Aidala says as of Tuesday evening, police have yet to question his client.

Carleen says her sister told her she saw their father before his death Saturday morning. She also says a 911 call was later made to get help for the distraught sister, but that is all she would say.

While Brigitte Harris is under psychiatric observation, her sister says she hopes that she gets the care she searched for so long.

- Michael Meenan

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