'Path of ... bad behavior': A look at child domestic violence cases in Tennessee

Editor's note: This story is part of a series on domestic violence. Other stories in this series focus on the scope of the problem in Tennessee, the impact of COVID-19, the judicial system and legal process and the psychology of abusers. If you or someone you know needs help, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or the The Tennessee Child Abuse Hotline at 877-237-0004.

Mt. Juliet’s Holly Ashley says she was sexually molested for years by a family member, starting when she was 4. There was also physical abuse from a different family member, she said, noting the horror lasted until she was 17.

The impact was felt much longer.

Now 58, Ashley is trying to help domestic and sexual violence victims and offenders through her work with a nonprofit, but her past is never far behind. She's been married and divorced three times, and she says she endured more domestic abuse around age 30, when she worked as a stripper.

“What it did for me was lead me down a path of really bad behavior,” she said. “I didn’t set boundaries. You become such an angry individual.”

Child abuse cases now 'more traumatic and catastrophic'

The number of sexual abuse cases among children is rising in Tennessee. Children's Advocacy Centers of Tennessee, an organization dedicated to helping local communities respond to child abuse allegations, tallied 16,661 sexual abuse cases in their 2021-22 fiscal year reporting, up from 16,392 in 2020-21 and 13,521 in 2019-20.

Physical abuse involving minor children is also up year over year. The organization reported 2,183 such cases in 2021-22, up from 2,130 in 2020-21 and 1,879 in 2019-20.

And child abuse reports are “far more complex, more traumatic and catastrophic” coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, said Stephen Woerner, director of Children's Advocacy Centers of Tennessee. He noted many such cases are still moving through the legal system, and what's worse, the disclosure of child sex abuse can often come months or years after the abuse occurred.

The increase in intensity and number of child abuse cases coincides with more parents, guardians and adult family members being at home with juveniles during the pandemic, Woerner said. The lack of safety net services such as school teacher interactions and pediatric wellness checkups also played a factor in such abuses continuing for longer periods without disclosure, he said.

Sex abuse is a factor in the majority of cases where child advocacy centers conduct forensic interviews after children are referred by the Department of Children’s Services and sometimes law enforcement, data shows.

Forensic interviews are designed to ask open-ended questions of a potential child abuse victim so as to provide accurate information to law enforcement and child protection systems.

There are 45 Child Advocacy Centers in Tennessee, along with a handful of satellite locations. Collectively, those centers conducted 9,134 interviews in 2021-22, up from 8,990 in 2020-21 and 8,742 in 2019-20. But not all of the children referred to Child Advocacy Centers are interviewed, which explains why there are more cases, Woerner explained.

There were allegations of domestic trafficking in about 600 cases from 2021-22, and the majority of those cases involved a guardian or family member who allegedly allowed someone to sexually abuse a child in exchange for drugs, data shows.

Child Advocacy Centers point to domestic trafficking as a rising trend, and sex abuse and trafficking reports could continue for years as young victims “realize what they experienced wasn’t OK,” Woerner said.

Investigations by law enforcement and the Department of Children's Services, prosecution and higher bail amounts can all factor into lowering incidents of sexual domestic violence, said Ashley, who fears the judicial process could be too lenient on accused parents.

She also has concerns about cases that never are reported, even when parents and other adults, sometimes at a child's school, have information.

“Do we want to stop the problem, or do we just want to complain about it?” she asked.

Ashley credits her Christian faith in overcoming her experiences, most of which happened in Arizona more than 30 years ago. She is now the executive director of Redemption Domestic and Sexual Assault Advocacy, which provides services for domestic and sexual violence victims as well as offenders. It is a division of Cross Strength Ministries, which Ashley operates with her husband, David.

The Tennessean generally does not name victims of sexual assault, but in this case, Ashley hopes her story can help others.

A look at the cases

Most of the referrals made to Children's Advocacy Centers of Tennessee involve children who are 12 or younger. Here's a look at who the suspects were in the juvenile abuse case referrals during the 2021-22 fiscal year (a criminal charge would be another step in the process):

• Parent: 4,650.

• Other relative: 2,198.

• Another known person: 1,836.

• Parent’s boyfriend or girlfriend: 437.

• Stepparent: 451.

• Undisclosed: 9,195.

The cycle of abuse often extends beyond the child, according to Wilson County Court Appointed Special Advocates, a nonprofit that advocates for roughly 15 neglected or abused children in the court system per month.

The vast majority of the nonprofit's clients witness domestic violence in homes where adults may not have transportation or they have financial, food and home insecurities, according to program director Diana Haines. There are often untreated mental health issues and adults who are self-medicating with drugs and alcohol, she said.

“It’s part of the world they are living in,” Haines said. “How do you tell a child the world is a safe place when you see your mother get beat, and she can’t protect herself? Most (children) would probably rather be the victim than watch their mother get beat.”

The Romans 8:28 Ministry nonprofit residential recovery home in Macon County focuses on drug recovery, but the majority of the people who come through the program are exposed to domestic violence.

“It all links together,” Director Tammy Lumb said. “The drugs have become far more dangerous since COVID. Fentanyl is taking ahold of people. The abuse that happens to women, to children is unspeakable. There is a really ugly part of this world that a lot of people don’t understand.”

The Nashville Children’s Alliance, which provides free services for Davidson County children who have experienced sexual or severe physical abuse, has seen a 133% increase in the number of children exposed to drugs in some way over the past year, according to CEO Dawn Harper.

Children's Advocacy Centers of Tennessee is seeing the same thing.

“And the increased drug use correlated in an increase in child abuse,” Woerner said.

Domestic abuse: How Tennessee's legal system can support domestic violence victims — and let them down

Reporter Craig Shoup contributed to this story.

Reach Andy Humbles at ahumbles@tennessean.com or 615-726-5939 and on X, formerly known as Twitter @ AndyHumbles.

Ways to help children involved in suspected domestic abuse

Let them know they are not alone.

Let them know it is not their fault – they didn’t cause the domestic violence, and they couldn’t prevent it.

Ask how you can help – offer to provide transportation.

Don’t force a child to talk. Children in a domestic violence environment often fear dire consequences for speaking up.

Resources are available, such as the Metro Office of Family Safety (https://ofs.nashville.gov/).

Source: Nashville Children’s Alliance

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Domestic violence: Domestic abuse against children rises post COVID