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Toby Willis of the Willis Clan arraigned on 4 counts of child rape

The trial isn't expected to start until July & he's been in jail since September and has a public defender. I read an article that said he and his wife didn't have to work because of the money he got due to the negligent death of his siblings in a car crash ($100 million divided between him, 2 siblings, and his parents.) It sound like either that money is gone or his wife managed to lock it away from him to support herself and their minor children.

4 hours ago, Nysha said:

It sound like either that money is gone or his wife managed to lock it away from him to support herself and their minor children

I'm no fan of his, but if shared marital resources have been secreted or made unavailable to him, that's not fair. He was a manager/producer/whatever of the family band and should have access to half of whatever he and Brenda had saved. The insurance payout from the car crash came after Toby and Brenda were married, so I assume it's considered community property as well.

It's interesting that his attorney asked for a psychological evaluation -- he was always so tightly wound.

22 hours ago, ghoulina said:

Can someone with a bit more knowledge of the law answer this - 4 counts of child rape. Does that mean 4 different girls? Or 4 different times? 

According to the reports, it was one time with one child. To get 4 counts, the court is counting each different act (such as touching her with his fingers, then with his penis, touch her rear end, having her touch him) as an act of rape.

  • Love 1

They are such a sweet family; I feel so badly for them. I'm glad Toby pled guilty, hopefully that meant the victim didn't have to suffer through a long trial? 

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), they now mostly put rapists and pedos in segregation, so I don't know how bad of a time he'll have in prison. But at least he's locked up where he can't hurt anyone else. 

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40 years.  That son-of-a-bitch will never see the light of day again.  I don't care what happens to him (the death penalty is the only punishment suitable for child rapists, in my opinion), but I just hope his poor wife and children are able to pick up the pieces and go on somehow.  I can't imagine how difficult this must be for them.  I hope his wife isn't standing behind him, telling people that "the Lord has forgiven him, so I should, too."

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This is a very shocking case to me, though, I should know by now that you never really know people.  

I suppose that we will never really know what happened.  But, sparing the victim a trial is a good thing, as Ghoulina said above. 

Now, for the family to heal.  Man, I can't really imagine how you do that under the circumstances. Do they ever perform again?  What do they tell their kids about their grandfather....that he's dead?  

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(edited)

I'm pretty sure his wife isn't standing behind him.  I don't remember the details, but when this first came to light she was totally in Mother mode protecting her children and wanting nothing to do with him.   I'm glad this is over for the family's sake, but I live in Nashville and was planning to attend his trial.  I realize this is for the best and am just glad he'll die in prison.  I feel so bad for his family ... there are still some very young children who no longer have a father.  Yes, I realize the older ones don't either.

 

They can't tell the grandkids that he's dead.  This is a public family and this story will always be available for the grandkids to read.  They'll just know that grandpa is a predatory pedophile.  Case closed.

Edited by slasherboy
To mention the grandkids.
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2 hours ago, slasherboy said:

I'm pretty sure his wife isn't standing behind him.  I don't remember the details, but when this first came to light she was totally in Mother mode protecting her children and wanting nothing to do with him.   I'm glad this is over for the family's sake, but I live in Nashville and was planning to attend his trial.  I realize this is for the best and am just glad he'll die in prison.  I feel so bad for his family ... there are still some very young children who no longer have a father.  Yes, I realize the older ones don't either.

 

They can't tell the grandkids that he's dead.  This is a public family and this story will always be available for the grandkids to read.  They'll just know that grandpa is a predatory pedophile.  Case closed.

No I don't think she is standing behind him. She may choose not to divorce him if she never wants to get married again, but who knows. 

I am glad the victims were spared a trial, but I hope he Rots in hell. People like this don't stop, where there were 4 I'm sure there were more. I hope his kids don't carry any guilt or shame over his actions- especially in a culture like this where your father is god on earth. 

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11 hours ago, mythoughtis said:

As to moving on.... it will be very difficult for members of that family to ever trust anyone with their children.,.. even for just a couple hours.

This is very true. I was molested by a family member and the entire time growing up I was terrified at night of every man except my dad. I was even terrified my grandpas would come in my room at night, even though they never hurt me. Now I have a daughter and I'm the same way with her. I flip out at the idea of one of my wonderful brother-in-laws watching her. It seems completely irrational, but I can't help it. 

Shit like this follows the victims for the rest of their lives, in so many ways. It's only fair that it does the same to the perpetrator. 

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I'm sorry, leighroda. I didn't intend to sound as if I was chiding you. I was just thinking out loud on the damage that will continue for years. 

I wonder if the family will stop homeschooling. This might not have gone on so long or stayed hidden so long if the child had been exposed to the 'tell a trusted adult'  guidelines. 

18 hours ago, Quof said:

There is no indication there were 4 victims, it is entirely possible it was the same victim 4 times.  

Oh I misunderstood. Even so, these predators rarely only have ONE victim. This was probably just the first time he got caught and punished. I am glad he cannot hurt anyone else and my thoughts go out to his family and the victim. 

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4 hours ago, mythoughtis said:

I'm sorry, leighroda. I didn't intend to sound as if I was chiding you. I was just thinking out loud on the damage that will continue for years. 

I wonder if the family will stop homeschooling. This might not have gone on so long or stayed hidden so long if the child had been exposed to the 'tell a trusted adult'  guidelines. 

I echo the same, leighroda. I was just sharing my experience. But I, too, hope they can get SOME sort of closure/peace...whatever that means for them.

 

I hope this incident doesn't reflect poorly on homeschooling, though. I'm a homeschooler and, while there are definitely cases where extremely sheltered families can use it to hide abuse, this is not the case by and large. Most homeschooling families I know do more than families with kids in public school! They have more time for leisure activities. Kids are still on sports teams, part of scouting groups, and there's things like co-ops to boot. I was molested for 4 years in my own home and even my mother didn't know. I went to school, but was too ashamed to tell ANYONE. I think, for homeschoolers, the Willis family was pretty active and involved in things outside the home. The Duggars....they make it look bad, and absolutely have an environment set up to keep abuses quiet. But this family was everywhere. Who knows why this wasn't known until recently, but there could be a myriad of reasons. 

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Just now, ghoulina said:

I echo the same, leighroda. I was just sharing my experience. But I, too, hope they can get SOME sort of closure/peace...whatever that means for them.

 

I hope this incident doesn't reflect poorly on homeschooling, though. I'm a homeschooler and, while there are definitely cases where extremely sheltered families can use it to hide abuse, this is not the case by and large. Most homeschooling families I know do more than families with kids in public school! They have more time for leisure activities. Kids are still on sports teams, part of scouting groups, and there's things like co-ops to boot. I was molested for 4 years in my own home and even my mother didn't know. I went to school, but was too ashamed to tell ANYONE. I think, for homeschoolers, the Willis family was pretty active and involved in things outside the home. The Duggars....they make it look bad, and absolutely have an environment set up to keep abuses quiet. But this family was everywhere. Who knows why this wasn't known until recently, but there could be a myriad of reasons. 

I don't think anyone is blaming the incident on homeschooling. Abuse can happen in ALL walks of life, and predators instill fear and shame in their victims to get them to keep quiet.

I think most people have good intentions and just want to protect kids, but it can happen in any situation. I don't pretend to have any answers but I understand why people are extra cautious regarding their own kids if they have lived through abuse.

I am so very sorry that happened to you @ghoulina.

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Radar Online says he pled guilty to four counts (four girls). Got 20 25 yrs, 20 25 years, 40 years and 40 years served concurrently. So 40 year sentence. 

 

SORRY, old news. Do not have new link. 

Edited again: not 20 years, 25 years. I'll shut up now.

Edited by SongbirdHollow
Old news, wrong numbers

Radar is fucked. The documents just say "person less than 13 years of age". Radar lists them all by age. So....it's not really too hard if you want to figure out who the victims are. 

It's kind of weird that it all happened over the course of one year. What was going on that year? Did it shop after that. That sends up red flags for some reason. Like someone stopped him, but didn't remove the children. 

Edited by ghoulina
43 minutes ago, ghoulina said:

NVM, I read that wrong. 

 

But it seems like one year per person. I don't know. I don't want to analyze these poor girls' experiences too much. But it just seems odd. 

IANL but I think that wording may be some sort of legalese. Like they don't know exact date(s) but they know it was ongoing during that period of time.

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Quote

IANL but I think that wording may be some sort of legalese. Like they don't know exact date(s) but they know it was ongoing during that period of time.

This is what I thought as well.

On a side note I have been at a big Irish festival in my hometown this weekend and saw Jessica Willis selling various leather goods and necklaces that she makes in the market area under the name Bard Craft Co. It took me a moment to figure out where I knew her from since she is more of a brunette than blonde now. She had a lot of customers and seemed quite busy in her booth.

I was curious about the comment that I read several places that this inmate will serve his full sentence.  (40 years).  Hmmm......I'm not sure what to make of it, but, I read over this and wonder if there is a chance that he would eventually come up for parole, under certain circumstances.  It's rather confusing, but, it seems he might have a shot in 25 years or so.

https://pardonandparole.uslegal.com/state-pardon-and-parole-laws/tennessee/

The inmate's listing with the TN DOC doesn't list a parole date, but, I think it's way too soon for that. 

Edited by SunnyBeBe

I read in an article that it was an outside person who reported  the abuse. I wonder if it was one of the boyfriends (now husband and fiance).  

I'm wondering only because I was in a similar situation. I confided to a boyfriend/future husband (the abuse had stopped by then), and he encouraged me to tell my mom, etc.

I don't know why, but I hope that's the case. 

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On 2/3/2018 at 11:11 AM, Scorpiosunshine said:

I read in an article that it was an outside person who reported  the abuse. I wonder if it was one of the boyfriends (now husband and fiance).  

I'm wondering only because I was in a similar situation. I confided to a boyfriend/future husband (the abuse had stopped by then), and he encouraged me to tell my mom, etc.

I don't know why, but I hope that's the case. 

Jessica admitted it to a family counselor who reported it. While she has stepped away and is enjoying married life/small business owner life, the three other sisters: Jennifer, Jeanette and Jasmine have all come out with their story in an interview with the Daily Mail. 

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On 2/4/2018 at 1:26 PM, SunnyBeBe said:

I can't recall where I read it, maybe the Daily Mail link, but, that it was a therapist that one of the adult daughters was seeing.  It's confidential, but, I suppose there was a mandated report, since there was a chance he was still abusing the younger children. 

 

On 4/12/2018 at 9:31 AM, Loves2Dance said:

Jessica admitted it to a family counselor who reported it. While she has stepped away and is enjoying married life/small business owner life, the three other sisters: Jennifer, Jeanette and Jasmine have all come out with their story in an interview with the Daily Mail. 

Thank you both! I'm going to go find that article now.

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