S'Morton Alan Smith charged with incest, rape, child molestation

[refugee]

21 minutes ago, Black Aliss said:

Ah, you know, now that I think of it, it might have been Jim Bob who said that. It was on national TV and I don't know if Smuggar was ever interviewed.

I know that Ken (of Lori and Ken) was quoted as saying something to that effect. There was even a whole thread dedicated to people saying his name and that he's an orthodontic consultant in California and that he believes incest is totally normal, so that people googling his name for business reasons might run across the information and think twice.

[NakedKnees]

38 minutes ago, 16strong said:

No, Georgia does not mess around. The husband of a former school mate of mine got life in prison with 30 years before a chance of bail for molesting his stepdaughter. When school mate found out, she wasted no time in having him carted off to the slammer. As I understand it, the molestation did not occur over a long period of time. 

First of all, wow, all of this terrible, I echo everybody upthread and just feel so, so, so bad for this victim.

I think this (the legal punishments on the horizon) will make this case quite distinct from Josh Duggar and even Gothard. The S'mortons aren't really famous and these are perhaps the worst allegations I've seen since I started following the fundieverse. I don't mean to dismiss other abuse victims, all abuse is serious and there's no sense in comparing, but I do think it'll be more of a challenge for the S'mortons to bury this under prayer and helpmeet philosophies than it has been for the other recent cases.

[lexiloumarie]

1 hour ago, SolomonFundy said:

My guess is that Papa Morton sells the house for Katie and moves the lot of them to Paraguay. What other choice does she have? She can't function without a headship, has no means of supporting herself or her brood, and Daddy has been making all of her decisions for her since the day she was born. None of the family left in GA have the room in their houses for double the humans. 

I would think they'd be under the Smith umbrella, and coincidentally they own two houses at the moment. I wouldn't be surprised to hear they moved in with the Smith parents who are still GA based.

[JermajestyDuggar]

4 minutes ago, NakedKnees said:

First of all, wow, all of this terrible, I echo everybody upthread and just feel so, so, so bad for this victim.

I think this (the legal punishments on the horizon) will make this case quite distinct from Josh Duggar and even Gothard. The S'mortons aren't really famous and these are perhaps the worst allegations I've seen since I started following the fundieverse. I don't mean to dismiss other abuse victims, all abuse is serious and there's no sense in comparing, but I do think it'll be more of a challenge for the S'mortons to bury this under prayer and helpmeet philosophies than it has been for the other recent cases.

No, I get what you are saying. The excuses the Duggars used to minimize Josh's abuse wouldn't be able to be used in this case. Allen is a fully grown man not "just a curious teen." They also can't make the excuse of "it was over the clothing and victim was just sleeping" either. I hope hope hope these people see Allen for who he really is and act accordingly. 

[SolomonFundy]

4 minutes ago, lexiloumarie said:

I would think they'd be under the Smith umbrella, and coincidentally they own two houses at the moment. I wouldn't be surprised to hear they moved in with the Smith parents who are still GA based.

I thought about that, and initially came to the same conclusion. But the fact that the elder Mortons made an unexpected trip up to the US around the time Jacqueline deleted her facebook leads me to think that they've already decided to get involved. Their family structure is patriarchal, so it makes sense for Katie to become absorbed into the elder Smith family. However, a lot of this depends on who reported Alan. If it was a member of his own household, that could seriously damage any relationship the elder Smiths have with Katie going forward.

Maybe I'm  misjudging Captain and Crew, but I get the impression that he will never acknowledge his son's responsibility in the abuse. I think that he will blame anyone and everyone else possible, including the victim. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

8 minutes ago, SolomonFundy said:

I thought about that, and initially came to the same conclusion. But the fact that the elder Mortons made an unexpected trip up to the US around the time Jacqueline deleted her facebook leads me to think that they've already decided to get involved. Their family structure is patriarchal, so it makes sense for Katie to become absorbed into the elder Smith family. However, a lot of this depends on who reported Alan. If it was a member of his own household, that could seriously damage any relationship the elder Smiths have with Katie going forward.

Maybe I'm  misjudging Captain and Crew, but I get the impression that he will never acknowledge his son's responsibility in the abuse. I think that he will blame anyone and everyone else possible, including the victim. 

And if that happens, I wonder if the Mortons will feel differently since Alan is not their biological son. This situation must be such a huge mess in these families. 

[fundiefan]

My jaw seriously dropped and I sat in shock for at least a full minute when I read this.

I know they're all sorts of crazy over there in S'Morton land, but I sincerely never expected this. I never even imagined it; and that's saying something given how easy (sadly) it is to imagine the scenario in so many fundie environments we discuss.

So many questions. So many I can't even get them in order right now.

[ladyamylynn]

Hoooly fuck. I'm shocked, even though I know I really shouldn't be. 

[fundiefan]

Before deleting her Facebook Jackie made at least one post about watching the sins of others and wanting to help/fix and comparing it to your own sins or some such thing. I just blew it off as some person she knew wanting to do something she disapproved of that is so typical with their brand of religion. Now I wonder how long she knew about her son's actions and when it came to light.

As for the edler Mortons coming - they documented their trip here; if they were coming on a 'rescue our daughter' mission, there would be social media silence. There are any number of reasons for their visit to the US - Kennedy, Kressent & Katie all expecting within a relatively short time frame; business obligations since papa smurf Morton still owns the construction company; they're Americans with family still living here and businesses owned & operated here; there could be so many reasons for them being here. I really don't think they had a clue. I don't know that anyone did even a few days ago given their unaltered social media use. The only one who changed in that regard was Jackie, and while the 'sinner' she spoke of could have been her son, it so easily could have been anyone else on the planet in any number of scenarios.

Now, however, there will be a total social media blackout from everyone within the S'Morton parameters. Since they are so interconnected and 'all one big family' I don't doubt for a minute that the small glimpses a few share with the general world will come to a screaming halt. In a way, that's as it should be-at least as far as Alan, his immediate family & his crimes are concerned.  But, I don't doubt that any and all SMorton's are in blackout mode. And not just with social media; with everyone and everything.

 

[Red Hair, Black Dress]

I am horrified, but not surprised by this.  I think Katie is probably standing by her man and in complete denial, and IF (a big IF) she even remotely believes anything happened, she's blaming the child.

Because we all know that fundies believe that it's a woman's fault if a man can't control himself.  And by woman they also mean young girls and children.  We are, however, assuming the victim is female.

I am in no way condoning or excusing what Alan is accused of, but I see this as a direct consequence of the fundie beliefs that incest is a normal common family thing and women should be kept continually pregnant.

Consider this:  Katie has been pregnant 8 times in 10 years so she is nearly always pregnant, nursing or both.  Fundies seem to think incest is no big.  How far of a stretch is it for a fundie to think "I'm tired of my wife's pregnant/postpartum body. I'm not excited by it.  I want someone who isn't."  And then look around at the plethora of cousins, nieces, siblings, and children to choose someone. Especially as none of the unmarried ones know anything about sex.  So an abuser could convince a victim that the abuse was just something normal that fathers/brothers/cousins/uncles do

I also surmise that Katie isn't really all that bright, perhaps a little slow.  She is a lovely looking girl, but always seems a little vacant, a little 'off' somehow,  It cannot just be that she's never made a decision in her life and thus seems confused by everything. And no one, least of all Alan, would know as she was so heavily protected by the Pa Morton's headship.

And really if she was raised to obey a man unquestioningly, to never have an independent thought, to make no decision on her own, and knew nothing about sex until 3 days before the wedding, Alan could tell her his behavior was right and normal and she'd have to believe and accept it.

[libriatrix]

1 hour ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

No, I get what you are saying. The excuses the Duggars used to minimize Josh's abuse wouldn't be able to be used in this case. Allen is a fully grown man not "just a curious teen." They also can't make the excuse of "it was over the clothing and victim was just sleeping" either. I hope hope hope these people see Allen for who he really is and act accordingly. 

The details are definitely not comparable to Josh's case, but he could still be forgiven and accepted back into the fold to the point of living with his kids and attending church (if the S'Mortons go to a larger church rather than home-churching? I'm not familiar enough with them to know), a la Steven Sitler, who was also a grown man with an ongoing molestation pattern. All he needs to do is say he repents! 

(For the record, I don't actually think repentance is impossible, even for child molesters, but I think that allowing a child molester to EVER have access to kids again, repentant or not, is absolute folly. Furthermore, a child molester who actually regretted his actions and was resolved never to do them again, would NEVER want to put himself in a place where he's tempted to commit those crimes again.)

[JermajestyDuggar]

13 minutes ago, libriatrix said:

The details are definitely not comparable to Josh's case, but he could still be forgiven and accepted back into the fold to the point of living with his kids and attending church (if the S'Mortons go to a larger church rather than home-churching? I'm not familiar enough with them to know), a la Steven Sitler, who was also a grown man with an ongoing molestation pattern. All he needs to do is say he repents! 

(For the record, I don't actually think repentance is impossible, even for child molesters, but I think that allowing a child molester to EVER have access to kids again, repentant or not, is absolute folly. Furthermore, a child molester who actually regretted his actions and was resolved never to do them again, would NEVER want to put himself in a place where he's tempted to commit those crimes again.)

After looking at how harsh the punishments are for rape in Georgia, if he's convicted, he won't be home until his kids are grown and out of the house. Thankfully.

[Black Aliss]

3 hours ago, Lurky said:

Thinking about this, it's where the inter-twining of Smiths & Mortons, and compound life makes everything worse - because even IF the Mortons decide divorce is good here, or at least separation (I know, I know, big IF), then there can't be a clean break of the families, because there are so many family members all around.  So all the usual family feelings around this (siblings being horrified, and never wanting to see him again, or if they want to try to find some way to support his rehabilitation though treatment - or if they're in complete denial) will be even more complicated and difficult.  Ugh. 

I had forgotten how complex the intertwining is. At Wesley and Rachel's betrothal ceremony, Wesley's maternal grandfather and Rachel's paternal grandmother locked eyes over a pile of kiwi fruit and, BAM! less than a month later they were married.
 

[dramallama]

I went browsing through Bret Smith's YouTube account today and came across....this, featuring Alan himself.  All about protecting the children.  Keep your kids out of school to protect them, meanwhile Alan is an accused child molester.  

[fundiefan]

These are the same people that shout and scream about trans bathroom usage to 'protect the children'.

It's actually dangerously pathetic how often the case is actually that the children need to be protected from those shouting the loudest.

[Lurky]

1 minute ago, fundiefan said:

These are the same people that shout and scream about trans bathroom usage to 'protect the children'.

It's actually dangerously pathetic how often the case is actually that the children need to be protected from those shouting the loudest.

I was thinking earlier today about how the men who shout loudest about "Boys will pretend to be Trans so they can perve on girls in bathrooms" always seem like the ones that think *far too much* about how to perve, and seem like they would love that opportunity themselves...

[JermajestyDuggar]

15 minutes ago, fundiefan said:

These are the same people that shout and scream about trans bathroom usage to 'protect the children'.

It's actually dangerously pathetic how often the case is actually that the children need to be protected from those shouting the loudest.

The Duggars did the same damn thing. Remember Michelle's robo-call awhile ago? These people make me furious!

[Cleopatra7]

22 minutes ago, dramallama said:

I went browsing through Bret Smith's YouTube account today and came across....this, featuring Alan himself.  All about protecting the children.  Keep your kids out of school to protect them, meanwhile Alan is an accused child molester.  

Fundies in general seem to minimize or refuse to acknowledge how most sexual abuse happens in the family or between "like-minded" family friends. Reporting abuse within the family can be particularly difficult, religious or not, because even if all the non-abusing members agree that the a user needs to be arrested, the family dynamics will be forever altered.

[Black Aliss]

This is weird. I was following a link to the Smiths' old blog and this dialog popped up.

The authentication wasn't done correctly, though, because I was able to move the box out of the way and continue reading that page. But then I was curious about christianrecovery.com and what its connection might be to the abandoned Smith blog, so I went there and it's a page full of resources for Christians dealing with addiction, abuse, or trauma. And now, when I go back to the blog I don't see that dialog box. Like I said, weird.

[browngrl]

My two cents: 

1. I think the Morton's came back to the US on a planned trip to see their new grandchildren/visit their American children. I think they would have been zero on line information if they were here to deal with Alan.

2. I suspect that there will be some heavy victim blaming going on in both the Smith and Morton families. 

3. I suspect that if Alan goes to jail - Pa Morton will assume headship over Katie. In other fundie families I'd say they'd go to the husband's family but in this case Capt Brett has significant health issues (had a major heart attack in the last few years) and the younger boys are younger. Before she shut her facebook, Jacqueline Smith seemed to really run things because Capt Brett was so sick for so long. 

[Bethella]

7 hours ago, dramallama said:

So dumb and dependent that when she was presented with the question of marrying Alan, she was unable to make such a large decision for herself and so Dear Daddy prayed to the Lard about Alan, felt a great peace, and told her to marry him.

 

Edit:  replied before reading all the comments, I see this was already mentioned.  Oops!

I really wonder if her "indecision" was really her gut telling her that something was wrong but not having the skills to voice those concerns or do anything else about it. She might not have realized what was bothering her or might have felt that she couldn't call things off at that stage of the relationship. 

[fundiefan]

I can't stop thinking about this. It is, of course, so sick and disgusting. But, it's the girl I can't get off my mind. Or, in fundie speak, my heart. 

In the Smith world, it's all about god and rules and men.  I feel like vomiting when I think of this poor girl's prayers to her god being unanswered for 3 years. The god and men of the family she has been taught are next to god, completely abandoned her and left her to suffer. At the hands of a fucking family member. 

Now what? Is she getting the help she needs? Not Christian counseling; not being hidden away from the world as if she is the one to be shamed; not told to pray about it and let some god tell her what to do - - I'm talking real help. With trained, educated professionals who know ways to help victims of childhood rape, without throwing any god or other bullshit in there. Is she still with the SMorton clan? Does she have to hear the excuses and/or whatever else is being said? Is anyone letting her express her feelings and thoughts in a safe, free environment? 

So many things running through my head and it's not my place to even ask for answers. But if there is a god of any kind, he or she is intervening in the fundie driven world and getting that girl love, safety, security and help without his/her name in it at all. 

[refugee]

19 minutes ago, Bethella said:

I really wonder if her "indecision" was really her gut telling her that something was wrong but not having the skills to voice those concerns or do anything else about it. She might not have realized what was bothering her or might have felt that she couldn't call things off at that stage of the relationship. 

I had the same thought, earlier, and also was reminded of the Sitler situation in Doug Wilson's sphere of influence, where the church elders actively encouraged a naive, sheltered girl to marry a convicted child molester. And they have a little one, and he's supposed to be monitored 24/7 at home -- and his wife (and in-laws?) were found by the authorities to be falling down on the job, and had to be retrained before he could return home.

His wife -- who has been raised to submit to her husband in all things -- and she's supposed to be monitoring him with her baby? To make sure he doesn't molest his own kid?

This is a screwed up world.

[Grimalkin]

15 minutes ago, fundiefan said:

I can't stop thinking about this. It is, of course, so sick and disgusting. But, it's the girl I can't get off my mind. Or, in fundie speak, my heart. 

In the Smith world, it's all about god and rules and men.  I feel like vomiting when I think of this poor girl's prayers to her god being unanswered for 3 years. The god and men of the family she has been taught are next to god, completely abandoned her and left her to suffer. At the hands of a fucking family member. 

Now what? Is she getting the help she needs? Not Christian counseling; not being hidden away from the world as if she is the one to be shamed; not told to pray about it and let some god tell her what to do - - I'm talking real help. With trained, educated professionals who know ways to help victims of childhood rape, without throwing any god or other bullshit in there. Is she still with the SMorton clan? Does she have to hear the excuses and/or whatever else is being said? Is anyone letting her express her feelings and thoughts in a safe, free environment? 

So many things running through my head and it's not my place to even ask for answers. But if there is a god of any kind, he or she is intervening in the fundie driven world and getting that girl love, safety, security and help without his/her name in it at all. 

     We assume it's a girl. 

[uber frau]

7 hours ago, dramallama said:

I kind of wonder if all the S'Morton marriages are even legal.  The whole bethrothal, selling the bride thing was so weird and so are their views on government, etc, that it actually wouldn't surprise me if they were of the "GUBMINT HAS NO AUTHORITY, ONLY THE LARD" persuasion and didn't get marriage licenses.  They've never specifically said either way, that I know of.

According to the Moultrie Observer, Alan and Katie were legally married in October  2008, a good 18 months after the public foot-washing Fundypalooza.http://www.moultrieobserver.com/news/local_news/marriages-divorces-for-the-oct-edition/article_d3fd81a4-6027-5d00-8bc9-ad557fa8c20b.html