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

[hollyandivy]

I am shocked, horrified, surprised, I just can never understand how a person can do anything like that to a child! 

 

And I have to agree that Katie seems to be completely incompetent to deal with a situation like this and master a life without her headship.  Maybe Ma and Pa Morton will take her to Paraguay and she will be under Daddy's "protection" again....

[AlwaysExcited]

46 minutes 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!

Well, that was misleading. 
Dear Daddy should stop refering his own ego as God, it leads to wrong assumptions.

[NotALoserLikeYou]

Divorce is unacceptable. Forgiveness is mandatory. Jesus can change his heart and children will be allowed around him again. 

[dramallama]

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.

[Lurky]

5 hours ago, lexiloumarie said:

This would explain the elder Mortons sudden return and the deleting of Jackie's facebook.

This was my first hope too - that the Mortons are as horrified as any 'normal' family would be, and rushed back to support Katie and the family as soon as they could.  As so many others have said, I hope she and the victim are getting good quality support and help - my thoughts with all the victims in this.

Cleopatra7 said

Quote

Between the Duggars, Doug Phillips is a tool, Gothard, the Old Schoolhouse family, and now the Morton's, I'm beginning to think that sexual abuse is the rule, rather than the exception in fundie circles. After all, if the tendency is to sweep male sexual misbehavior under the rug and blame the victim for causing the abuse, what incentive is there to prevent the abuse in the first place, much less report it in a timely manner?

Weren't there fundies trying to defend the Duggars by saying it happens in most families?  Ugh, horrible to see that coming true - but massive kudos if it was a S'Morton who reported this, because if it's so common, there must be pressure to see it as normalised, and no need to report (see Duggars, eg)

[PsyD2013]

Perhaps the Lord will lay it on Pa Morton's heart to free Katie from the bonds of un-holy matrimony (divorce).  

[refugee]

4 hours ago, SpoonfulOSugar said:

Georgia doesn't mess around:

http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/gacode/Default.asp

I just hope for what is best for the child involved.

The child will definitely need professional help. Please, whatever power might be listening, please get that child help.

It wasn't until I was reading the potential prison time that it hit me, the child will be blaming themself for the rapist being put away. And an abused child's life is not all about the sexual abuse -- that may only be a small slice of time out of all the hours of the day (Note: I am not minimizing the rape/incest. It is horrible, and it never goes away, not even 80 years later when other memories are dimming.) There may well be good times, laughter, love, all mixed in with this secret shame that the child is made to feel responsible for.

I can so see a kid internalizing "It's all my fault that daddy/uncle/brother/whatever the relationship -- not speculating on victim's identity, but the charges say "incest" so it is a family relationship -- got put in prison for the rest of his life. If only I hadn't said anything. It's all my fault."

lord have mercy.

1 hour ago, Kylolo said:

First, if true, what a disgusting piece of trash that I hate to call a fellow human. 

Second, in googling for other stories I found this blog post on the Smiths' old blog:  http://smithfamilia.blogspot.com/2010/01/message-from-captain-bret.html.  This is the quote that stood out to me:

While this was written 6+ years ago and clearly not related to this current horror, I immediately wondered if the words would be the same or different depending on how and by whom Alan was reported.

This reminds me of the conversation with a gothardite who insisted that incest was a common phenomenon, and so it wasn't surprising that so many cases were coming to light in ATI -- it was just a slice of what was happening in the general population. As a matter of fact, in ATI families (in her opinion) incest was probably *less* likely to occur, because godliness and godly rules that save people from themselves, don't you know.

Is there a screaming-and-running-in-circles-and-tearing-out-your-hair emoticon?

[Gobsmacked]

1 hour ago, LurkerOverThePond said:

Out of all the S'Morton brides, I think she's the least capable of managing this situation (based solely on the blog, of course). I don't know about Rachel but, at least to me, Kressant seems to have some resourcefulness and resilience in her that might help her going thru a situation like this. Katie, on the other hand, has always looked like a doormat, like she has no thoughts or ideas of her own about anything. A perfect Stepford wife. And she has her parents to thank for that.

I know nothing about this family. I may now have to dive down rabbit hole. Please kit Ferrets out with wine and chocolate.

The fundie world appears to be one great big interrelated warran, there are so many rabbit holes to be explored.

[Finduilas]

2 minutes ago, Gobsmacked said:

I know nothing about this family. I may now have to dive down rabbit hole. Please kit Ferrets out with wine and chocolate.

The fundie world appears to be one great big interrelated warran, there are so many rabbit holes to be explored.

 

Is there a Morton family summary anywhere ? I looked and couldn't find one ... 

[Grimalkin]

3 minutes ago, Finduilas said:

Is there a Morton family summary anywhere ? I looked and couldn't find one ... 

      I found old threads under s'morton. In the family and beliefs summary.

http://www.freejinger.org/forum/307-smortons-smiths-mortons-and-sanders/

 

[Finduilas]

2 minutes ago, Grimalkin said:

      I found old threads under s'morton. In the family and beliefs summary.

http://www.freejinger.org/forum/307-smortons-smiths-mortons-and-sanders/

 

 

Exactly what I was looking for and failing to find. Thanks 

[Nikedagain?]

1 hour ago, lexiloumarie said:

I think the one thing that has always made Kress and Rachel look even more together is that their children and homes usually look very neat and clean while they're also being extremely domestic (making soap/canning/etc). While Katie's children and home have always looked messy and unkempt.

I do agree about the Morton girls learned helplessness being particular severe - Darth seems to be exception and she married into a family that seemed to match her own ideals well.

Is there a blog or a facebook page? Do I want to venture into this rabbit hole?

[SolomonFundy]

 Addy and Dorothy both seem far more lucid and functional that Katie or Martha, though Martha has improved immensely since the fog of pregnancy/early parenthood lifted a bit. Poor Katie has never seemed to have much in the way of wits. The absolute high-water mark of her competence (at least in terms of what the family has elected to share over the years) are the little notes she and Alan exchanged back and forth in the comments section of the original Morton blog during their courtship. And those can best be summarized as adolescent banter. She sounds like a lobotomy patient in the infamous "natural childbirth" video, and hasn't strung together three grammatically correct sentences in a row on social media in years.

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. 

[withaj]

How awful. Thank goodness that law enforcement is involved. I have only read about the Mortons here and there and didn't know a lot that is being mentioned here -- I didn't realize any of them were adopted -- but down the rabbit hole I go. 

 

 

[Black Aliss]

59 minutes ago, Lurky said:

Weren't there fundies trying to defend the Duggars by saying it happens in most families?  Ugh, horrible to see that coming true - but massive kudos if it was a S'Morton who reported this, because if it's so common, there must be pressure to see it as normalised, and no need to report (see Duggars, eg)

Smuggar Himself said, in reference to his sister-diddling, that anyone would have done the same if they knew they could get away with it.

NO! No they wouldn't!

[dramallama]

1 minute ago, Black Aliss said:

Smuggar Himself said, in reference to his sister-diddling, that anyone would have done the same if they knew they could get away with it.

NO! No they wouldn't!

Not only would most people not do it whether they thought they could get away with it or not, most people wouldn't even generate the thought of doing it in the first place.  That statement provides an incredibly disturbing insight into his disgusting swamp of a mind.

[Black Aliss]

As much as I would like to think that a family member reported the abuse, I really doubt it. These are people who are extremely skilled in dissonance reduction, as evidenced by their ability to watch the Bill Nye vs Ken Ham show and believe that Ken won every round.

No, it had to have been a mandatory reporter, probably a doctor who discovered an injury consistent with rape.

[Pravda_Iskra]

1 minute ago, Black Aliss said:

As much as I would like to think that a family member reported the abuse, I really doubt it. These are people who are extremely skilled in dissonance reduction, as evidenced by their ability to watch the Bill Nye vs Ken Ham show and believe that Ken won every round.

No, it had to have been a mandatory reporter, probably a doctor who discovered an injury consistent with rape.

Would the S'Morton's even go to a real doctor unless it was an absolute emergency, though? I don't know a ton about them so I don't know if they're anti-medicine. I hope it was someone in the family going to the cops...

[JMO]

I keep coming back to this thread.  The S'Mortons were my pet fundies.  Addie's blog had captivated me and the craziness drew me in.  For people new to them there are some rehash's and old but pertinent blog entries in the latest Morton thread about their returns from Paraguay.

So, between her Father- imposed ignorance and docility and what she has been indoctrinated with I can't imagine that Katie is anything else but blaming herself for not being a better helpmeet.  Papa Morton never did share what he tells the kids 3 days before marriage but I'm assuming that it's laden with language about meeting your husband's needs, building an army for the Lord, etc.  She's 9 months preggo, 7 other kids and her husband was arrested for raping a child.  I'm sure she's defending him, probably in denial that he could have done this, and blaming herself for not protecting him from preying on a child.  

[Lurky]

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. 

[Kira]

This is awful. I agree with everything said in this thread 

 

11 minutes ago, Black Aliss said:

Smuggar Himself said, in reference to his sister-diddling, that anyone would have done the same if they knew they could get away with it.

NO! No they wouldn't!

Did he really say that 

[Black Aliss]

1 minute ago, Kira said:

This is awful. I agree with everything said in this thread 

Quote

Smuggar Himself said, in reference to his sister-diddling, that anyone would have done the same if they knew they could get away with it.

Did he really say that 

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.

[JermajestyDuggar]

I only know what I've read about these families on FJ but I have a few thoughts just the same....

I first wonder if this will cause any sort of schism in the family. As I understand it, the two families are basically one unit now due to many marriages. However, that doesn't mean they are all 100%. Yes I understand they are their own little cloistered fundie cult, but there are so many and these charges are serious. I would not be surprised if there are a couple of family members that don't completely see eye to eye on the situation. I've seen sexual abuse allegations break up families. So maybe a family member doesn't want to forgive and forget. Maybe they will real from the family. Of course we may never know since they will all go into social media hiding. 

Another thought is that she may not have to divorce him. If he gets life in prison, what would be the point? They are completely separated anyway. It just means she can't remarry. Which I doubt she would do anyway.

[Kira]

Just now, 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 remember JB saying most of their friends have this problem or something like that.

[16strong]

6 hours ago, SpoonfulOSugar said:

Georgia doesn't mess around:

http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/gacode/Default.asp

I just hope for what is best for the child involved.

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.