#StandWithSophie hashtag goes viral after Texas girl, 9, claims she is being sexually abused
[ad_1]
A nine-year-old Texas girl claims she is being sexually abused by her mother’s fiancé in a heartbreaking video that was posted by her biological father and has gone viral.
The hashtag #StandWithSophie has gained the attention of hundreds of thousands nation-wide after Sophie was seen pleading to not go with her mother during a custody exchange last week and describing the abuse she allegedly endures.
Sophie and her two younger brothers are at the center of a bitter custody battle in Frisco, Texas, between their parents Michael and Kelly. A judge had awarded custody to her mother, sparking outrage online after the video was posted.
The 20-minute video showing Sophie pleading to stay with her father Michael has gained half a million views. Michael says he decided to go public with her story after countless pleas to police and lawyers to regain custody have gone unanswered.
Sophie, a nine-year-old Texas girl, claims she is being sexual abused by her mother’s fiancé in a heartbreaking video that’s gone viral
A private Facebook group called Stand With Sophie has over 120,000 members who are raising awareness about Sophie’s case
The video of Sophie pleading to stay with her father Michael has gained half a million views
Sophie is seen telling her grandmother, who is her biological mother’s mother, of abuse during a custody exchange. She is seen screaming and crying as she refuses to go with her grandmother
A GoFundMe fundraiser was started on August 21 organized by Sophie’s stepmother Kourtney and has already raised $180,000. A private Facebook group called Stand With Sophie has over 120,000 members.
According to the GoFundMe, Sophie ‘has disclosed she has been continuously subjected to domestic violence, sexual grooming, and most recently molestation/rape in her primary residence.’
The page says her father is ‘fighting for her life while her abusers pull every resource to get their hands back on her.’
According to the GoFundMe, Sophie ‘has disclosed she has been continuously subjected to domestic violence, sexual grooming, and most recently molestation/rape in her primary residence’
The description alleges that Sophie’s biological mother Kelly is part of the sexual abuse and even encourages it.
Court documents seen by DailyMail.com include medical records for Sophie that note her feeling discomfort in her private parts, with sex abuse listed as ‘suspected’.
Kelly is also accused of allowing the child to be attacked by a second man living in Oklahoma, as well as her fiancé who the children know as ‘Mr. Jake’.
According to the documents, Kelly and her fiancé have also been investigated by CPS over domestic abuse on several occasions – although none have been substantiated – and that the children told their stepmother of ‘hiding under the bed’ during arguments.
In the 20-minute video from the custody exchange, Sophie is seen telling her grandmother, who is her biological mother’s mother, of abuse.
Her grandmother Kim asks ‘Who’s touching you?’ to which she replies, ‘Mr. Jake and Mommy watches…. Mommy watches it happen. And they always make me feel bad about myself.’
Her grandmother asks, ‘Where does he touch you?’ and Sophie says ‘My vivi’ while describing waking up with blood in her underwear.
The grandmother disregards Sophie’s claims and is seen with Sophie’s mother trying to drag the nine-year-old by her feet out of her father’s car.
Sophie can be heard begging to stay with her father and screaming ‘help me, daddy help me’.
Michael reported the incident to Lacy Lakeview police who released a statement confirming that Sophie is in a safe home on August 31.
The statement also said that they would not be investigating the alleged sex offences because they took place in a different jurisdiction.
Lacy Lakeview PD said they had spoken to Sophie at the scene of the handover and that she had told officers that she was ‘OK and not hurt’.
But they also confirmed they have opened an investigation into Michael’s allegation of injury to a child and will look into the incident further.
Sophie’s father and stepmother are pictured. They say they’ve spent $30,000 fighting to get custody of Sophie and have now decided to go public
Michael is pictured with Sophie. On Thursday the judge allowed him custody of Sophie and her two brothers over the holiday weekend and Zoom visits every day
In a text exchange between Sophie and her father Michael, she says her foot was smashed in a door and her elbow was bent while in her mother’s care
After a slew of comments to the Frisco Police Department, they released a statement Monday confirming that Sophie is ‘safe and staying at a safe location’
This photo was shared in Michael’s video showing Sophie on a gurney with a bandaged ankle
After a slew of comments to the Frisco Police Department, they released a statement Monday confirming that Sophie is now ‘safe and staying at a safe location’.
On Thursday, Judge Cynthia Wheless ordered Kelly’s fiancé and all other men to have no contact with the kids.
Sophie is currently in the care of a counselor, and all three children will be returned to their mother, with their father Michael having them for visitation this weekend.
Michael is also granted Zoom visits for 15-20 minutes per day with each child.
‘The way that I roll, kids are entitled to visitation with both of their parents regardless of what’s going on in the world wide web, or the dark web for that matter,’ Judge Wheless said in the virtual hearing on Thursday.
Outside court, a handful of protesters waved signs and demonstrated their support for Sophie – calling for her to be returned to her father immediately.
Katt Hughes, 36, told DailyMail.com she was there because the same thing had happened to her own daughter who she lost custody of eight years ago in Washington State.
Through tears, she told how her little girl committed suicide aged 12 after years of alleged abuse at the hands of her father, adding: ‘Sophie’s story touched my heart because I went through something similar.
‘Nobody would stand up for my daughter so I wanted to be here to stand up for Sophie.’
Outside court, a handful of protesters waved signs and demonstrated their support for Sophie – calling for her to be returned to her father immediately
Katt Hughes, 36, (right) told DailyMail.com she was there because the same thing had happened to her own daughter who she lost custody of eight years ago in Washington State
Through tears, protester Hughes told how her little girl committed suicide aged 12 after years of alleged abuse at the hands of her father, adding: ‘Sophie’s story touched my heart because I went through something similar’
Supporters of nine-year-old Sophie gathered outside Collin County Courthouse, Texas while a custody hearing took place Thursday
According to stepmom Kourtney, she and Sophie’s father have spent $30,000 since June to get custody of the children.
They have dealt with child protective services, law enforcement and several lawyers, as well as doctors who have examined her for injuries, they say.
According to Michael, one of the Sophie’s brothers tested positive for marijuana and cocaine in May, yet no charges were brought against Kelly or her fiancé.
The judge presiding over the custody battle ordered that all social media posts, videos, and statements about the children’s well-being be removed from the internet.
Judge Wheless placed a gag order on Michael on Monday, which has since been withdrawn.
The case is set for trial on November 4 and 5, 2020 and both parents have been ordered not to disparage one another in the presence of their children or during custody exchanges.
Sophie is pictured with stepmom Kourtney who started a GoFundMe to help with legal fees in the custody battle
Sophie and her two younger brothers are in the center of a bitter custody battle in Frisco, Texas, between her parents Michael and Kelly
In one video clip Sophie can be seen telling her father, ‘Listen to me, I can’t go!’
‘I’m obligated to bring you it’s your mom’s visit time,’ Michael says, to which Sophie runs away hysterically crying.
In another video, a social worker is seen telling Michael that he could go to jail if he doesn’t allow Sophie to go with her mother.
Meanwhile, Sophie is heard screaming that she does not want to leave her father.
The family say they are ‘down to the wire’ in the legal fight as they try to get the court to give them full custody.
According to them, ‘the court is actually considering giving them back to her mother and the people who help her physically and mentally assault the children according to Sophie and the boys’.
[ad_2]
Source link
