She hides her scars beneath her clothing

Surrounded by trees adorned with thorns in Murfreesboro, Tennessee stands 19 year old Crystal Chaney. The Alabama native is maybe 100 pounds on a day she has eaten a full meal. Crystal and her boyfriend David are homeless. - SCROLL DOWN FOR AUDIO

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Crystal has burn scars on her arms, hands and legs from when her father allegedly poured scalding hot coffee on her. 

You often hear stories about people who have overcome massive obstacles in life, but seldom do you meet the folks who have. Crystal has one of those stories and is on her way to overcoming her past.

She never made it past the 10th grade in school, life was just too much at times and education was definitely the last thing on her mind. She told me that coming home to an alcoholic mother each day was one of the many obstacles she faced. Of course, that is after a day in school where she was bullied by others due to her appearance.

On first glance you wouldn’t realize anything was wrong with Crystal, but her coat and pants are hiding the scars that likely haunt her at night.

At 11 months of age Crystal was hit with trauma that resulted in multiple skin grafts over her childhood years. She told me that her father was mad at her mom one night and poured scalding hot coffee all over her. At the time, Crystal was in a walker.

She told me that her father was sentenced to prison and she has not talked to him… ever. Keep in mind she was only 11 months of age when she received the burns due to the hot coffee.

Letters were sent to her from her father, but her mother was said to have kept the mail never allowing Crystal to see it.

Today, Crystal and her boyfriend David are on the search for a job. Needless to say, that employment could not come soon enough so that the couple can get an apartment that will allow for them to stay out of the cold this winter.

Below is a short interview by Scott Walker with Crystal (4 MIN and 47 SEC):

“No matter what, I would never let the people who wanted me to break see how much damage they had inflicted.”  ― Rachel L. Schade, Silent Kingdom

At 51, Brenda looks back on her child abuse

One look into her icy blue eyes and you can see her pain from years past.

Today, Brenda is 51 and has turned to alcohol, meth and crack cocaine to heal her wounds, which she may not have fully known existed. She turned to prostitution and was even homeless for multiple years and the trajectory of her life was greatly changed when she was only a kid all because of child sex abuse.

Child sex abuse is a major problem in our community and across the country. The scars from the abuse can last a lifetime and Brenda, who just got into housing through the Murfreesboro Housing Authority, can confirm the pain.

According to the United States Department of Justice, only 30% of sexual assault cases are reported. Brenda was one of the cases that never went to police over 40 years ago. Furthermore, many children wait until adulthood to tell of the abuse, which is often too late as alcoholism, drug abuse and more have already manifested itself in the victim.

As for Brenda, her step father later died and she suggested that she confronted him while he was in the hospital. While he never admitted to it, she said he did apologize.

Listen to the full interview below (7 MIN and 26 SEC):

Some good news in the arrests of perpetrators… In years past, child sex abuse was not as heavily investigated as it is today. In the past, false information was promoted by professionals that children frequently reported false accounts of abuse. Over the years it was realized that such ideas lacked systematic evidence that false allegations are common, according to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

“The greater a child’s terror, and the earlier it is experienced, the harder it becomes to develop a strong and healthy sense of self.” ― Nathaniel Branden, Six Pillars of Self-Esteem

To report suspected child abuse of any kind in Tennessee, call 877-237-0004 and remain anonymous. You can also report suspected abuse online at https://apps.tn.gov/carat/.  

He forgave his father

“I just turned 30,” he told me. His life was far from glamourous, but he has come to grips with that as he ages.

“I was taken away from my parents at age 1,” he said with a glimmer of hope in his eyes. He went on to tell me that he has pins in his back and even a small plate of metal in his head, caused by the hands of his father. It was at that point that I began to understand why the Department of Children Services took him away from his mother and father at such a young age.

Apparently, he went into foster care and eventually back to his parents and then back into the foster care system and then back to parents. It was a tug of war between parents and people he didn’t know. Allen later became a ward of the State of Indiana.

“It never did heal properly,” he told me while talking about his child abuse and battle scars. I then asked him if he ever sees his father today and if so, has he forgiven him? He smiled, “I have forgiven him.”

While forgiving is one positive step, moving forward can take years. Allen is homeless and living in shelters some nights when the temperature drops while living on the street other nights.

By the way, Allen told me that when he told his father that he forgave him, his father responded, “I appreciate it, but there is nothing I can do about it now.”