Telling

Through speaking to Kelsey Smith and Chloe Pierson, Monica Caufield was able to piece together what had happened in the Preschool Room. Deborah verbally and physically abused the children, but never sexually abused them. Roger did just the opposite. He never verbally or physically abused them, but, in the bathroom, he sexually abused them. Another thing Roger did opposite of his wife was he never made any threats or used intimidation, he never so much as told them not to talk. He must have felt secure in the belief that the children wouldn't reveal him because of their shame. Deborah wasn't so secure and made daily violent threats to the children, which, of course, they believed.

Among other things, the children were told repeatedly about how Deborah would come into their homes at night, hide under their beds or in their closets, and take them away forever. This, they were told, would be the punishment for saying that Deborah was unkind to them, let alone if they told how she abused them. She never mentioned Roger, and no one would ever know if she knew what he was doing.

xxxxx

Blissfully unaware of the turn the investigation was taking, Nathan, Nicole, Antonio, and Jess enjoyed a peaceful evening at home. Even with the children tearing around as usual, all the adults were relaxed because of the relief they felt.

xxxxx

Monica looked over the information with some other social workers. "There is a lot more to this than we thought."

"Are you ready to give the county prosecutors' office the information on Jacob Behren's murder?"

"Do it. They should have enough to get past the grand jury with Chloe Pierson's testimony."

xxxxx

Nathan, Jess, Antonio, and Nicole went from heartbroken to enraged to shock all in just a few minutes time. It was Antonio who had turned on the TV to catch the news. Deborah Hall had been arrested for murder. Surely it was a mistake. The police's "mistake" caused an old woman so much shock that she went into cardiac arrest and died in a jail cell. Another caretaker that their children loved was gone.

Then they heard more. Jacob Behren, a child in Deborah's class, had been murdered. Nothing was said about Roger, but it was mentioned that Deborah was suspected of physically abusing the children in her care.

The four were shocked. That's what this had all been about? A child was murdered? Had their children seen it? Deborah abused their children? It all made horrible sense. They sat in silent terror, each one putting the pieces together: The tantrums, the bruises, the crying on the way to daycare, the violence. How had they missed it?

"Why...why didn't they tell us? Why didn't the police tell us?" Jess stammered.

"I guess...they didn't know until tonight," Nicole replied. "I'm going to make some calls." She hurried out of the room.

"Okay," Nathan said, "It's over. She's dead. Our children are alive. There is no reason to go nuts. Let's just be glad they made it out of there."

"Yes," Jess said, although she couldn't really feel the relief Nathan tried to make her feel.

Antonio left the room silently, still in too much shock to really say anything.

xxxxx

Kelsey Smith and Chloe Pierson would make good witnesses, but there were more victims, and now that Monica knew what she was looking for, she could ask the right questions. CSD re-called the nine children who denied abuse, for more extensive interviews.

Monica was sitting at her desk looking over her other cases when Jacob Behren's mother came in. She was hysterically angry that Roger wasn't being charged with Negligent Homicide or Child Endangerment or "anything to give my son justice."

"The prosecution does want to put Roger Hall in prison, but in order to nail him for Jacob they would have to prove that Roger knew what Deborah did. He could have been in the library with another child, in the bathroom. We can't prove he was in the classroom at the time. The children could tell a jury he was, but Deborah did such a good job at thoroughly terrifying the children, that none of them will speak about her crimes. No one can tell a jury what Roger did as regards to Jacob. We had one witness. That's why Deborah was arrested, but that child has stopped discussing Mrs. Hall."

"So that's it. No one is punished for killing my baby."

"If, in the future, as these kids begin to heal, and they make good witnesses and tell us what happened, we will charge him. Mrs. Behren, isn't the most important thing that Roger be put away so he can never harm another child? Roger is being investigated. The county prosecutors' office and I are determined to see him go away for a long time."

Since Monica couldn't tell her about the sexual abuse allegations Mrs. Behren wasn't comforted, but she did leave silently.

xxxxx

Almost two hours after Monica began the interview with Madison Massey, she concluded it. While putting away the anatomically correct dolls back in the box next to her chair, she told Madison to play until her parents came to get her. Monica went across the hall to speak to Jess and a very impatient Nathan. She sent Toby back in the room with Madison.

"Did Deborah abuse my daughter?"

"Madison is not talking about Deborah Hall at this point."

"There, see? All this was for nothing. Can I go back to work now?" Nathan asked his wife.

"Mr. Massey, I think you should stay. The reason I wanted to speak to your daughter was not to discuss Deborah Hall, it was to discuss Roger...There is no easy way to say this, but Roger Hall sexually abused Madison."

The couple stared, jaw dropped, at the social worker. No one had said anything about sexual abuse allegations. Did they know this could have happened or was Madison the first to disclose? What the hell was going on?

"I don't understand," was all Jess could manage to say.

"Madison has told me that Roger Hall molested her. Now Nathan has not made any allegations, in fact, he denies any abuse, but Madison was abused, and we have reason to believe both your sons were as well."

Every time this woman spoke she delivered another blow. First it was Madison, then Madison, Toby, and Joe.

The room was dead silent before Nathan's explosion. "You made her say that! She was in there for two fucking hours! Alone with you!"

He kicked chairs in the room and punched the wall. Stunned by her own grief, Jess barely seemed to notice what was happening around her.

Nathan got in a few more shouts at Monica before security came in. Nathan grabbed his wife, who still, for all intents and purposes, was in a trance, and pushed passed the guards to get to his children. With Madison in one arm and Toby in the other he stormed out of the office, Jess in tow.

xxxxx

All Nathan did was scream and curse as he sped home. "I knew you shouldn't have brought Joe there this morning! I must have been out of my fucking mind to agree to any of this!" He pounded the steering wheel with his fist. "I can't believe this shit! I knew we never should have brought them! I told you nothing good would come from it! Now what the hell are we gonna do? She brainwashed our girl!

In the backseat Toby and Madison were silently terrified. Toby just wondered what was going on. Why was Daddy so mad? Madison knew why he was angry. She'd told. And now everyone knew how bad she'd been. Monica had told Mommy and Daddy what she did with Roger.

xxxxx

As soon as they got home, Nathan went to work. The door slammed behind him.

"What's his problem?" Nicole asked.

"Sweetie," Jess told Madison and Toby, "go up to your playroom for a while okay?"

The children were happy to comply, anything to get away from the mother who looked a thousand miles away.

"Where's Zachary?" Jess asked.

"In the playroom, why?"

"I don't want him to hear this. The social worker talked to Madison and Nathan."

"They told what Deborah did, to that little boy?"

Jess shook her head. "No. Toby didn't say anything at all, and Madison wouldn't talk about Deborah. But she um...she talked about Roger Hall."

"And?"

"Madison said that Roger...molested her." Just saying the words wore her out and she had to sit.

"Jess, my God I don't know what to say. I'm so sorry."

"It gets worse. Joe and Toby could have been molested too. But Madison didn't see that, I guess."

This now took on a whole new turn for Nicole. It wasn't just one child? Could Zachary have been victimized?

Knowing what Nicole was thinking Jess said, "I don't know if Zachary was involved or not. Madison didn't say. When I finally snapped back into reality I called Monica from the car. She told me that she had a boy who she thought was going to disclose today and if he said anything about Zachary, Joe, or Toby's involvement that she'd call us. They'll want to talk to Joe and Zachary again too."

"Again? They just saw them both this morning."

"She said she wanted to interview each child three times before she called the prosecutors."

"He couldn't have been involved," Nicole muttered to herself.

"I was thinking about back in May when we finally had Madison and Zachary toilet trained. It was all down hill from there. That's where it happened, when he took them to the bathroom. That's when they both became even more aggressive. That's when Madison started pulling her hair. Zachary stopped wanting to take off his clothes for his bath."

"But Madison never saw Zachary get abused."

"I don't know."

xxxxx

Nathan came home and went upstairs to the playroom. Jess, needing to get away from everyone and everything, left the house when he got home. "I'll be back in a couple of hours." was all she said. She would spend the time on a park bench trying to figure out how to piece together her life and the lives of her shattered family.

"Hey guys" Nathan said cheerfully. Joe ran into his arms as usual. Madison and Toby hung back. "Come on, Tobe. I want to talk to you boys." He brought them downstairs to the bedroom he shared with his wife. He sat on the bed and the boys stood in front of him.

"Remember, Joe, you talked to Monica this morning before school?"

Joe nodded.

"Did she ask you silly questions?"

The little boy rolled his eyes up to recall the conversation. "She asked me all about when Roger took me to pee." He giggled. "That was silly."

"Yeah. Did she ask you if Roger hurt you?"

"Yeah."

"What'd you say?"

"No."

"I said no too, Daddy," Toby chimed in proudly.

Nathan chuckled with relief. He pulled them in a hug. "I knew you boys would never get in with that crap she was spouting. Could you do Daddy a favor? Go back upstairs and tell Madison to come down here."

The boys rushed out of the room, both wanting to be the first to relay their father's message. They were at the age when pleasing Mommy and Daddy was the best thing in the world.

xxxxx

Antonio heard Nicole's faint calling from the bedroom. When he reached her she had tears in her eyes. "My water broke."

xxxxx

Nathan sat in quiet pleasure. Monica was a crack pot. His boys never would participate in such illicit activities, with a man no less. And he was sure his daughter would be just as wise. He smiled when Madison sluggishly walked through the door. It was obvious she didn't want to see him, or rather for him to see her.

"Come here, Madison." The child finally reached him. "I know you didn't mean what you said to Monica. I know she made you say it, she tricked you. You don't have to ever see her again." His daughter didn't seem relieved. "It wasn't true, right? You didn't do anything bad with Roger."

"I did." Tears ran down her face.

His grasp on her arms became tighter. "What?" He spat through gritted teeth. Madison didn't respond. "You let him touch you. Why?"

"I don't know," she cried aloud.

Nathan let go. His hands moved up to his head as he tried to get a grip on what he was hearing. "He forced you, right? He threatened to hurt you if you didn't do what he wanted, right?"

"No."

Antonio shouted from the foyer as he and Nicole left, "She's going into labor! We're going to the hospital!" The door's closing was heard.

Without missing a beat, Nathan continued trying to get the right answers from his daughter. "He said he'd hurt you, didn't he?"

"No."

"Then why would you do that, Madison? What's wrong with you!" He felt the anger was too much to control. He left before he could do anything he would regret. He stormed out of the house and headed to the nearest bar.

xxxxx

In any other case with a child as premature as Nicole and Antonio's was, doctors would admit her, keep her on strict bed rest, and give medications to stop the contractions. But the water had already been broken and the baby had to be born, at just five months gestation.