woah. none of us have ever been pregnant, ever. and for that matter, none of us were promiscuous at all. these stories are starting to greatly irritate me, because they are such blatant and horrible lies.

B. was a girl who had a baby when she was 16, back in 2008. So no, the child was not 4 (and still isn’t 4), but that baby does exist.  No one had sex or ever smoked on the bus. i don’t remember Mrs. B. doing that, but honestly I didn’t ride the bus everyday.

Note:  At the time, I did not tell this young lady that she was the one Emma was talking about.  Emma claimed that she got drunk and high at a party and ended up pregnant.  In Sept. or Oct., Emma went to a birthday party for another girl that rode the bus with them, and she came home in tears.  She said that (name removed) had told her that her parents took her to have an abortion, and she didn’t tell
Emma about it before she did it because she knew Emma would try to talk her of it.

On Tue, Jul 26, 2011 at 9:01 AM, Jerri > wrote:
> No problem, (Name Removed)   My attorney has collected some information on Emma,
> and she’s been lying for years.  I think both Phill and Emma are going to be
> shocked over some of what we’ve found.  Phill has wanted to believe
> everything Emma says.   If you want, I will mail a copy to your parents, so
> you all can see what was going on.  My attorney is gathering a few
> statements that he needs signed, and then we will be presenting all of it to
> Emma’s therapist.
>
> A couple of other things I thought of that I wanted to ask you about. There
> was a boy in the other  part of Deer Creek (Fawn Ct?) that Emma pointed out
> to me one day when he was walking in the neighborhood, and she said he sold
> drugs.  Of course she told me he sold drugs on the bus, and you told me you
> never saw drugs sold on the bus, so I’m doubting the whole thing.  Would you
> know who she was talking about and if he actually did sell drugs.
>
> Another story she told was that your brother got arrested and was in jail,
> but your parents didn’t know, and he’d been in jail before.  She said he was
> arrested for pot.  I don’t want to intrude on (Name Removed) life or anything, if
> there’s any truth to this, but if it’s completely fabricated, would you let
> me know so I can add this to the list.
>
> Thanks,
> Jerri

Wow. I don’t know how I missed this message. I’m not sure about that
other boy selling pot, but I can tell you for a FACT my brother has
NEVER been arrested, and certainly not for drugs. I am absolutely
livid right now. It is one thing to be lied about, but when she brings
my family into this, she has gone too damn far. What a terrible human
being she is.

Jerri Roey3:27pm Sep 20

(Name Removed), Would you just verify something for me. My husband is trying to say that you told Emma all the horrible things she told us about you (that you got pregnant, your parents took you to have an abortion, that you thought you were pregnant again after the prom…..lots of drinking and drugs stories). He is trying to defend Emma by saying that you made up this stuff, true or not, and told it to Emma, so that’s where she got it from. I think that Emma made it all up, trying to make you look bad (as well as the other girls on the bus). I just want it in writing to gove to my attorney. Again, I will remove your name. Just let me know if you ever told Emma any of those things.

Oh, and you told her that your parents took you to have an abortion. Please let me know if you ever told Emma any of these stories.

(Name Removed)6:56pm Sep 20

Of course Emma made it up. Why would I make up horrible things about myself? I’m sorry, but this is getting ridiculous. I never told Emma about any pregnancies or abortions, because they didn’t happen. Not to me, and not to any my friends. She is lying, and frankly, it’s sad to see your husband believing her. She is clearly unstable, and I am starting to think he isn’t much better.

**********************************************

E-mail exchange between H. and myself:

On 6/27/2011 12:58 PM, Jerri wrote:

Hi H.,

This is your neighbor, Jerri.

We’ve been having a lot of problems with our daughter, Emma, in regards to lying.  She told us she’d been molested, but now I think that wasn’t true.  Before she came up with the molestation, she tried to tell stories about Phill, but I would not tolerate it. I’m am finding out about some other whoppers she’s told, and am keeping a list to present to her therapist.  Most recently, Emma has accused me of child abuse, that when she turned 17, I started hitting her, shoving her, etc.  She did that right before a lawsuit was about to be filed on her behalf over the molestation.  (I believe she wanted to take the focus off the “molestation”, so she went from being a victim of child molestation to being a victim of child abuse.)  It’s a really long story, but there’s one story I wanted to ask you about.

When Emma rode the bus to JCCHS, she claimed that one day you came out to the bus and told the bus driver not to let J. sit with a certain boy.  I don’t know his name, but she said he lives in the 2nd house on the right as you enter the subdivision.

Emma claimed that you all had caught the two kids having sex and that was why she was not allowed to sit with this boy.  I believe she said J. had to sit at the front of the bus with the younger kids.

Anyway, I don’t want to get too personal, but could you just tell me if this story is true or not?

If you would e-mail or call me:

From: H. Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2011 4:17 PM

To: Jerri Subject: Re: Question

Hello Jerri
Sorry to hear about the problems you are having with Emma, there is something terribly wrong with our society with the problems young girls are creating for themselves and their families.
First J. was caught sneaking out of the house, but it was to go see the boy who did live in the second house on the right as you enter the subdivision with his guardians.  I did not approach the bus driver however about where or with whom J. sat.  Actually we realized that there was very little control we had over her behavior outside of our home given J.’s age and past.  We decided along with (the boy’s) guardians to encourage an appropriate relationship between the two rather than forbidding that they see each other on the bus or at school and wait and see what happened.  We even met with him to get to know him and what he planned on doing in life and sure enough it was over in a few months.
Second I met Emma one day while I was out walking and asked how she like Jackson Co. HS.  She told me she didn’t like it and had been sick and in the hospital.  She said she had all A’s and had been making up the time and doing the work but she was told she was going to be failed anyway.  I just remember how odd I thought this was because I volunteered at the HS counseling office once a week and I knew they had credit recovery in addition to knowing that the HS bent over backwards to try to work with students and get them graduated.  I remember thinking that something just didn’t seem right and there had to be more to it however, as a volunteer, I did not feel it would have been appropriate for me to inquire into it further.

H.

NOTE:  Emma was never in the hospital that year.  Also, I had a long phone conversation with this lady, but I asked her to e-mail me her comments, so I would have them in writing.  I have removed the names of those involved.

***********************************************

Mrs. Phillips,

Our daughter, Emma Roey, was a student at JCCHS in 2008-2009.   We’ve had some problems with Emma lying, and wanted to check on a story Emma told us that happened at JCCHS.  Emma claimed that one day, she, Christina Romo, and Kayla Gudz were called to the office where an officer and a drug sniffing dog were waiting.  She claimed that the drug dog checked them over, after another child on the bus reported them for selling drugs.  I wondered about this story at the time, but didn’t think much of it until some other problems with Emma came up, and now we are wondering if she made this up because other people have told us that the dogs can only check school property.

Can you just let me know if the dogs check students like that, if this story could be true, and would you have a record of the girls being called to the office?  We just want to verify if this was true or something Emma made up.

Reply:

The drug dogs are allowed in the parking lot, lockers, and inside classrooms with students out of the class. If administration has reason to believe that a student could possibly have drugs on them, the search is conducted by an administrator and usually the School Resource Officer. If females are involved, I am usually the one that completes the search. During the time your daughter was here, I was never involved in a search with her.

I hope this answers your questions. If not, please feel free to call me.

Reply

Thank you.  Emma told us quite an elaborate story about being called to the office and being checked by a drug dog after being reported by a child on the bus (The older Bridgeman boy who was in ROTC with her.  I believe his name is Josh.) along with Kayla G. and Christina R.  I believe it was you or the female counselor that she told us was there.

We’ve had a lot of problems with Emma and I’m just trying to check on some things she’s told us in the past, to see if they are true or not.

Thank you,

Jerri Roey

Reply

Not a problem-Please feel free to call or email anytime.

Hi Kendra,

I tried to call you, but your mailbox was full, and I couldn’t get a message through.

I wanted to ask you a couple more questions.

Emma’s taken other people’s stories and told them to people, putting herself in stories of things that never happened to her.  I wondered if Emma heard about this happening to someone else and then made the story about herself.  Also,  I was wondering, if there is a record when a child is drug searched?  I would like to know so I can tell Emma’s therapist that if this happened, there would have been a record of it.  Also, Emma said that she, C., and K. were called to the office over the PA system to be checked.  I had wondered if this kind of thing even happened.  Would the school page a child over the PA to come to the office to be searched for drugs?  I didn’t know how the school goes about searching a child for drugs.

Thanks so much for your help.  If you need to call me:

– Show quoted text –

Reply

That does.  Thank you very much.

Jerri

*****************************************************

– Show quoted text –

E-mail exchange between Fr. George Ivey, of Holy Trinity Anglican Church, and his wife Paulette, Ivey, and myself after Paulette told me the story about Emma babysitting and having to call 911 after one of the boys she was babysitting got out of control.  (Not True.)

Dear Jerri,

Paulette is fighting a stomach virus last night and today that she got at school. She wanted me to add that Emma told her that she had called the police to protect her from the priest’s son during the night described. So, I have added it into this edited version of the e-mail to you.

If we can help please let us know.

Fr. George

————————————————–

Dear Jerri,

On December 23, 2010, Emma told me that she had been employed to baby sit for the priest of Mary and Martha Episcopal Church in the Hamilton Mill community. She said that the son of the priest was bi-polar. She said that during the evening the son became so unruly that for her safety she had to lock herself in the bathroom and that she waited there until the parents returned to allow her to come out of the bathroom in a safe situation. It seemed to me that this was a bazar and improbable story. She further told me that she called the police to come to the pastor’s house to protect her. It bears seeking the collaboration of the parents of the boy in question to be certain that she baby sat for them and that this circumstance truly occurred.

Please let me know if you need more information concerning this discussion with Emma.

Sincerely,

Paulette Ivey

Note:  Emma NEVER babysat for the priest at St. Mary and St. Martha

At a women’s group meeting, at the home of A., that I think was sometime in the spring, I heard the story about the priest’s older son, who is bipolar, getting so out of control that the parents had to call 911.  I later told Emma about this incident, so this lie was based on a real event, but Emma was never there when it occurred.

Letter to a former youth leader at Walnut Fork Baptist Church:

July 25, 2011

Dear M.,

A few years ago, my daughter attended a youth group meeting at your church after being invited by your daughter, A.  I don’t know if you will remember, and you might want to check with A., but I wondered if you could answer a couple of questions for me.  At the moment, I am visiting family in CT., and I have tried to call you, but the only number I have was disconnected.

We have had some problems with Emma lying and greatly exaggerating some stories.  Some are harmless, but some have been quite vicious.  I have been collecting some of these stories for Emma’s therapist to see the stories she’s been telling over the years.  Unfortunately, her dad and I didn’t realize what she was doing, and she seems to have a serious problem with lying.

In 9^th grade, Emma attended a Wed. night youth group meeting with A.  She went home on the bus with A., and I think your wife dropped them off at the church that night, and you were in charge of the youth group.  Emma came home with quite an elaborate story about you calling on her and her giving her testimony.   I found this a little odd, that a visitor would be singled out like that, but didn’ t think much of it.  Emma went in to great detail when she told me what she said.  Now I’m just wondering if it happened it all.

Another thing Emma said was that you were late for the meeting (car trouble, I think), and that when you came in, you were talking to the kids and mentioned something about your family dog getting run over that day.  Emma made it sound horrible and said that A. and her sister did not know about the dog and were very upset, and Emma thought it was horrible that they found out by you telling the youth group and not telling them directly.  She said that they sat there and cried throughout the meeting, and you just went on talking about how animals don’t have souls.   She tried to make you sound very heartless and cruel for the way you talked about the dog like it was nothing.

Would you either call me or e-mail me to verify if any of these stories are true?

Thank you very much,Jerri

Hi Jerri,

I received your letter today, and wanted to get back to you as quickly as possible concerning Emma and any way that we may be able to help.  I’m thankful to you for taking the time to let me know how anyone (youth or parent) may perceive or have even the slightest concern for any of the content or situations that take place during our ministry time together.

I spoke with A. this afternoon just to confirm that I remember the correct young lady (Emma) and her joining us for a couple of visits at church, especially during the night that you referenced in your letter concerning the death of my dog “Max” almost 3 years ago.  The timing of your letter is beyond coincidence, because I was talking with our neighbor (K.) last week about how helpful he has been during two very sad times when I was not at home.  About eight weeks ago, we had a similar situation with our family dog “Tucker” being hit by a car when my wife, E. and daughter  (9 years old) were outside to feed him.  We have an electronic fence to keep the dogs in the yard when they are free to run while not in the kennel, but that evening he decided to charge right though.  The car which hit either dog did not stop, and Mr. K. was the first person driving by on his way home from work and stopped to help.  Both times our pet had severe internal injuries and did not survive even after taking Tucker to the vet for treatment.

On the evening that Emma describes, E. did drive the kids to church and normally stayed with the youth or helped with the children on Wednesdays.  Mr. K. came to the church around 5:55 pm and told E. and S. (my assistant) what had happened.  He had moved Max from the road before coming to get E. while Miss B. (another neighbor) stayed with Max.  E. called me when I was on my way to the church from work and I met them at the house.  She had ridden with K. back home while S. and K. stayed with the youth.  When I arrived at the house there were three or four cars in our front yard including a Jackson County sheriff who stopped to see why other people were parked along the roadway.  Max died before we were able to get him loaded into my pickup.  K. carried E. back to the church while I drove Max to a friend’s house nearby who has a tractor and an area where we have buried other animals which have passed over the years.  Afterwards, I went to the church around 7:45pm and the students had already finished their lesson for the evening.  A. and L. both remember the discussion that was taking place when I arrived, and someone made the comment that ‘the events of their day resembled a country song’.  I was under the impression that E. had already shared the news with A. and L. when I replied “ … and how sad it is when your dog dies”.  It was not my intention to share the news in that way, but they knew already that something was up when E. had left the church earlier.

I don’t recall making any comments about “animals not having a soul” that evening, but I do believe animals are different from humans in that they do not have a soul which will live for an eternity as humans do.  It is hard to explain when someone asks if they will see their pet in heaven when the bible doesn’t address that issue specifically, but I do know that there will be animals in heaven (In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all. – Isaiah 11:6)

We always strive for an environment where the students feel welcome, comfortable to share and discuss any issues without feeling judged.  Very seldom have students shared a testimony during a regular Wednesday night service, and I cannot remember any guest having ever given a testimony.  This happens more often during a trip to a youth conference, a special weekend event at church or a week long missions trip; and only then after the students know one another very well.

A. mentioned that she has not spoken with Emma since she transferred from Jackson County.  Please know that me and my family are available to help in any way that we can and will keep your family in our prayers.  Our contact information is listed below, and you can call on us at any time.
In Christ’s name,

NOTE:  When Emma told me about this evening, she told me the family was “rednecky” and let their dogs run loose.  She never mentioned the electric fence.  While I knew the mother babysat children in her home, Emma claimed that once the kids got home from school, the mother left to run errands, leaving her daycare children unsupervised.

********************************************

Other lies:

In, I believe Jan. 2011 when Kodi, a Pup and Cat dog was at adoptions, and a man named Dustin (I do not remember the last name) asked to see him, Emma spoke to the man and got Kodi out of the crate for him.  Dustin was interested in adopting Kodi and filled out an application.  When our director found out that he didn’t have a fence, she was hesitant about Kodi going to this home, and Dustin told her that he was told Kodi by the “young lady” that Dustin didn’t need a fence.

When we first started to attend Holy Trinity, a dog that Emma and I knew from the rescue had just been adopted to a woman in a senior community, and after church Emma told me that BR., a woman we met at church, lived in the same neighborhood and had met Denny Mac, the dog.  A few weeks later, as I got to know BR., I asked her about meeting her neighbor’s dog that came from our rescue, and she said she didn’t know anything about a dog.  I later asked Emma if I was mistaken, and she denied saying it at all.

I don’t remember what year it was, maybe 2009 or 2008, but it was on my birthday.  A friend, Karen and her mom were going to the Cirque De Soliel and had an extra ticket, so Karen invited Emma to go.  When Emma came home, she said she had a great time, but said something like, “You know how when you go to a movie or something and there’s someone near you that won’t quit talking, that was what Karen and her mom were like.”  She claimed that people around them kept looking at them, giving them dirty looks, etc.   I thought this story was odd at the time, but I wasn’t going to call Karen up and ask her.  I had been thinking about this story a log recently, so I asked Karen about this story, and she said this story was not ture.  She said that it was the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra with Cirque De Soliel, and that if you had been talking, they would ask you to leave.  This can be verified with Karen.

I’m not sure why Emma felt the need to make up a story like this to someone who was being so generous to her.  Karen knew Emma for several years while we volunteered almost every Sat. with the rescue.  Karen came to see Emma when she was in the hospital, and we went to Karen’s open house when she bought her home.

*********************************************

In early Sept. 2011, I believe, Emma sounded like she was making some friends at school at Jefferson High School, Jefferson, Ga., so Phill and I encouraged her to invite several of the girls out one evening for dinner and to watch a movie or just hang out.  Four girls came out one Fri. night, Bell Blankenship, Jordan Buchanan, and another Jordan, whom I believe was Jordan Blair Hamby, and Bree (I believe her name was Bree Hanson.) We cooked hamburgers, had beans, chips, watermelon, soda, and an ice cream cake for the girls.  My husband and I waited on them, but pretty much stayed in the background and let them visit.

At one point, I took something out to where the girls were sitting on the deck, and one of the girls, Bree thanked me for inviting them.  I told her that we were so glad they could come, and Bree said, “Well, I didn’t have anything better to do.”  The girls laughed, and Bree looked a little sheepish, realizing what she’d said, but laughed too.  I turned to the other girls, laughing, and said, “Ok, so the next time we do this, you all are all invited,” and then pointing at Bree said, “But, she’s not!”  The girls all laughed, even Bree.   No one was upset or angry; no one sulked or went home.  They all knew I was joking. I think I said something to Bree like, “That’s ok. I knew what you meant.”  Later on, when Phill and I met with one of the SEC therapists on Mar. 21, 2011, I told Tamesha (I do no know her last name.) that there were some problems with Emma, for example she had 4 therapists, but no friends at school.  Tamesha told me that Emma said she had invited some friends over once this school year, but I had been mean to them.  I explained that Phill and I waited on them hand and foot, and they all seemed to have a great time.  Phill said he would ask Emma what she was referring to, and she said that I was mean to Bree when I said she wasn’t invited back.  Phill was not out on the deck with us when I was joking with the girls, but he knew we waited hand and foot on those girls, ensuring they all had plenty to eat and a nice time.

*************************************************

Comments and Corrections on Psych Eval

Originally written 4/14/11

Edited 5/13/11, 7/22/11

1. Emma stated that she had four dissassociative episodes and that all were while riding in the car with me.  Actually, there were six episodes and four of them took place with her dad.  Four of them took place on her way to Jefferson High School, which she hated, and blamed me for the fact that she was going there.  She screamed at me many times that I had given up homeschooling her and it was all my fault.  One episode was with her dad in Suzie McGarvey’s office, and the other was when her dad was driving her to Peachford (Psychiatric) Hospital for a week of daily outpatient care.

Emma had taken AP psychology, and I believe that’s where she learned the symptoms of abuse and learned how to fake catatonia.  One mistake she made was that her seizure episodes lasted way to long, as long as 30  minutes, while in true catatonia, the seizures last only seconds.  Emma was very dramatic in the car, flopping around like a fish. 

1. Emma told Dr. Born that all the incidents of molestation were in the restroom, but she told Phill and I, along with several others that one incident was in the restroom and the rest were in the sacristy.
2. Emma told Dr. Born that I “confronted” her about the molestation.  I never confronted her.  She told Phill and I about the molestation on Mar. 21, 2010, Phill’s birthday.    On Emma’s birthday (Dec. 19, 2009), Phill and I went to pick up Emma from her church youth group.  She told us that she’d received a phone call from an on-line friend, whom Emma has never met in person.  Emma said L. had been raped, and had called Emma from the ER, and that this was the incident that stirred up memories of her being molested 4 years before.  When I questioned Emma a few days later, she said that L. had tried to commit suicide because she’d been raped some time before, and that she was afraid to go to the police because this man had threatened to kill her family.  Emma said L. was in therapy, but would not tell who raped her.  Emma also said that L. had been involved in a church program counseling girls who were victims of molestation or sexual abuse because she had been molested as a child.  This young lady never called Emma from the hospital, and my attorney has verified with her father that none of this is true.
3. Emma stated that the priest moved on to a different church.  This is not true.  He was retired when he took the position at our church and went back into retirement and other activities afterwards.
4. SEC did not get involved until Jan. 2011, after DFACS was called and was not involved at the time of the molestation.
5. When I was interviewed by DFACS, I believe two of the dates that Emma said I abused her were dates when Phill was home.  One was Dec. 17, when Phill took Emma to Marietta for an appointment with her GYN.  I was out Christmas shopping for Emma.  I was never alone with Emma the entire day.

The other date was Dec. 19, 2011, her birthday, and Phill was home on that day.  We were both there when she kicked the cabinet in her bathroom, screamed, and then came out and told us what she’d done.  She had sock on, but I asked her to wiggle her toes and she did.  She asked me what they did for broken toes, and I told her they couldn’t put a cast on them.  On Dec. 20^th, I asked how her foot was, and she said it still hurt, but was ok.

Also on Emma’s birthday, her Aunt Lee called after she had opened her presents.  Emma told her aunt that she wasn’t doing or getting anything special for her birthday, and that I had taken her shopping for clothes a couple of weeks before, and that was her birthday present.  She also told her aunt that we didn’t even get her a birthday cake.  I did not take Emma shopping for clothes at all, and her big present was a netbook computer which she was very excited about.  She also received several smaller presents.  Emma was angry that Phill did not want to go out to eat on her birthday because he wasn’t feeling well, and he said that he said we’d go out when he got back in town on Friday.  Also, instead of a birthday cake, she had asked that we get her a cheesecake instead, just as she had asked for a cheesecake for the past 3 years for her birthday.  My sister did not tell me until sometime later what Emma had told her.  She thought maybe when she called, Emma hadn’t opened her presents, and that maybe Emma hadn’t known we’d gotten the cheesecake she’d asked for.

1. Emma claimed that we had a physical altercation on the night of her birthday because she could not get a tv program that we were trying to watch on the computer to come on. There was one night that Emma couldn’t get the show to come on, but it was not on her birthday.  It might have been the Tuesday after her birthday.  She was doing it though a web site, and it didn’t work.  I told her to wait until Daddy got home because he would be able to figure it out.

1. see note #6

1. Emma told Dr. Born that I hit her with a pot, but told  DFACS told me that she claimed I hit her with the handle of a pot.  She also claimed I kicked her foot into a corner of a cabinet to cause the injury to her toes, and Emma’s therapist, Suzie McGarvey pointed out that if I had kicked her like she said, she should have had a bruise to the inside of her ankle or foot.

1. Emma’s grandmother is in a home in Social Circle, Ga.  This past summer was not the first time Emma had seen her.  She saw her twice as a baby.  Emma has photos of herself with her grandmother.  Her grandmother was never interested in spending time with Emma.

1. Emma claimed to be frightened of her mother for several years, but Phill told me that she became frightened of me after she claimed I started abusing her which said said was when she quit throwing up in December.  We had always been very close.  Emma frequently want to sit, snuggle, and talk “girl talk” and did not want her dad in on our conversations.  Emma frequently told me things and asked me not to tell Phill.  Most of the time, these things were harmless, and I never verified the stories she told me because I thought there was no reason to,but I later found out she’d told me many lies about other kids she knew from school that were not true.

1. Dr. Born did not talk to me alone.  He only asked me about our family history and Emma’s health history.  He did not verify what Emma had told him, nor did he talk to my husband and I about problems we’ve had with her over the years.  He did not get Emma’s medical history, nor her history from Peachford Hospital.  I specifically put a note in the papers I filled out for Dr. Born, requesting that if he wanted to talk to me, to do so privately because Emma gets angry if I talk about her.  Emma became very angry when she found out Phill and I had gone to talk to her therapist without her.  I explained that we were trying to work on things as parents and needed to talk to Suzie about how to help our family.  Emma accused me of going there to say “horrible” things about her.

1. Emma went to JCCHS in 9^th grade.

1. Emma was the interim organist, along with another high schooler for about 6 weeks in 2010 at St. Mary and St. Martha’s in Brasleton.  Also, she’s had 3 piano teachers,  not 5, and started taking lessons in kindergarten or first grade, not in preschool.

1.  Emma became very socially isolated after she told us about the molestation and did not want to do things with other kids, quit the youth group, etc.  Before she told us about the molestation, she was very active in church, the youth group secretary, atteneded church Wednesday nights, in a choir, and a neighborhood bible study group.   Emma may have wanted to leave the church over a boy that she liked who had quit paying attention to her.  Also, her grades in Physics and Spanish, the two classes she hated, were poor when she told us about the molestation.  She spent a lot of time on the computer, chatting with other kids, and not doing her work.  She may have made up the molestation to take the focus off her grades because it was always important to her to make good grades and be known as a smart girl.

In 2009, Emma turned on her dad, telling me he called her a “bitch” and a “slut” every single day.  She told me that she didn’t like her dad, etc.  She was rude and belligerent towards him, and made a point of hugging me and smiling as if she were trying to show she loved me and not him.  She and I had many arguments over the way she treated her dad, and I told her I would not listen to her saying these things that weren’t true.  I tried to discuss with her what a good person her dad was and how he took care of us, supported us so that I could stay home with her, etc.

In  March of 2010, Emma told us she was molested.  She would tell me one thing when Phill wasn’t around, and then tell him another.  She told me she wanted to see the man punished, and the church punished for how they did not handle her complaint, etc., which resulted in us finding an attorney.

In Dec., our attorney had just e-mailed me that he was going to be filing the lawsuit against the church and this man, but I waited to tell him Emma that the suit was to be filed.  A week after I told Emma, she had someone call DFACS on me to claim I was physically abusing her.  I believe she wanted to stop the lawsuit because the molestation never happened.  Now, instead of being a victim of molestation, she could be a victim of child abuse.

Other Stories:

Emma hated public school.  She did enjoy being smarter than most of her classmates, but never seemed to make any friends.  She attended Jackson County Comprehensive High School in 9th grade, and we would have had her finish high school there, but during the 2nd semester, Emma spent a lot of time throwing up, and we pulled her out of school, trying to get her medical (perhaps more psychological?) problems taken care of.  We let Emma do on-line school for 10th grade, but I believe this was a mistake.  Emma became too isolated, and quit outside activities, so for 10th grade, we decided to put her back in public school.  She had made JCCHS sound so horrible with all the stories of drugs and sex, and we had heard that Jefferson City High School was a better school, so we put Emma there, but she hated it just as much, and told numerous stories about her classmates and teachers.  When I would pick her up for school, if it was a nice day, I had the windows down because I would have to sit and wait.  When Emma got in the car, she would slouch down, trying not to be seen, and wouldn’t speak until we got away from the school.  She claimed she didn’t want the “Creepers” to hear her.

Emma greatly exaggerated stories of drug use and pregnancy and JCCHS and Jefferson High School. Just after starting at JCCHS, she told us that her friends in the neighborhood talked about drug parties where kids took whatever they could get from their parents medicine cabinets and threw everything into a bowl and then just grabbed pills and took them. I later realized this was a story she read in Reader’s Digest (which we subscribed to) and when I looked up the article, it was the same month Emma had told me that story. 

Emma attended Jefferson High School, Jefferson Ga. for 11th grade in 2010-2011

From the start of School, Emma hated her English teacher.  Emma complained so much, and always portrayed herself as the victim, so I asked her to write down her complaints.  Because I spoke to the counselor, Heather Thompson, about Emma’s complaints.  She wanted Phill and I to go in and meet with the English teacher.  I did not tell Emma we were going to meet with her teacher, but I think if I had, Emma would not have wanted us to.  This poor teacher had no idea the counselor had called us in, and was shocked and totally off-guard when she was called to the office.  She thought Emma was a great student and really enjoyed having her in her class.  She had no idea there was a problem.  We did not address many of these complaints with the teacher.  We did ask for Emma’s English book to be exchanged for a current one, but I’ll leave it to the reader to guess if Emma even asked Ms. S. for another book or did she not mention it to her teacher, so she could have something to complain about?  Below are Emma’s complaints about her English teacher:

Friday, August 13^th

On our idioms quiz today, Ms. S. took 10 points off my grade because I used pencil to write my answers.  I missed the first week of class and this was my first test, so I felt this wasn’t a fair deduction.  I spoke to her after class to ask her if, since I had not been informed of her policies, I might get half-credit back for using the pencil.  She told me I was supposed to copy someone’s notes (which I did on Monday, though they did not mention pencils and pens) and that this was how a regular English classroom worked.  I explained to her that, having spent most of my high school career online, I did not know how a regular English classroom worked.  She replied that she would under no circumstances reconsider the grade, but she would take five additional points off for my “disputing her decision.”

I asked her both at the open house and on the first day for any material I may have missed, and she did not explain her policies or give me any hand outs besides the idioms list and syllabus.

Monday, August 16^th

Ms. S. made a point of telling me that another student had dropped her honors class for a class he was “better suited for” and suggested that I might consider the same.  I told her I was just fine in the honors class, thank you.  She also acts like I’m buying time by asking her to repeat questions, despite my pointing out several times that it’s difficult to hear her because she assigned me the seat farthest back and closest to the noisy air conditioning unit.  She asked me if I had “read the material at all” despite the fact that I gave sufficient answers to her questions, once I heard them.

Wednesday, August 18^th

Today Ms. S. mentioned the vocabulary quiz on Friday.  I didn’t know what she was talking about, so I asked other students.  They said she gave vocabulary words on the first day of school, and we would be quizzed over those.  I was never given these, although I asked her to give me any hand-outs I missed both at orientation and on my first day of school.  So I had only two days to learn 60 vocabulary words in time to prepare for the quiz.

Friday, August 27^th

Our working bibliographies for our term papers were due today.  I brought my bibliography, done in MLA format because that is the format all my English teachers have required me to write papers with.  Ms. S. announced that on Monday, we would be checking each other’s Works Cited sheets according to the guide in our Writer’s Inc. books.  I saw several of my classmates pull out this book, which I had never seen before.  I told Ms. S. that I did not have this book, and she issued me one.  However, I had to re-do my bibliography because she hadn’t told me to do it by the guide in Writer’s Inc.

Monday, August 30^th

Today I saw Savannah reading Gone with the Wind and asked what class she was reading it for.  She explained that we were supposed begin reading it at the start of the school year and that we would have a test on September 16^th, which is now only two weeks away.  Ms. S. never mentioned this to me.

Also, today I discovered that she issued me the oldest edition of Writer’s Inc., despite having several newer editions available for student use.  It is confusing in class, because the pages she cites are in the new editions and mine are different because the book had not been revised yet.  I also discovered that the book doesn’t address how to cite web sources, because it was printed before web sources became common.  Annsley, who sits in front of me, had the newer edition and it explains how to cite web sources.  When I asked Ms. Schwartz about this, she said that if it had been a problem I should have told her when she issued me the book.  She did not allow me to exchange my book.