What's Worse Than HIDING Child Abuse?
Massive red flags at Grace Christian Academy...
Last night, our friend George Brewer was booked for harassment of Amy Curle, due to some messages he sent to Ms. Curle over Facebook Messenger.
I know. This is news to me too that the Fairview police department and Williamson County would take George in over a couple of angry messages because Ms. Curle never reported the abuse Grant or Gracie Solomon at home by the hands of their father Aaron.
As much as I don't advocate for folks to send off angry, hateful messages online, I also know that context is key.
In Tennessee, the failure to report child abuse is a misdemeanor that can warrant jail time. It's ironic that an angry alumnus of Grace Christian Academy would be arrested for harassment over these online messages when Amy Curle has never been punished for her failure to do her job.
Furthermore, I cannot begin to tell you how much George has already suffered by trying to speak out against abusers within this community. I know he desperately wants his full story told, and I very much want to be the one to help give it justice, however, we also know it isn't safe to get into the details.
We still have to consider retaliation like this, and even much worse.
Unfortunately, while George was released last night, he'll still need to go through the legal process of fighting the charges. Eric, over at Anglican Watch, has kindly set up a GoFundMe campaign to help with George's legal fees.
One of the most frustrating things about Grace Christian Academy is that it isn't ONLY about how much Grant and Gracie suffered. Hear me out.
If this was “only” about Grant and Gracie Solomon, we would have more than enough complaints to show that staff at GCA, including Ms. Curle, didn't do their jobs. The way GCA staff mistreated the Solomon children and added to their suffering is already far beyond the pale.
Even so, many OTHER students and alumni also say Grace Christian Academy is a real-life horror show.
One former student wrote at length on Reddit about their allegations against the school, and we'll address those below.
They described the root of the problems lying with Headmaster Robbie Mason and his cohorts who started the academy. All white men, by the way (aside from Sarah Berger, if we count her).
All white men remain on the board today.
More recently, GCA seems to be trying to distance themselves from Steve (and Sarah) Berger, but just two years ago, it was easy to find mention that Steve and Sarah helped found the church.
These days, the school mentions Steve more as a generouslandlord.
Regardless of who gets the credit for starting Grace Christian Academy, it's incredibly disturbing to read the accounts of abuse from former students and parents.
Recent comments on Freedomforgracie's Instagram page reflect deep frustration with Amy Curle and the school. I too would be angry if my child's school ignored abuse.
Let's take a look at that Reddit post.
This piece, I'm already aware of, and I've seen some of it firsthand. They absolutely do have staff and attendees who lash out at Gracie and anyone supporting her.
I do believe that the actions and teachings at Grace Chapel and Grace Christian Academy qualify as cult-like behavior, beyond a doubt. They tick off every box of Robert Jay Lifton's Criteria for Thought Reform.
What's especially frightening, however, is to hear a former student say some of the male teachers were molesting the kids. And that a male student assaulted another girl as well. These things don't often occur in a vacuum.
There's usually more abuse.
I don't know which teachers have been accused, but there is an enormous amount of fear for retaliation about addressing any form of abuse after everything Gracie and Grant endured, not to mention, George.
We already know that no one reported that Gracie was being abused, presumably because they, like Amy Curle, believe in “two sides to every story.”
Yet if they really believe in two sides, they'd still need to report it when a child says they're being sexually abused. It was never up to Robbie Mason, Rona Branson, or Amy Curle to decide that Gracie or any other GCA student was lying.
Regarding Mr. Mason, well, nothing really surprises me. He's the one who stuck up for Aaron after he forged a female staff member’s name to cash a check. Robbie claimed Aaron did nothing wrong because he was owed the money. Yeah, except that the bank called the school employee over the forgery.
If someone owes you money, that doesn't make forgery less of a crime. It leaves me wondering if Robbie didn't see it as a crime because the bank and school employee who complained were women?
This is supposed to be a Christian headmaster, but we've seen him bend the truth again and again. He forced an 11-year-old Gracie to get into the car with her rapist, refused to honor an order of protection against Aaron, and he's tried to remove YouTube videos that talk about the school's wrongdoings by crying copyright infringement.
When people make further remarks about Robbie Mason bragging to students that he met his wife when she was just a child and her was her coach—I AM NOT SURPRISED.
If anything, it makes sense.
Who refuses to report child abuse? Who refuses to take it seriously?
Often, those with even more to hide.
All of the above includes the sort of abuse I have experienced at multiple other supposedly Christian organizations.
All in all, what this person says happened at Grace Christian Academy goes hand-in-hand with the testimony of Gracie and other students. It also goes along with their own behavior.
The fact that we've got Amy Curle on tape saying that Aaron “is going to be around,” while knowing that made Gracie and her friends uncomfortable is horrifying. She treated the abuse as something Gracie needed to shut up about, with zero concern for the repercussions.
Remember—Amy Curle preferred these completely ridiculous and cringe conversations about sexual abuse over making the appropriate reports she was mandated to give.
What is going on at Grace Christian Academy?
Why wouldn’t school administrators care enough to take abuse seriously?
The most logical reason isn't that these staff members don't care.
It's that they're covering for even more abuse.
This is horrific. That school AND that church need to be shut down and burned to the ground. There needs to be an FBI investigation and all the teachers and clergy need to be prosecuted. None should ever be able to teach, preach or hold any position of responsibility ( kids or adults) ever again. Gracie and Angie deserve their day in court, so does Grant for that matter.
What you are doing here, exposing these hideous people, is SO IMPORTANT and you are doing such a terrific job. Keep at it Shannon!