Earlier Days

Children are Being Victimized

There are a disturbing amount of children who are being victimized. We see it often on the news. This prompted me to attend a 40-hour advocacy training to learn more about sexual abuse, child sexual abuse, and other social issues. The training was provided by Sexual Assault Services (S.A.S.) of Calhoun County. 


When I first saw the news on WWMT, I was shocked. Michael Terpening, owner of Earth Services was arrested for multiple sexual crimes against youth placed in his care. He adopted my friend's five children.


I shared the story on Facebook, with a comment about why the state is taking kids from not-so-good homes and putting them into worse homes. A friend of mine contacted me and told me she has known him for a long time, and it was impossible that he could have committed these crimes. I didn't necessarily buy it, but I know the constitution says, "innocent until proven guilty."


Another experience I previously had with Michael was in regards to my dog, Lucky. A domestic dispute caused me to be between apartments for a couple months. Michael arranged foster care for my dog and did not charge me adoption fees to get him back. I was grateful to him for this, as I still have that dog.


Every week, I checked the news to see what was happening with Terpening's case. 

Victim Recants Story

Then, one day, I saw one of the victims on the news telling the reporter that he had lied to get out of the facility. I did not know what to think. At first, I figured something Terpening did instigated all these charges because the story would not be all over the news the way it was. But now, the victim was recanting?

The story had just begun...