#StandWithSophie: Texas girl pleading over sexual abuse by mom's boyfriend in viral video now at 'safe location'
FRISCO, TEXAS: A nine-year-old girl, whose plea to be saved from sexual abuse at the hands of her mother's boyfriend had gone viral, is reportedly at a "safe location" now, according to police. The video also sparked an online campaign earlier this week called #StandWithSophie to help the child find justice.
The girl, identified as Sophie, in a video posted on a GoFundMe page, could be heard pleading with adults in the video for help and refusing to get out her father's vehicle during a custody exchange. The child, through tears, asks why no one believes her and says that she does not want to go home with her mother and her mother's boyfriend. The girl can be heard screaming: "Help me, help me!"
After public outcry over the case, the Frisco Police Department released a statement on Twitter, stating that the little girl is now safe. “While the Frisco Police Department will not usually offer further comment on cases that are this sensitive in nature, we would like the public to know that the child in this case is safe and staying at a safe location," the department on Twitter wrote.
A GoFundMe page, set up by Sophie's stepmother Kourtney Chalmers, has claimed that the little girl has stated numerous times that she has been a victim of molestation, grooming, and domestic violence at her mother's home. "Sophie, 9 years old, has disclosed she has been continuously subjected to domestic violence, sexual grooming, and most recently molestation/rape in her primary residence. Her father is fighting for her life while her abusers pull every resource to get their hands back on her. The biological mother, according to Sophie, is a part of the sexual abuse and is encouraging it," the fundraiser stated.
Chalmers said that she and the girl's father had already spent thousands of dollars since June fighting for Sophie, but the ordeal has continued.
"We have been dealing with CPS, Law Enforcement, Lawyers, DFPS, Forensic interviews, and several doctors that are helping with Sophie's recent medical issues in her private areas and as a resolute of the assault by her mother and grandmother in this video," her stepmother wrote on the page. "She is desperate to be saved from that environment and we are desperate to help her. She states her life has been threatened by these people and she is afraid, but has brave heart and wants to help her brothers get away from the abuse too."
According to online records, the child's parents are currently in a custody battle in Collin County, Texas. Although it is not yet clear where Sophie currently is, according to Chalmers statement on GoFundMe, "the court is actually considering giving them back to her mother and the people who help her physically and mentally assault.”
Online court records state that the child’s parents are in a custody battle in Collin County, Texas. It is, however, unclear where the child is currently at.
While referring to the viral video showing Sophie detail her sexual assault, Chamers wrote on GoFundMe: "Please see minutes 14:40 through 16:30 in this video. She is begging the biological mom's mother (her grandmother) to listen and tells her what is happening to her. Her grandmother asks 'who's touching you' She says Mr. Jake and Mommy watches.... Mommy watches it happen.' Her grandmother asks 'Where does he touch you' Sophie says 'my Vivi.' Sophie goes on to talk about blood in her underwear and the fighting and how she is tired of all of it. The grandmother dismisses her completely and says that if she felt that bad about herself she couldn't have gotten the lead in the school play or done gymnastics. She does not say anything about them abusing her, but instead acts as if she never said it. Throughout the rest of this video her mother and grandmother attempt to drag her out of her father's vehicle and you can hear Sophie's many pleas to not go back to that place of torment for her young mind and body."
The Frisco police department has also urged people to stop spreading false information about the incident. Meanwhile, the GoFundMe page set up for Sophie has garnered $179,837, surpassing its $25,000 goal.