I wasn’t shocked when my phone rang early this morning. It was my sister calling to say that Megan Williams, the 20 year old victim of torture, whose tragedy I devoted over one year of my life to, was now recanting her story and saying it all was a lie. Is it a lie? This is my personal experience with Megan Williams.
I created a web page at my website (nessapublishing) to Megan’s story when the incident first occurred back in September 2007. For 14 months I wrote something about the case on a daily basis. That filtered here to WordPress where the world logged on, read and many left comments for Megan. My Megan Willaims coverage from WordPress, Nessapublishing, a video I created and posts on YouTube received over 100,000 views.
After the last sentence was handed down in the case, I felt it was time to put the story to rest. It was time for Megan Williams to move on with her life, hopefully in peace.
In June of this year, I began receiving posts, here on WordPress from someone who was claiming to be Megan Williams. Many of the posts I deleted because they had a telephone number attached and I thought, “Why would someone post a phone number so publicly?” The posts included ugly references about Carmen Williams, stating that Carmen smoked crack and that Megan never received any of the money that was collected for her. She wrote that Carmen made her sell her body. She stated she never received the computer that Montel Williams gave her. She stated that Matthew Williams knew the truth and she was trying to find someone to get her story out. She stated something about when the cameras were turned off, everyone left.
My first reponse was, why not take the story to the press? If everything she was claiming was true, I felt this was something the press would “eat up!”
When I emailed Megan I told her, “the things you’re saying about Carmen Williams…..she is not here to defend herself.” I told her I didn’t feel comfortable telling her story. They wanted me to “get the word out” that Megan had been wronged. It was also at that time that she said she was not raped or tortured. This is why I felt the whole thing was a sick joke and it was NOT really Megan Williams.
The last email I received from Megan Williams was July 2009. When I chose not to reply, the emails stopped.
FAST FORWARD
Is Megan Williams lieing about what happened to her? Perhaps she is. There were many holes in the story from the beginning. Did Carmen Williams put her up to it? It’s possible, but we’ll never know. Carmen Williams died in May 2009.
I’d have to sift back through all my notes, posts, etc., but I do recall making the statement “When the cameras go away, Megan is going to have a very hard time with all of this.” That my friends is what I believe all of this is about. The reason I say she didn’t lie is because THERE WERE CONFESSIONS given by Bobby Brewster and his dysfunctional family. This case rocked the world. We were outraged that something so horrendous could happen to someone. But as you’ll read in most of the news accounts of Megan recanting her story, the authorities don’t believe her. I definitely don’t believe her!
Megan is emotionally unstable, mentally challenged and seeking attention! When you look at all the facts of this case, Megan being in the spotlight was probably her biggest triumph in life. After years of being in the foster care system, someone was finally paying attention to her. It made her feel good about herself, whether she was lieing or not. When that was taken away she desperately wanted it back. It’s not rocket science people! Do I regret covering her story and spending 14 months on it? Absolutely not. We need to pray for Megan Williams more now than ever.
Megan may not have been tortured to the extent, we thought she was, but Megan Williams does have a tortured soul. The true question: Is it really her fault?
Many people followed and blogged about this case. FaceBook had a page dedicated to Megan, as well as several bloggers right here on WordPress. I’ll say it again, continue to pray for Megan. I have more to say on this I’m certain. Right now…. I just need to soak all of this up. Wow!
YOUR THOUGHTS ARE APPRECIATED!
8 Comments
October 23, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Straight from Gary Harki a staff writer for the West Virginia Gazette who
covered this story as much as I did, if not more.
http://wvgazette.com/News/200910221024
October 23, 2009 at 7:08 pm
This “new” outcome saddens me. I work with the mentally ill and beleive with her mother dieing 6 months ago has increased her PTSD symptoms. I also, beleive that she feels by changing her story people will view her differently. She needs to get some outside care and adequate housing arrangements to decrease her mental illness. I wonder who is going to be her support system now. And lets not forget, for those who actually think Ms. Williams is indeed lying that evidence was the determining factor (i.e. rape kit, physical abuse, x-ray, stomach content of fecal matter and etc).
October 24, 2009 at 7:01 am
So what you are saying, P, is that you DO think she was telling the truth the first time around and now is recanting to bring attention back to herself? Very interesting. We were discussing this on a local a.m. talk radio show and couldn’t figure out how she could recant when her abusers admitted to it… I must say, your theory would explain that. I feel sorry for this child. But I also wonder about all of us in the world of internet, blogging, twitter and fn. We all are the stars of our own Truman Shows… many of us with an audience that hands on to our every word. Balloon Boy is the most recent example of our insatiable appetites for notoriety. Can we all fall prey to this ‘look at me’ phenomenon on some level or another?
October 24, 2009 at 7:03 am
a couple of typos… but hope you understood what i meant. fn should be fb (facebook) and hands should be hangs.
October 24, 2009 at 8:53 am
Miss Phyllis, OMG! I remember my post during the summer when I thought it actually was Megan Williams who had posted on your blog. I heard about it on the news and I had to log on and see if you had heard. I followed this case closely (thanks to you) and I recall that part of the investigation evidence was the knife that was used to stab Megan in her leg as well as a gun. Poor Megan. This young woman is more challenged than I thought. The press is reporting that the woman who is now her caregiver is the one who is influencing her to recant her story attempting to obtain money. How much more does Megan have to endure? The world was angry that the press chose not to cover this story and perhaps this is why.
I applaud you Phyllis because you were on top of this story and you kept the world informed and connected to Megan. You showed compassion and love for this troubled young woman. God will bless you and your efforts. You’re right. We do need to pray for Megan.
October 24, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Latika, you’re right. Megan definitelycould benefit from some serious psychaitric care and perhaps medication. Perhaps Mr. Potts will have some luck in having her evaluated.
Teowonna: YES, that’s exactly what I’m saying. From the onset it was reported that Megan was slow, mentally challenged, ADD, whatever labels they’re using these days, she had them all. The facts are that she has been in and out of foster care her entire life. Hell, when this case original broke Carmen Williams, her FOSTER mother stated to the press that she had not been home for days. Eyebrows were raised at that comment and everyone, including myself made the comment, “How can you not know where your child is.” Then Carmen made the revelation that Megan is known to wander away from home for days at a time.
I digress!
Remember the movie, “Malcolm-X?” Elijah Mohammed told Malcom-X after he was gaining juice (and I’m paraphrasing here) “Watch those cameras. Cameras can become a drug.” It was a memorable line, but my point is; the same thing happened to Megan Williams. Megan Williams was in love with Bobby Brewster. Megan Williams was living with Bobby Brewster at that trailer prior to the torture she endured. Bobby Brewster beat her up and she had him arrested. All of this was documented in the police report. The exact wording was ‘domestic abuse.’ Duh.com! You can’t charge someone with domestic abuse unless you’re being domestic with them.
To get back to the point – once Megan was captured and the world slowly found out all that she endured, we did what caring human beings do, we felt compassion for her. Bank accounts were set-up, rallies were held. She went on the Montel Williams’ show. She became an overnight sensation. When the cameras went away she became Megan again. It’s what happens to child stars if they aren’t grounded. Look at Gary Coleman. As long as he was playing the character ‘what u talkin bout’ Willis, he was at the top of his game. When the show died out, so did he and his parents had spent all his money. Unfortunately, it appears that’s exactly what happened to Megan. Carmen Williams spent her money. She moved to Ohio to live with a new foster mother and now she’s reaching out trying to get her 15 minutes of fame back. It’s obvious that from a mental standpoint she needs help. Attention is attention and people will go to great lengths to get it when they feel desperation. It’s real sad. They need to put her on suicide watch!
Sondra: Nothing will stop me from caring. I worked in the legal system for 18 years. Evidence and signed confessions convict people. Megan had surgery to repair tears (I believe rectally) from those basturds taking a cedar stick and raping her with it. Alisha Burton admitted to cutting her hair off. They retrieved the knife and the gun that was held to her head as she was forced to perform oral sex on Frankie Brewster.
Megan Williams has been mistreated by many people throughout her life. I pray she gets the help she needs. The real sad part is that she is 21, or close to 22 now. She needs an advocate.
This is the last email I received from Megan Williams:
October 24, 2009 at 1:03 pm
This story was published Friday, October 23, 2009
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A woman imprisoned for her role in the 2007 kidnapping and torture of a black woman by seven white men and women said Friday the victim wasn’t telling the truth when she denied this week that the attack occurred.
Frankie Brewster told WCHS-TV in Charleston that multiple crimes were committed against Megan Williams during the attack in West Virginia’s rural Logan County, about 50 miles south of Charleston.
An attorney representing Williams said Wednesday that she is now recanting statements incriminating Brewster, her son Bobby and five others. All seven pleaded guilty and six are serving lengthy prison terms.
Brian Abraham, the Logan County prosecutor in 2007, also has dismissed Williams’ new story, saying the convictions were based on the defendants’ own statements and physical evidence rather than what Williams said.Williams originally said her captors, including boyfriend Bobby Brewster, beat her, raped her, forced her to drink urine and eat feces, poured hot wax on her and taunted her with racial slurs in a trailer in Logan County. Williams was rescued after a passer-by heard cries from the shed where she was kept and an anonymous caller tipped off sheriff’s deputies.
Brewster is rejecting Williams’ new version of events.
“It did happen,” Brewster said during the interview at the Lakin Correctional Center, where she is serving 10 to 25 years. “All of us participated.”
Brewster denied that race or Williams’ relationship with her son started the series of crimes. Rather, she blamed a co-defendant who accused Williams of stealing.
While Brewster would not detail her own actions, she acknowledged having improper contact with Williams. Brewster pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual assault in the case.
Brewster also said that race wasn’t a factor and she said some of the crimes did not occur at her trailer home.
“I just want the truth out and for people to take responsibility for what they did,” Brewster said.
The Associated Press has asked, through prison officials and lawyers, to speak with all six prisoners. So far, only Bobby Brewster has said, through prison officials, that he will not give interviews.
November 8, 2009 at 11:52 am
Thanks for article. Everytime like to read you.