To Walk Where Ashley Was and to Stand Where Ashley Is

At the conclusion of this year I will stop writing this blog. I will also radically reduce any posting on social media and will be posting just enough to advise of events coming up in our program.

My life will be taking a new and important turn over at least the next year.  My youngest daughter, Ashley Edwards, and I will be writing a book together. She has already begun writing and the first piece that she sent me was breath taking in the quality of the writing and the horror of what she described.

Ashley is unique--brilliant, multi talented ,filled with insight, and the survivor of the most horrible case that I ever prosecuted. Unfortunately, Ashley's story is not unique. I have been prosecuting crimes against kids and sexual assault cases for over twenty years. Unfortunately, my story is not unique.

But our story together is unique and it can be of unique benefit to survivors of sexual assault, their family members, law enforcement, prosecutors, social workers, and everyone who works with or cares about a person who has been through severe trauma. At the end of this post I will set out links to two news paper and TV news stories about Ashley for anyone who does not know about my amazing young daughter.

My first book was written at break neck speed. I was working furiously to try to have it written so that my mother could read it before she died. This book will not be written at a break neck speed. Ashley has already found that she can write best only small parts at a time. I am going to take my time shaping this work in the hope that it will help bring life to some who may have already felt what it is like to die inside.

Along the way I will have to learn a great deal about presenting our experience in the most effective way to reach the most people. Being an adult is an exercise in setting priorities. What could possibly be a higher priority than using our experiences to help others claw their way out of Hell the way Ashley has?

So I will set many things, like writing of this blog aside.

Here are links to some media stories about my daughter Ashley:

https://pilotonline.com/news/local/they-met-as-prosecutor-and-witness-now-they-re-father/article_5dc49d80-82b2-5cff-827b-daa06bbb07bd.html

https://wtkr.com/2015/11/24/victim-of-abuse-adopted-by-prosecutor-now-taking-action-to-help-others/