TEXARKANA -- A woman who admitted to sexually abusing a teenage boy while acting as a youth leader at a Texarkana church showed no emotion Monday as the family of her victim spoke at a court hearing in Miller County.
Victoria Rose Nash, 29, entered a guilty plea to a single count of sexual assault of a child by a person in a position of authority. As part of a plea bargain before Circuit Judge Carlton Jones at the Miller County courthouse, Nash received a 10-year term of probation, must register as a sex offender and pay a $1,000 fine.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Connie Mitchell told Jones that the plea arrangement was made in consultation and with the approval of the victim, his older sister and his parents.
After Connie Mitchell and Managing Public Defender Jason Mitchell, who are not related, reviewed the specifics of Nash's plea, the victim told the court that he wished to let his family describe how his life has changed since the abuse started 3 ½ years ago.
"You were my best friend, my sister and like family, and then you raped my little brother. Your children are going to grow up with a rapist for a mother," the victim's older sister said as her mother stood behind her, holding her in support.
The victim's sister recalled how she spent countless hours at Nash's home, visiting and baby-sitting Nash's children, before her brother told their parents Nash was abusing him.
"She can change the color of her hair, put on glasses and go somewhere nobody knows who she is, but we'll always have to live with this," the victim's father said of Nash. "I don't know how long it will take for him to go from victim to survivor."
The victim's father lamented that his son has not been able to enjoy his last years of high school as most teens do and that his daughter's college education has been derailed because of her concern for her brother.
The boy's father said his son was motivated to come forward in part because he noticed Nash was texting another child in the youth group and feared she was grooming another victim. According to the affidavit, Nash used text messaging to initiate a sexual relationship with the youth she pleaded guilty to abusing.
After the family's testimony, Jones asked Nash if she had anything to say. She said "no."
Metro on 08/28/2015