Advocate speaks out after mother, boyfriend charged in alleged abuse of 7 children

A mother and her boyfriend face multiple charges after allegedly beating seven children.

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As shown on Information Center 7 to 11:00 a.m.Stephanas Golden, 40, and Heather Pippen, 35, were indicted Friday by a Montgomery County grand jury.

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Golden faces seven counts of child endangerment, two counts of strangulation and resisting arrest.

Pippen faces two counts of child endangerment, one count of strangulation and one count of obstructing official business.

Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck said they hid the abuse for so long because the children were home-schooled.

The alleged abuse occurred at a home on Wroe Avenue.

Pippen is the mother of five children and aunt of the other two children. Golden is Pippen’s boyfriend and is not the father of either of them.

Investigators and other family members believe the abuse went on for years.

News Center 7’s Malik Patterson spoke to Shondale Atkinson on behalf of Justin Holt.

Holt is the biological father of five of these children.

Last month, a 15-year-old girl recorded the abuse.

The video circulated on social media and caught the attention of investigators.

On Friday, Atkinson said she spoke about the video with the teen and her father.

Atkinson shared part of her conversation with the teen.

“I need to start taking photos and capturing the abuse as it’s happening in real time, so I can let my father know what’s happening,” the girl told Atkinson.

Atkinson said she was very proud of her courage.

She said the children know how much attention this case has received.

“She (a 15-year-old girl) wanted to let the community know that she was grateful. She saw the news reports and she saw the donations that the community flooded this family with,” Atkinson said.

For Holt and the rest of the family, this investigation has been very difficult to deal with.

“There’s this heartbreak in there, you know, I want to know that there was this level of abuse that was happening,” Atkinson said. “They’re very happy that the system is investigating and, you know, bringing new charges.”

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Friday afternoon, prosecutor Mat Heck spoke about the video that propelled the investigation.

“When you see what’s on that video, he can’t believe it, it’s unimaginable,” he said.

News Center 7 has decided not to air the video or broadcast the audio because it is too graphic.

“I think it’s clear, they were abused to the point of torture,” Heck said.

If the abuse had continued, Heck believes one of the children could have died.

“When you see how much the situation has accelerated, how much worse the situation has gotten all the time, I don’t think there’s any doubt at all,” Heck said.

Atkinson explained how the family plans to help the children.

“Introduce therapeutic services. We want them to go to camp. We want them to be able to participate in different activities after school programs. We want them to go back to school,” she said.

Golden and Pippen remain incarcerated in the Montgomery County Jail on $500,000 bail.

We will continue to follow this story.

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