Hey all! I haven’t been around in a while, but I recently came across this story and wanted to share here.

Melody Bannister is currently in the news and is wanted by police for taking her children:

https://www.wsbtv.com/news/trending/virginia-mom-4-children-sought-after-she-abducted-them-amid-claims-sex-abuse/CH7MBV2VJBFKDCXOGQWFQKZN5Q/?outputType=amp

Melody claims that she fled with her children because they were being sexually abused by their father, their grandfather, and a network of other pedophiles. The children’s claims include ritualistic abuse and are quite horrific. Melody details her children’s claims and a website link below:

https://millstonesofjustice.wordpress.com/

On her linked website, Melody lists the alleged perpetrator‘s and provides a lot of information. She has psychiatrists corroborating the claims of abuse. However, she is still wanted my police and there is no indication that the alleged perpetrators are being investigated.

Hopefully some of y’all can help.

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There’s also a change.org petition that has been gaining traction the last few days that is calling for support for Melody and the children:

https://www.change.org/p/save-the-bannister-children-from-sex-trafficking

Quotes from the petition:

"What does a mother do, when she discovers that the most unimaginable nightmares have occurred, repeatedly, to her little ones at the hands of the men who should have been the most protective in their lives: their father, grandfather, pastor, church members, and neighbors?

"What does she do after the local justice system utterly fails them?

"She takes her children and runs for their lives."

Melody Bannister has been living on the run with her four children for six months as of December 2019. They allege that her husband, William Joseph Bannister, conspired with her father-in-law to perpetuate some of the most horrifying sexual and physical abuse imaginable upon her children. When local law enforcement failed to protect these children, ordering them back to live with their credibly accused abuser, Melody chose to live on the wrong side of the law. What else could a truly desperate mother do?

"We left home with barely a week’s worth of summer clothes and are practically penniless, living off the kindness of friends, who one by one have taken us under their wings."

The Bannister family escaped from Virginia to Alabama only to have Judge Pamela Wilson Cousins defer to the Virginia ruling. Melody is now appealing their case on both the state and federal levels. As she notes in her public statement, "The mental health and credibility of my children and me have been assessed and verified by two of the most prestigious forensic psychiatrists in the country: Dr. Michael Stone and Dr. Carole Lieberman. ...Naturally, the abusers did not take kindly to such a development, and are seeking to have the reports stricken from the record. ...Hence our position of living underground."

You can find the full story of the trauma Melody and her children have faced here: http://millstonesofjustice.wordpress.com/millstones-of-justice

At this point, Melody Bannister's best hope is that true justice will be found for her family: the legal system must stand up to protect her children, and it must pursue criminal action against those they have credibly accused. Will you join your voice to the throng of people appealing for justice on behalf of the Bannister children?

No mother should be forced to protect her babies from the system designed to rescue them.

No child should be forced to live with a parent who has come under any legitimate suspicion of child abuse--especially when the alleged abuse is so severe!

No family should become so desperate that they leave everything they know and love in order to preserve their most basic physical safety.”