For more than two hours Tuesday afternoon, former First United Methodist Church Daycare co-lead Audra Humphries White testified in Christian County Circuit Court — revealing intricate details on how she and other co-workers navigated the reporting of child abuse, while under the leadership of former Pastor Paige Williams, Director Abby Leach and workers Allison Simpson and Nina Morgan.
White pointed out to Special Prosecutor Blake Chambers that, while employed at FUMC from March 2017 and January 2019, there was a clear “chain of command” listed and posted at multiple locations inside the facility.
Working in a room next to the now-convicted Simpson, White said she always seemed to hear “excessive crying and loud patting,” and a “crib about to come through the wall.”
Following her training at Henderson Community College, White asserted she and co-workers called state authorities — only to be mostly rebuffed because she and other staffers didn’t have the full name of the child in question.
Worried she “wouldn’t be heard,” White testified she tried to take her issues to Leach — only to be, in her words, “blown off” of the ordeal.
White said she then turned to a “jack-of-all-trades” in Johnny Schafer, to perhaps learn the child’s identification through video recordings at the daycare.
A later meeting with Williams, Leach, Schafer and others, White said, didn’t go well.
Soon after, Special Judge Brian Wiggins had to announce to the jury that both the defense and prosecution “did their best” to retrieve these calls from centralized intake, but that White’s and others’ contact with state authorities was irretrievable.
Williams’ Attorney Bill Deatherage, however, countered that White potentially didn’t “go far enough” in her abuse complaints — pointing out the fact that White, on the day of her hire, signed a letter of confidentiality with FUMC, and also was allowed to go to both local and regional police authorities with abuse.
White repeatedly stated she followed her CDA training code book — which pointed to a hotline number.
Deatherage also pointed out that White “broke confidentiality” by speaking with Cynthia Loftus of the Daycare Committee at an August 4, 2018 wedding. White said that she was taking a concern to the “top of chain of command,” and had alerted her of incidents because they somewhat pertained to Loftus’ child.
Leach’s defender, David Bundrick, asked White to review her 90-plus minutes of testimony to Hopkinsville Police Detective Mike Luckingham — and then asked: “Why didn’t you tell the detective about more incidents in your first report?”
Earlier in the afternoon, Katie Hanning also testified to Simpson’s treatment of her son. Much like Laura Faulkner did earlier Tuesday morning, Hanning pointed out Simpson in a video to the jury — showing Simpson “aggressively” grab her child.
Hanning noted that she attended a January 28, 2019 meeting that was called to discuss the future of the daycare facility, and that she had no prior knowledge to its contents. Deatherage asked Hanning if she knew the daycare would be closing, and Hanning said the biggest concern came from the well-being of children, and if parents had somewhere else to take their children.
Deatherage asserted this meeting “got a little rowdy,” and also pointed to the jury that Hanning is currently part of a civil lawsuit filed in this matter — one that seeks punitive damages. Deatherage queried whether Hanning’s child needed medical attention at the time following Simpson’s roughing. Hanning said a regularly-scheduled check-up revealed nothing of note.
As of 4:15 PM, Casey Castile was on the stand — confirming the presence of her child in more than 10 videos, spanning from December 2018 and January 2019, in which Simpson maintained what appeared to be an aggressive, overtly physical nature.
Following Castile: Attorney James Adams, father of one of the eight children formerly at the FUMC Daycare. And following Adams: Hayla Swaw.
The jury was dismissed at 6 PM. The trial will resume at 8:30 AM Wednesday, with the Commonwealth still on the clock.
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