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Published Wednesday, February 15, 2012 in Local

Ex-Teacher Asst.: Parents stunned, realizing woman no stranger

By Alex McRae

The Newnan Times-Herald

The young boy's parents were stunned when they realized that the woman who had preyed on their son was not a stranger.

On Monday, former Coweta County teacher assistant Shannon Schmieder was sentenced to serve 20 years in prison and 20 years on probation after pleading guilty to molesting a 14-year-old Coweta boy.

"She was a close family friend," the victim's mother said. "We had gone to the same church together for 10 years. Our children were friends. Our families were friends. We did everything together. It's impossible to describe how we felt to find out this was going on."

The victim's mother said she initially suspected something was wrong when she noticed a change in the relationship between her then 13-year-old son and Schmieder.

"She started acting less like a parental figure and more like a friend to our son," the mother said. "It just didn't feel right."

She asked her friends if they had noticed anything suspicious between Schmieder and her son. All said no. She asked her mother, who advised her to go through the boy's computer and search for information there.

The mother and father opened their young son's Facebook page. The mother said "Never in a million years did I think I would find what I thought was evidence of inappropriate behavior between them. But there it was."

The Facebook texts were not explicitly sexual in nature, but hinted at an intimate relationship.

"They were totally wrong coming from an adult mother figure to a minor boy," the mother said.

The boy's parents took the computer to law enforcement authorities, showed them the messages and voiced their suspicions. A forensic search of the computer uncovered messages that Schmieder and the young boy believed they had successfully deleted.

Those messages showed that a sexual relationship had indeed begun.

"We couldn't believe it," the boy's mother said. "This wasn't a stranger. It was a close friend doing this. I want to tell all the parents out there to be aware of people you think you love and trust, they can be sex offenders as well. We have learned that sex offenders are usually someone you know and trust."

The last computer messages, which extended for a period of several months, indicated the young victim had said over and over "he wanted it to stop," the mother said.

"I want to tell parents out there not to wait," the boy's mother said. "If you suspect something is wrong, ask your child about it."

The boy's father said, "Open your eyes to your child's behavior. We learned the hard way your children shouldn't be hiding anything from you."

After investigators recovered the messages that clearly showed a sexual relationship had taken place, Schmieder was brought in for questioning and was eventually arrested and charged in late April 2011.

By then, the victim was 14.

The young victim, his parents and four brothers have started the process of putting their lives back together. They said they could not have done so without the overwhelming love and support of family, friends and most of all, members of their church.

"Our church family was wonderful through all of this," said boy's mother. "The pastor reached out to us personally, the youth minister has offered special counseling to all our sons and the whole congregation has offered their love and support and prayers and we can't say how much it has meant to us."

The parents also want people to know how important it is to talk to their children about the dangers they face.

"It's not always just about sex," the mother said. "You have to talk to children about sex, but it's just as important to talk to them about inappropriate behavior and what to do if they suspect someone is asking them to do something they think might be wrong."

"My son trusted her," the mother said. "He had grown up around her. And she took control and kept saying it was all right, that nothing they did was wrong. That's the way adults control kids, especially kids that trust them. But in the end my son knew it was wrong. And when he was trying to get it to stop, you know what he said he was most worried about? That her next victim would be his 11-year-old brother."

The parents say the verdict and prison sentence has given them closure, but the healing process is far from over.

"It's been a terrible year for us," the mother said. "We want to thank the authorities, the victim's advocates, our friends, family and especially church members for working so hard to help us. We couldn't have made it without them."

The young boy's mother and father realize that their family members are not the only ones that have suffered.

"We know it's been terrible for her (Schmieder's) family, too," the boy's father said. "We hope and pray they will get through this."

The boy's mother plans to get more involved with education and awareness of child molestation, a problem that occurs in every community in America. She said one of the most important steps a parent can take is to let their child know early on that it's always OK to talk if they are molested, or even if they just feel uncomfortable.

The most important things are encouraging a child to speak out and letting them know it's all right, said the boy's father. "As hard as it is on the victim, the hardest thing for them to do sometimes is to speak out."

And if parents have questions about something, they shouldn't hesitate. "Take your suspicions to the police," the mother said.