‘Sons of Guns’ Reality Show Star Will Hayden Arrested for Rape of Daughter

[Hissyspit]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/08/27/gun-store-reality-show-star-will-hayden-arrested-for-rape-of-11-year-old-child

‘Sons of Guns’ reality show star Will Hayden arrested for rape of 11-year-old child

By David Ferguson
Wednesday, August 27, 2014 11:24 EDT

The star of the Discovery Channel’s reality show Sons of Guns was arrested Tuesday on charges of aggravated rape of his daughter.

According to FoxNews.com, the East Baton Rouge, Louisiana Sheriff’s Department confirmed that Hayden is accused of raping his 14-year-old daughter in a series of assaults that began with him taking her virginity at the age of 11.

TMZ reported that Hayden’s daughter is backing up the allegations, claiming that her father forced her to participate in oral and vaginal sex “almost daily” for the past three years.

When asked why she didn’t report the sexual assaults earlier, the girl said that she was afraid her father would hurt her.

“Don’t tell them nothing,” he reportedly told her, “because I’m all you’ve got.”

Sons of Guns is a five-season reality program that centers around Hayden’s business, Red Jacket Firearms, which sells, builds, designs and repairs guns. Red Jacket specializes in weapons fabrication and modification.

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[Orrex]

1. "When asked why she didn’t report the sexual assaults earlier..."

WTF?

[alsame]

2. Unbelievable. nt

[eShirl]

3. standard question when a sexual abuse survivor comes forward. n/t

[hifiguy]

9. Yeah, I suppose but it seems the answer

is reasonably obvious.

I hope this poor young woman gets the counseling she needs and that turd of a "father" goes to the big house for a good long time if he is convicted.

[Orrex]

10. The answer does indeed seem reasonably obvious, and...

The implication to the victim is "you wouldn't have been such a victim if you'd stepped up sooner."

In other words, every incident after the first one is the victim's fault.

[Chan790]

12. Yes, unfortunately.

I think the answer is fairly obvious when you look at how many victims never come forward at-all and how they're treated when they do.

I mean it's not an experience I share with her...but I can empathize: Imagine the worst thing ever perpetrated against you--now imagine that society feels it's appropriate to treat you like you're in any way responsible for it happening and looking down upon you for it, defending your attacker, questioning your honesty...I can keep going on, but that seems sufficient...then we have the audacity to wonder why most victims do not come forward at-all and why those that do, often do so only years later.



(It's only tangentially-related but this is why I support elimination of statute of limitations on violent crimes of a sexual nature such as molestation and rape. The increase in time loss or absence of evidence may make convictions and grand-jury indictments harder to obtain...but that is also true of murders and not an excuse to not prosecute when/where possible.)

[ScreamingMeemie]

5. That is what stuck out for me...

This poor kid.

[atreides1]

6. It's simple

Perhaps the revenue coming into that area from the business and the show were of more importance to the local government then the safety and well being of this little girl!


Or maybe the sheriff is a customer of her dad...

[get the red out]

16. I know, it is almost like asking

"Young woman, why didn't you get in a car and drive yourself to a police station and take your piggy bank and hire a lawyer when you were 11, hmmmmm?"

[Brickbat]

19. According to the original article, it's not clear she was asked that.

From the Fox article Real Story link to:

During an interview with detectives, the alleged victim said she did not report the sexual abuse because she was afraid Hayden would hurt her. The most recent abuse of the now-12-year-old girl occurred during July 2014, according to the documents.

Because RawStory is an aggregator that rewrites others' reporting and not an actual news source, we get this:

When asked why she didn’t report the sexual assaults earlier, the girl said that she was afraid her father would hurt her.

She may have been asked; she may have volunteered the information. RawStory made an assumption that may be correct, but if it doesn't have the documents, it's made an error.

ETA: It drives me up the wall that RawStory is considered a legitimate news source here. It's better to click through to the story, when it's written by actual reporters.

[Kber]

20. Better question:

How did a child only 14 years of age find the courage come forward?

How many 14 year olds know how to do their own laundry, let alone navigate the opaque and unfriendly territory of stopping their own abuse?

And, finally, what do we as a society need to do to support her and help her heal?

[rpannier]

38. They want to know specifically what he said so they can use it at his triel

either in questioning or at sentencing or both

[Tommy_Carcetti]

4. Well that's pretty disgusting if it's true. nt

[Liberal_in_LA]

17. plus 1000

[stevenleser]

7. .

[Blue_Tires]

8. Don't they run checks on people anymore before handing them a reality show?

In recent years reality stars have been exposed as racists, drunkards, druggies, wife-beaters, quick-buck fraudsters, conspiracy kooks, perverts, gun nutters, ignoramuses etc., and that's just from Sarah Palin's show

[diane in sf]

11. oh hell, it's free publicity when their stars little quirks get revealed

[TygrBright]

29. In other words "real people".... n/t

[NYC_SKP]

13. It would seem that an older daughter, Stephanie, tried to cover for him.

Which makes this even more tragic and sickening.

From an article from August 11:

“Will Hayden — the main gunsmith on the reality show “Sons of Guns” — was arrested in Louisiana and booked for child molestation,” tmz.com reports, “but he says the arrest is the result of a bitter ex-girlfriend’s false allegations. TMZ has learned Hayden was arrested on Saturday by East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s deputies — and according to the Sheriff’s website he is accused of molestation of a child and a crime against nature, an aggravated offense. According to the Sheriff’s website, Hayden was released Saturday after posting a $150,000 bond.” Hayden’s daughter released a statement on the arrest on her Facebook page . . .

This was a false allegation and unfortunately that’s all it takes. My father is a good man, and ALL of his children love him very much and are truly sickened that a person would try to do this to our family. Its not right. You see the love we have for our family. Please don’t believe the headline, READ the rest, even the full story states its not true. The one thing that really hurts us is that my sister is heartbroken that anyone could think this of her father. Its a nightmare…please stand with us.

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2014/08/robert-farago/breaking-sons-guns-will-hayden-arrested-child-molestation/

[herding cats]

14. My gut says it was about the money.

She saw her lifestyle about to be changed and in her panic showed what she's really made of, is my guess.

Since the reality tv show has now been canceled and daddy's been cut from the firearm business as of yesterday, it appears she showed her weak character to the world for nothing.

Red Jacket Firearms LLC. has initiated and received full legal separation as an entity, from William M. Hayden.
http://www.redjacketfirearms.com

[Scootaloo]

15. When something like this goes on, the entire family is damaged

I don't think I can hold anything against the older daughter for this - fear and ingrained obedience can be a damnably hard thing to overcome, even when you know you have to.

[NYC_SKP]

18. I don't know much about the family, but maybe the younger daughter wasn't the first abused child.

...the elder daughter might also have been raped/molested/abused.

Either way, the pattern of fear and threat is the same, I agree with you.

[justiceischeap]

21. Something similar to this happened in my family

Step-children were sexually abused but the man wouldn't abuse his "blood" daughter because in his mind there was a huge difference. I know the "blood" daughter struggled for a while understanding how the step-sisters could be molested and she wasn't...meaning, she didn't believe the step-sisters for a while.

[NYC_SKP]

23. That's very sad. I fear more goes on than is commonly understood.

Women have shared family histories with me, and one large family has two boys, four girls, and the eldest boy molested the girls according to two of the girls.

Of course, adult to child rape is exponentially more destructive but one wonders how these things happen.

Maybe the fact that sex is such a taboo topic leaves open opportunities that could otherwise be prevented.

[passiveporcupine]

34. Not all daughters in a family may be abused

In my family, the two youngest were (myself and my little sister, seven years younger). She wasn't molested till I left home at 18. I never told my Mother or anyone else (until I was an adult), because I felt "guilty" and I thought my Mom would side with my step-father. I don't know if she would have, but it would not surprise me if she tried to deny it happened. My oldest sister probably would have publicly denied it too, because it didn't happen to her.

It turned out my neighbor was also being "molested" and she was a year older than I. My step dad eventually left my Mom for her, and they got married after she graduated from high school. She never thought of it as molestation. She was a kid with a crush and she was a willing participant. There are lots of reasons and emotions involved in molestation from the child's perspective, and it is not the responsibility of the kid to "come forward". It's the responsibility of the parents to be more vigilant (and other caregivers like teachers, etc.). My Mom knew there was something wrong with me and my step dad...we fought all the time, my interest in school plummeted, and then she fought with me all the time, because she thought I was a trouble-maker. She eventually kicked me out at 18 years of age (best thing that ever happened to me).

I think it took a lot of guts for this little girl of 14 to speak up. I know times have changed since it happened to me...it's much more of a public issue now and there is more support for the victims than back then. Still, it's just not an easy thing to do. Kudos to the kid.

[Kber]

22. The whole family - you are correct

I know someone who discovered her brother was abusing her 2 year old child. (Uncle abusing his niece, if the pronouns are confusing.)

My friend called the police and saw the trial through to his conviction, but their mother (the abused child's grandmother) never spoke to my friend again. She couldn't believe her daughter would turn on family. Or couldn't believe the evidence of the doctors. Or maybe didn't want to face the fact that her son (the abuser) was revealed to have been abused as a boy by his uncle, something she knew about and did not / could not stop.

Sometimes the damage goes back generations.

[Botany]

24. And to think this guy is an asshole

[SnakeEyes]

36. Allegedly.

[bullwinkle428]

25. Holy shit - he was arrested 2 weeks ago on molestation charges. I posted the OP!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025374297

Is this just a further extension of sorts on the original charge, as more evidence has been revealed?

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

26. "...taking her virginity at the age of 11..."

And they call this guy a "Star"? In the few times I've been able to stomach more than a few minutes of a reality show, it's usually been to try to understand why they would be able to hold anyone's attention. The people in them are generally zoo animals with a human face engaging in the most mundane and banal activities, as fascinating as a scene in my toilet when i take a dump, where I am a "Star", too.

[jamzrockz]

27. I know I am going to be flammed for saying this

But the man is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law not court of public opinion. Its only an accusation but 99.9% of the replies are acting like hes has been convicted.

[Ino]

31. If he's acquitted in court of law...

the verdict is NOT innocent, it's "not guilty." There's a world of difference. Just because the case may not meet some standard of legal proof does not mean the person is innocent in fact.

And he is PRESUMED innocent... not IS innocent.

And for that matter, being found guilty in a court of law does not mean you're really guilty, as many innocent people in prison can attest.

So it's all a crap shoot as far as I'm concerned.

[jamzrockz]

37. I will take whatever

form of justice the courts dishes out over this. I say this knowing the court system is not perfect and have let many guilty people off and locked up many innocent people.

[Blue_Tires]

32. It doesn't look good, but we'll see...

Not sure why his own daughter would make all this up...

[rpannier]

39. According to one article

Last edited Thu Aug 28, 2014, 11:25 PM - Edit history (1)

His side claims were all coming from a bitter ex-girlfriend who is seeking revenge for ending their relationship

What I don't see is whether the girl claiming she'd been assaulted is their daughter (him and the ex) or from a previous marriage, g/f or what

[Blue_Tires]

40. Presumably the police have interviewed the victim extensively...

and if her accusation is false, then I'd have thought the cops would have found a bunch of holes and inconsistencies, unless the girl is an Oscar-worthy actor..

[rpannier]

41. I figure they have interviewed her

And he likely did it

At the same time, I've seen people burned by accusations McMartin Pre-school being the most famous one to cite that there is a very small chance

[Sherman A1]

33. Agreed

You may indeed be flamed, but you are correct he is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

[valerief]

28. Ammosexual family values. nt

[Cleita]

30. More Rethug family values it seems.

That is really disgusting. I hope he gets everything coming to him.

[SunSeeker]

35. I can't understand how people can rape, let alone rape their own kids.

As a human being, rape disgusts me. As a parent, child rape disgusts me even more.

[kelliekat44]

42. Why does this not surprise me? nt