Did Nashville’s NewsChannel 5 violate court orders in the Solomon case? Justice demands answers.

Yesterday, members of the Anglican Watch team, like many others, watched intently the NewsChannel 5 live stream of the Williamson County probable cause and bond reduction hearing in the Angie Solomon case. But there’s a not-so-minor problem with all of this. Specifically, we have received unconfirmed reports from someone close to the case that the judge forbade broadcasting the hearing.

It gets worse.

We have now discovered that NewsChannel 5 is hosting a recording of the hearing on its Facebook page.

On one level, if the court did, in fact, forbid broadcasting the hearing, NewsChannel 5 may be in contempt of court.

But there are other, deeper concerns about televising the hearing. These concerns include:

• The broadcast itself may prejudice the possibility of a fair trial. Under our judicial system, built upon the rule of law rather than the rule of personality, all persons are entitled to due process and a fair trial. However, Angie did not testify during the hearing, and some of the prosecutor’s comments were potentially prejudicial, which could improperly influence future proceedings.
• We were disturbed to see Aaron Solomon in the courtroom, accompanied by someone who appears to be a lawyer. Why would Aaron need a lawyer in a criminal trial involving someone from whom he was divorced more than 10 years ago? Whatever the answer, it surely does not pass the smell test.
• We remain deeply suspicious about the identity of the so-called “confidential informant.” While it does not appear that this person was Aaron Solomon, we increasingly suspect that this person was acting in collusion with Aaron.
• Including footage of a justifiably distraught Gracie Solomon. Gracie surely has been through enough trauma to last for multiple lifetimes, so why add to her suffering? How is this helpful or ethical? Isn’t one of the first tenets of journalism not to cause suffering to alleged crime victims?

Of course, our concerns in this case go beyond the possibly illegal broadcast of yesterday’s hearing. Specifically, there are still far too many unanswered questions in the larger case, including:

1. Why have we still not seen any meaningful investigation into the allegations that Aaron sexually assaulted his daughter, Gracie? Such claims are overwhelmingly accurate, statistically speaking. We need answers — and we can say this: We have information, information that we do not believe is appropriate to publish, that we think is convincing evidence that Aaron did sexually assault Gracie.
2. There are still far too many unanswered questions about the death of Grant Solomon. In addition to the many issues that we have cited in our previous coverage:
   • The two alleged anonymous witnesses to Grant’s death claim his truck “flew through the air,” resulting in Grant ending up “twisted like a pretzel” underneath the vehicle. But there is zero evidence that the truck became airborne; indeed, the Gallatin police claim the truck rolled into the ditch, resulting in the back bumper being bent upwards. So, which narrative is accurate?
   • With no major injuries except a blow to the back of the head, Grant was not “twisted like a pretzel,” as depicted by the alleged witnesses. Indeed, had that happened, there should have been bruises all over his body.
   • Nor do the reports from the medics on the scene or the position of his body under the truck support these statements, as he was not visible from the road.
   • Again, we need to understand what happened to Grant. And we cannot imagine any parent who would conclude that the Gallatin police report reflected an adequate investigation.
3. We also would like an explanation of why the court handling the Solomon divorce ignored the pleas of the guardian ad litem, responsible for representing Gracie and Grant’s interests, for an investigation into the questions surrounding this case. Indeed, why even have a guardian ad litem if the courts can ignore their recommendations without even the courtesy of a response?

As things stand, our discomfort with the way Tennessee officials are handling this situation is increasing, not decreasing.

Moreover, we note that this is not the first highly problematic situation involving the Tennessee theocracy. For instance, we are mindful of:

1. The refusal of Grace Christian Academy (GCA) and counselor Amy Curle to fulfill their legal obligations as mandated reporters. Indeed, a judge expressly directed Curle to report the allegations of abuse involving Grant and Gracie, but she decided that she knew better and could ignore the law. (As an aside, we have been unable to verify key aspects of Curle’s resume.)
2. The repeated coverup of child sexual abuse at GCA, including via nondisclosure agreements. We know of myriad such cases, and it’s long past time for law enforcement to investigate. And for the record, we don’t give a red rat’s rear end about Steve Berger’s connection to the school. Indeed, Berger’s history of corruption makes an investigation all the more important.
3. The egregious miscarriage of justice in the case of John Perry, the Covenant pedophile. Specifically, the church appears to have known about the allegations that Perry was molesting children for a significant time but sat on the matter until the criminal statute of limitations had run.
4. Relatedly, Covenant abused the legal system to silence whistleblower Austin Davis. Sorry, folks. We hate to spring it on you, but Austin is about the least likely person we know to threaten anyone. The fact that the Tennessee courts played along speaks volumes to the level of corruption in the state — and until Covenant repents and makes restitution, we will continue to push to hold the church accountable.
5. The cover-up of allegations of abuse at Brentwood Academy included unsuccessful litigation before Judge Deanna Johnson. Johnson has a long history of questionable conduct on the bench, including behavior evincing inappropriate bias against litigants. While we may never get to the bottom of these issues, issues like the John Perry situation and the lack of public outrage about that case are enough to cause any onlooker profound discomfort.

So, while we are ardent supporters of the First Amendment and the public’s right to know the details of criminal cases, these goals must be balanced with the right of all criminal defendants to a fair trial.

We, therefore, hope that the Williamson County courts will carefully evaluate whether to televise further proceedings in the Solomon case. And if the NewsChannel 5 coverage violates the Court’s order, it must immediately be taken down.

Further, we encourage law enforcement to investigate all aspects of the Solomon case, not just the charges against Angie.

As things stand, there is every reason to be deeply concerned about this case, including the refusal of Tennessee officials to address Gracie’s allegations that her father sexually abused her and the many unanswered questions about the death of Grant Solomon.

Finally, while it’s behind a paywall, be sure to check out the excellent piece, “My friend was arrested in a TV anchor murder plot… but I want the truth about her teen baseball star son’s mysterious death,” by the Daily Mail’s Ruth Bashinsky on this case, found here.