Accused: My Fight for Truth, Justice, and the Strength to Forgive

Description

This is the true story of a woman who prevailed against the most heinous accusations imaginable. Tonya Craft, a Georgia kindergarten teacher and loving mother of two, never expected a knock on her door to change her life forever. But in May 2008, false accusations of child molestation turned her world upside down. The trial that followed dragged her reputation through the mud and lent nationwide notoriety to her name. Tonya's life spiraled into a witch-trial nightmare in which she was deemed guilty before her innocence could be determined by a jury. Her children were taken away without even a goodbye, and her own daughter was forced to take the stand against her in a courtroom. The situation seemed hopeless, and Tonya was shell-shocked and heartbroken. But that didn't keep her from finding the strength to fight. Over the course of two terrifying years, Tonya rallied to take charge of her own defense, flying across the country and knocking on doors on a desperate quest for answers, and defying her own lawyers on more than one occasion. Tonya's goal was not only to avoid conviction; it was to clear her name, and, most of all, regain custody of her children. Accused is about more than Tonya's shocking trial and fight for justice. It is the story of a mother's extraordinary love, the faith that sees her through it all, and the forgiveness that sets her free.

Tonya Craft was born and raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee, by two wonderful parents. Immediately following high school, Tonya attended the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with the desire to become an educator. Tonya obtained her Bachelor of Science in Education and began teaching at the middle school level but quickly found her niche with elementary students. Soon, Tonya faced life as a single mother, creating a personal training business and taking a position as a literacy trainer with UT Chattanooga. She earned her Master's Degree in Education with a reading and literacy specialization while teaching kindergarten full time in Northern Georgia. Since winning her court battle and being acquitted on all twenty-two counts, Tonya has served as a consultant on a variety of child molestation cases. She is pursuing a law degree and is committed to helping others. She lives near Chattanooga with her two children. Mark Dagostino is a New York Times--bestselling coauthor and former senior writer for People magazine. As a journalist, he was on the scene when JFK Jr.'s plane went down, reported from Ground Zero in the aftermath of 9/11, and stood witness to the Miracle on the Hudson. He also cut his teeth in the courtroom, learning valuable lessons from the Pamela Smart case in his home state of New Hampshire, covering Rosie O'Donnell's $100-million lawsuit with publisher Gruner+Jahr, and more. Along the way, he quietly became one of the most respected celebrity journalists in the business. Today, he's back in his home state, where he lives a somewhat quieter life with his two children.

"One of those candidly personal memoirs that linger in the mind and memory long after the book is finished and set back upon the shelf." --Midwest Book Review "Nothing prepared me for the power of this book and its markedly human perspective of the realities of being criminally accused. Tonya reveals the strength of her own character and gives the reader a look beyond legalities and into the heart of a caring mother. Accused is a must-read, a true tour de force." --R. Champ Crocker, Cullman Attorney named one of the Nation's Top One Percent by the National Association of Distinguished Council "Tonya Craft found herself in an unspeakable situation that rocked her world. Through the grace of God and her tenacious spirit, today she is a trusted expert highly sought by the falsely accused and those who defend them. You will be amazed at the power of forgiveness and its impact on an impossible situation." --Jan Silvious, author of Foolproofing Your Life and Same Life, New Story "Accused, the true story of a Tonya Craft's fight against the criminal justice system, is much more than a blow by blow account of a woman facing a prosecutorial steamroller. It is also a deeper journey of the heart, and how the power of forgiveness is greater than the bitter root of false accusation." --Robert Whitlow, bestselling author of The Confession "Sexual abuse of children is a serious crime, and should be dealt with fairly and carefully. Over the years attempts to bring offenders to justice have often been abusive in their own right. Cases built by so-called experts pressuring children through suggestive and leading questions, combined with overzealous prosecutions, have led to the debacles we experienced in California in the McMartin case, and in the Kern County prosecutions I reviewed when I was California Attorney General. They should have created a warning, a yellow light, to be careful when dealing with child witnesses. When those warnings are not heeded injustice can result, and the lives of the accused, when innocent, can be irreparably damaged. Tonya Craft's own story, and the jury's findings of Not Guilty on 22 counts, more than twenty years after the California cases, proves once again that when dealing with allegations of this sort, the best practices we learned the hard way need to be front and center. Will we ever learn?" --John Van de Kamp, Former California Attorney General