“The birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus means that one day everything sad will come untrue.” J. R. R. Tolkien
The following post is a bit of my wheelhouse. This is a situation that has been debated about on the wider internet. Eric Bonettit at Anglican Watch has been following the situation closely and has been in touch with the family and other involved individuals. Eric has been following these stories for quite a while. Eric wrote the post based on his involvement with the situation. Please be aware that these are all allegations. At the end of the post are two YouTube videos, the one of Gracie that is heartwrenching.
Angie Solomon was married to a well–known figure in the Nashville area, former WSMV anchor Aaron Solomon. They have two children — the late Grant Solomon, a high school student and star baseball player, and Gracie Solomon, Grant’s younger sister.
Allegations of child sex abuse
Angie is shocked by the allegations and purportedly confronts Aaron, who admits to the abuse but says he will take the kids away from Angie if she tells anyone. In response, Angie meets with Dr. Michael Reed, a psychiatrist, to plan how to ensure her safety and that of the children.
Over the coming months, many more troubling events occur, including alleged embezzlement by Aaron from Grace Christian School, where both children attended school. The evidence seems clear that Aaron indeed stole, but the school states under oath that he did not.
So why did the school do this? The answer is simple: Grace Christian Academy and Grace Chapel Church, although legally distinct entities, are the “society” digs for Nashville, where Governor Lee and administration figures send their kids for education, to worship, and to hobnob with the rich and powerful.
So, Aaron was part of the “inner circle” even though he privately told family members he is an atheist.
And while there were signs of possible abusive conduct early in their marriage, things really turn south on May 9, 2013, when Aaron allegedly tries to strangle Angie with an electrical cord. Grant witnesses the event, yet Aaron allegedly lies to law enforcement and the hospital, claiming Angie attempted suicide.
Angie is later admitted to Parthenon Centennial for observation. She tells doctors about Aaron’s effort to kill her, and they conclude that she is telling the truth and is not suicidal. Moreover, they urge her to develop an escape plan for herself and the kids and insist that she file for a protective order. Angie does file and obtain a restraining order against Aaron.
Child custody issues
But when Angie returns home from her overnight hospital stay, she faces another surprise: there’s no sign of Grant, Gracie, or Aaron. So Angie tries calling Aaron and her parents, but no one returns her calls.
By Mother’s Day, Angie is hoping that Aaron will bring the kids home so they can celebrate the day together. But instead, Aaron allegedly has called the police, claiming that Angie is suicidal. Yet when police show up at the house, they quickly realize they’ve been given false information and leave without taking any additional action.
By now seriously alarmed, Angie calls the local police department to try to locate her children. Initially, the police seem to take things seriously–right up until a supervisor calls Aaron, at which point the whole thing becomes a case of “Who are you, again?” Subsequently, Angie tries another tactic to get her children back. Under pressure from her complementarian father and Aaron, Angie drops the restraining order, hoping to see her children again.
Nothing improves. But working through a lawyer friend, Angie learns that Aaron has filed for divorce and a protective order against Angie on behalf of himself and the children. Soon afterward, Aaron comes home, purportedly telling Angie that he and the kids will stay if she obeys his instructions. But the lull doesn’t last long.
Soon after, the divorce case is heard. The judge disregards almost all evidence presented in Angie’s favor. And just a few weeks later, Aaron issues a $1,000 check to the judge’s re–election campaign—odd since he was running unopposed. In October, the family court sends Angie for a forensic psychiatric examination, with the court choosing Dr. Freeman to conduct the evaluation. His report agrees with three previous evaluations, finding Angie to be a “loving, caring, and capable mother.” But Aaron’s attorney claims that Angie lied during the evaluation, and the court ignores the report of its own expert. By this time, Angie’s realized that she needs to document Aaron’s behavior, so she takes copious notes.
In November, at a basketball game, Gracie has a few moments alone with her mother. Gracie says her father is still sexually abusing her. Horrified but knowing that Aaron will deny everything, Angie records a snippet of the conversation using her mobile phone.
That December, Aaron tells the kids he won’t allow them to see Angie for Christmas. They cry, as it is the second Christmas without their mother.
Over the coming months, more parents and officials at Grace Christian Academy become aware of issues with Aaron, including allegations that he is grooming girls at the school. Indeed, Angie even contacts a prominent attorney, Kurt Beasley, who is an elder at the church, saying, “I am afraid for my life and that of my children.” Beasley allegedly brushes her off, saying there’s nothing he can do.
By August 2018, Grant and his sister ran away from their father for the first time. Aaaron sends two sheriff’s deputies to pick up the kids and try to scare them into absolute obedience. Subsequently, Heather Webb, a local attorney, is appointed guardian ad litem for the kids.
On August 16–18, Aaron takes Gracie to Cary, NC, for one of Grant’s baseball tournaments. Gracie is so visibly terrified that Webb does something she never otherwise does, which is to put her personal cell phone number on the back of her business card and tell Gracie to call her, night or day if anything happens.
On the way back from Grant’s tournament, Aaron gets a hotel room with a single bed. Gracie is terrified, and Aaron allegedly sexually abuses her that night—but in later testimony, claims that, since he was already aware of allegations he sexually assaulted Gracie, he slept with pillows between them. That begs the issue—if he is worried about these allegations, why not get two rooms?
On August 31, Aaron shows up at Grace Christian Academy to pick up Gracie, despite promising not to do so in family counseling. Gracie is terrified, races to the headmaster’s office, and complains that her father is abusing her. The school brushes things off and forces Gracie to go with her father.
Grant dies
In the coming weeks, Grant tells multiple friends that he thinks people will take him more seriously when he turns 18 and that he is going to sue his father in an effort to protect his sister. He sets up a meeting with Pastor Steve Berger to discuss his plans.
A few days later, Grant dies mysteriously at a baseball training center in Gallatin, TN, of a single, massive wound to the back of his head. I believe, but cannot prove, that Berger tipped off Aaron Solomon about his plans. But Berger says Grant came to him to talk about how to get closer to Jesus. Sorry, but if your sister is being abused, getting closer to Jesus won’t be at the top of your list.
Chillingly, Grant asked his mother that morning if she was home that day. When she said yes, and asked why, Grant said, “I don’t want to die in Gallatin today.”
Aaron is the only witness, and he claims that Grant’s truck rolled over him. But Grant’s body shows no scrapes or burns consistent with being dragged almost 60 feet across the pavement. And when first responders show up, they see no sign of three witnesses that Aaron claims were there moments ago or the white van they were in. Other things don’t add up. One of Grant’s baseball bats went missing and was never recovered. And while head wounds bleed like crazy, there was only minor blood on the scene.
Grant was extricated from under his truck, still fighting for his life, but died on the way to the hospital.
Meanwhile, Grant’s girlfriend, who shared a Life 360 account with Grant, noticed that his cell phone was traveling around Gallatin. She said something to Grant’s parents, but Aaron cut her off, saying, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of it.”
Aaron brought Grant’s phone back the next day with the screen broken. But photos taken at the scene show the phone was intact, and the truck was in park when it came to rest above Grant. The Gallatin police filled out a cursory report but didn’t interview family members other than Aaron. Nor did they examine the truck’s black box, which revealed it was driven to its resting point. And they ignored the fact that Grant’s injuries were inconsistent with his purported cause of death.
Soon after, Aaron preached at Grant’s funeral, where he made what sounded oddly like a sales pitch about how Grant was now on the greatest baseball field of all—the one in heaven. This, despite his alleged atheism.
And behind the scenes, something scary had already happened. When the family showed up at the funeral home for a private viewing, Angie insisted on seeing Grant’s entire body. The embalmer was visibly reluctant but complied. Angie and Gracie were shocked to discover that Grant’s ankles had allegedly been broken in order to fit him into the casket. This makes no sense, as even at 6’4″, Grant easily fit the casket. A complaint has been filed against the funeral home in question, which denies the allegations.
What next?
So far, Gallatin officials have refused to reopen the case, with the acting chief of police being profoundly rude to bloggers who call him. The guardian ad litem says she believes Aaron killed his son and used his power and connections to cover it up. You can read her report verbatim.
And even though Solomon allegedly took his daughter across state lines for illicit purposes, nothing has been done.
Still worse, as Angie and Gracie push for justice — including a big vigil in downtown Nashville – they are being blocked on every front. “That’s already been investigated,” is the party line. But a piece of paper in a file is not an investigation, and the Gallatin investigation doesn’t even meet minimum standards of police conduct.
Meanwhile, the new attorney general, who, like Governor Lee, has ties to the inner circle at Grace Chapel, refers to the place of Grant’s death as a “crime scene” but says we may never know what really happened due to a lack of evidence. But that’s the whole point—the reason there’s a lack of evidence is because there has been no autopsy, no accident investigation, no tracking of cell phone signals in the area, and more.
Speaking of cell phones, how did Aaron know where to find them? And why did he tell people at the funeral that someone found it and “came to Jesus” as a result, and even kept it charged while it was in his possession? For the record, the Life 360 data shows it was not charged during this time. And our investigation reveals no one coming to Jesus over this issue — although we did identify some very questionable people with connections to the case.
We’ve also received disturbing, unconfirmed allegations that Aaron has groomed other minor females and sexually assaulted at least one adult. Recall that these are unproven allegations, but they suggest Aaron may continue to be a threat to his former family and others.
So, if you are inclined, here are ways you can help:
- Please read the complete timeline Angie developed in this matter, found at https://www.freedom4gracie.com/timeline
- You also can help Gracie with her legal fees at https://www.gofundme.com/f/freedom4gracie.
- You can help fund efforts to obtain justice for Grant at https://www.gofundme.com/f/help–get–justice–for–grant.
- Contact the FBI tipline https://tips.fbi.gov/home to ask the FBI to investigate the allegations that Aaron took his daughter across state lines for illegal purposes.
- Contact the Memphis FBI field office to ask for their help. Info is at https://www.fbi.gov/contact–us/field–offices/memphis/about.
- Encourage anyone with information about Grant’s death to come forward. There is a tip hotline at justiceforgrant@anglicanwatch.com. There is a reward of up to $20,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) who killed Grant.
- Push for media coverage. Perhaps due to Aaron’s visibility in the TV community, Grant’s death has gotten almost no attention.
- Share information on social media.
- And for the record, I vetted Grant, his sister, and his mother carefully before taking on this story.
Indeed, one kid at Grant’s school, often bullied, recounted how Grant insisted that people not bully him. “If you want to be friends with me, you don’t bully other people,” Grant reportedly said. Universally, adults and young people alike say Grant was kind, loving, fiercely protective of his mother and sister, a great athlete, and someone anyone would be proud to know.
The least we can do is to help Grant, Gracie, and Angie find justice and some peace in their lives.
Gracie’s Story-A Cry for Help
Anna’s Testimony
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I’ve seen this before and really wondered about it.
I wondered how an entire community could support a predator and murderer and cover up the death and sexual abuse of children.
I’m glad you posted this here.
May the truth come out and justice be served.
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It seems to be a triad of school, LE, and church, similar to the “Spotlight” situation. The superstar media guy who is in reallife a predator has groomed all three.
For each person in those institutions, how does it feel to be driving the getaway car for a criminal of the worst kind?
Complicit.
Yes, Dee, thanks for posting.
Also, it’s good that the GoFundMe accounts are getting support.
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wondered how an entire community could support a predator and murderer and cover up the death and sexual abuse of children.
Mara R,
Aaron Solomon, Governor Bill Lee, and the judge who blew off Angie’s claims all attend the same church.
Dee wrote a post on the church and Berger: https://thewartburgwatch.com/2021/08/30/grace-chapel-of-franklin-tn-is-imploding/…..
Grace Chapel is part of the Calvary Chapel Network (Chuck Smith).
I don’t watch WSMV (ABC) news, but I do remember watching reports of the suspicious death of Grant on WTVF, Nashville’s CBS station.
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Nancy2(aka Kevlar),
CHRISTIAN Governor,
CHRISTIAN Attorney General,
CHRISTIAN Judge…
See the pattern?
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HUG–let’s make that “supposedly Christian” men.
Story makes me heartsick.
And off topic, post op on first eye now. Vision somewhat blurry but I can tell the surgery seems a good idea. Gotta go rest the old eyeball, but at least I can still lurk here a bit! Thanks for prayers!
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Roman Governor Pontius Pilate, disciple Judas, religious leader Caiaphas, and a mob.
The religious leaders hatched the plot because Jesus’ work interfered with their domination, power, and control. They couldn’t control Jesus.
With power people, you are either under their control, being used for their purposes, or you are the enemy.
Our Heavenly Father doesn’t treat people like that. With God, we are always free agents, created in God’s image. We have consequences but God is no control freak.
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Tells me everything I need to know.
I got lassoed into the Calvary Chapel cult as a young Army vet back during the wind-down of Vietnam.
It took me ten years to get free.
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Right after, “What next?” I used “Grant” instead of “Aaron.” It was, of course, Aaron who allegedly took his daughter across state lines.
Thank you all for your support of Grant, Angie, and Gracie. They are wonderful people much in need of our love and care.
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Another girl not believed about the abuse she has endured. She ran to the headmaster’s office when her dad was not suppose to pick her up from school, he/they brush her off and force her to go with her dad. How terrifying!! I can’t even watch the video but thank you for the link to her gofundme.
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Same Here.
I lived near Ground Zero for Calvary Chapel, same county as their Vatican down in Costa Lotta. CC DOMINATED Christianese AM radio like Twisted Sister did 1984 MTV. Here there literally Could Be NO Salvation outside Calvary Chapel. Which means encountering Calvary Chapel Bots and their full-auto barrages of Bible Bullets.
Calvary Chapel had always struck me as distilling down and concentrating all the ways a church could go sour.
A second experience in how it takes a lot longer to get home than it does to go back to The World. (World as in the Nam Vet definition of anywhere that wasn’t The Nae.)
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Cataract?
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Time to get Lester Holt & the Dateline crew involved (20/20, etc.). If this story was widely known, justice may have a chance of being served. This is a dark story that needs to see the light of day.
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Off topic…..
Headless Unicorn Guy and Muff Potter:
Your service in Vietnam is greatly appreciated. Glad you both made it back to The World.
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yes, it looks like another ‘legend’ of the Fall . . . power, money, greed, sex, incest
and, of course, the ‘good ole boyz’ pulling together (nothing Christian about it)
““Th’ infernal serpent; he it was,
whose guile, /Stirred up with envy and revenge,
deceived/The mother of mankind…”
(Paradise Lost, Milton)
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jojo,
It is never off-topic to honor those who served in our military. Thank you. Muff and HUG
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HUG–yes, cataract. Somebody has snuck in and changed my dim light bulbs to airport runway lights it seems. And painted my flowers in the yard a new color. Looking forward to getting the second eye done, healed up, and getting new cheaters.
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linda,
My dad and my aunt both had eye surgery for cataracts a couple of years ago….. one eye for my dad, both eyes for my aunt. They are both very happy with the results. They were glad they caved and had the surgeries less than two weeks afterward.
I hope the end result of your surgery is as successful and problem-free as theirs.
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dear Linda,
have one eye done at a time is my advice . . . unbeknownst to me or my doctors, I had a condition that shut down my ‘water pumps’ in my eye when the first cataract was removed and I had to have a partial corneal transplant . . . this occurred eventually in the other eye after cataract surgery . . .
the condition was genetic and there is a test to determine it if there is any concern for descendants
my partial corneal transplants were successful – but I must use eyedrops for the rest of my life, and keep my blood pressure under control to guard the delicate transplants
I have never seen better, thank God.
Please know that this is a very rare condition, but it does happen to some people and I was one of them. The condition is called ‘Fuch’s Syndrome’ and the chances of inheriting it are 50% genetically.
Good luck with your cataract removal. . . I will pray for you to have a good healing.
c.
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I was never in the Nam.
The draft had ended by the time I came of age.
I just ran across the dialect in the Seventies and Eighties and picked up some of the terminology and expressions. “Nam-speak” was actually kind of widespread in the Eighties, as a lot of vets were circulating, writing, etc. So I picked up some of the dialect through osmosis.
That and having a HUGE mental database with no functioning search engine or structure other than random link lists. I literally have no control over what could free-associate and pop up.
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linda,
God bless. Praying for you anf your precious eyes.
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Stephen, that is a great idea. If only Dateline, or maybe the people who did the Hillsong documentary, could deep dive this one and get it on t.v.
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HUG…..thanks for explaining.
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This is heart-wrenching, gut-turning, and incredibly stunning. On every single level, from church officials to law enforcement, to the courts, and some leading members of the Nashville community, there seems to be darkness in this story that can only be described as evil. I’m not talking about the people – I’m talking about the spiritual forces behind the people that are evil in every sense of the word. The man in question may be an atheist, but justice is real.
The allegations have a ring of truth. ALWAYS believe the victim until the victim’s story is emphatically proven false (and this hasn’t happened – yet). I’m stunned there no steps were taken to protect the daughter.
In my experience, once a story like this gets some media traction, it won’t stop until the guilty are punished. Such injustice will not win in the end, for this is a world that a just God controls.
I’ve been around the block a time or two and seen much, so it takes a great deal to shock me.
This story shocks me.
Thanks, Wartburg Watch, for your work.
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Thanks for the prayers. Eye feels much better today. My bionic eye and my pre op eye are battling for dominance now, which should clear in a few days. Keeping close tabs on possible side effects. Have a sibling for whom cataract surgery at nearly 80 gave better vision than he had from birth.
So far so good.
I wish there was “cataract surgery” for the church, so the minions could see as the power brokers deceive them!
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Steam is pouring out of my ears.
This is horrific.