7-16-15 Tennessee:MAURY COUNTY, TN (WKRN) – A Maury County father is facing criminal charges after he allegedly beat up a man accused of soliciting his two young daughters.
Kenneth Faulkner, 30, is charged with aggravated assault. He was arrested last Thursday and held in the Maury County jail before posting bond the next day.
Faulkner says he was upset that Thomas Williams, 67, was sentenced to just three years of supervised probation for soliciting his two daughters, ages 4 and 7.
He says his children are related to Williams by marriage.
The father told News 2 he suspected sexual abuse and reported it to the Columbia Police Department last December.
According to court documents, on March 5 a Maury County Grand Jury indicted Williams on two counts of solicitation of a minor, defined as “unlawfully and intentionally and being eighteen years of age or older, by means of oral, written, or electronic communication, electronic mail or Internet services, directly or through another, to intentionally command, request, hire, persuade, invite or attempt to induce a person, to-wit to engage in the offense of sexual battery by an authority figure.”
Williams was arrested on April 13 and booked into jail on $2,000 bond. According to jail records, he made bond the same day.
After learning Williams pleaded guilty to the charges in court last Thursday but would not serve any jail time, Faulkner said he was furious.
“I met him on the street and he winked at me and smiled at me,” Faulkner told News 2.
That’s when the father says he decided to take matters into his own hands.
“He opened the door and came outside and I asked him, ‘Why did you do it to my children?’ And all he could say was he ‘didn’t know.’ I kicked his butt,” said Faulkner.
According to the police report, Williams told investigators Faulkner punched him in the face and slung him down the stairs.
While on the ground, Williams claimed Faulkner continued to punch him in the face and various other places. He estimated the total number of times he was punched to be 10 or more.
Williams was taken to a local hospital but is expected to be fine.
Circuit Court Judge Robert Jones told News 2 he does not believe the penalty is too light for solicitation charges, and he stressed Williams is not charged with having any physical contact with the children.
Judge Jones also told News 2 during Williams’ settlement in court last Thursday, he indicated he may have some problems with dementia.
Williams will be placed on the sex offender registry.
Faulkner and several family members protested the decision to give Williams probation Tuesday afternoon outside of the Maury County courthouse.
Nearly 30 people circled the building chanting “no justice, no peace” and “our kids’ lives matter.”
Faulkner says he has received a lot of support on social media and woke up Wednesday morning to nearly 200 friend requests on Facebook.
He is scheduled to be back in court on August 11. ..Source.. by WKRN Staff
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