Mariah Timms

The (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) Daily News Journal

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — A teen raised in an isolating religion created by her stepfather managed to escape at age 18, but not before she faced repeated sexual abuse at the hands of the man her mother married.

Darby McCarthy was 6 years old when Nancy and Charles Aragon married after Nancy Aragon divorced McCarthy’s father. Now 21, McCarthy told a police detective three years ago about repeated sexual contact.

Before then, McCarthy told of being groomed early for what began when she was 14. From almost the time of the Aragons’ marriage, McCarthy slept in the master bedroom with the adults.

“That was our normal. I didn’t know it was unusual until much later,” said McCarthy, who became part of a blended family that included four children from Charles Aragon's previous marriage and one child born in the new union. “They built up this reality for me and my siblings. You’re dependent on everyone around you, and that’s the problem. You’re dependent on the people who raise you.”

Earlier this month, the Aragons pleaded guilty to sexual battery, felony charges, and each was sentenced to four years of probation.

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The Aragons' convictions were centralized around the “marriage” between Charles Aragon and then-14-year-old McCarthy. After that time, sexual contact was common between both adults and the young McCarthy, she said.

"We called ourselves Mormon," she said. "When we broke away from the church, Nancy and Charles often said the church had fallen away from the truth. So we were the more "true" followers of God's real religion.

"I was convinced Charles was God's prophet/the second coming of The David/adopted by Jesus Christ," she said. "And God commanded through Charles that we be married and fight the non believers in the last days."

Charles Aragon refused to comment. Nancy Aragon and defense lawyers for both Aragons could not be reached.

In school in Readyville, Tenn., about 12 miles east of Murfreesboro and 40 miles southeast of Nashville, McCarthy tried to reach out to the few friends she had.

“I’d say, ‘I have a secret and it’s that I’m in an arranged marriage or I’m betrothed or I’m basically promised to someone and yes, I’ve met him. I know him and he’s in his 40s. He’s 30 years older than me,’” McCarthy remembered. “Their reactions were basically, ‘Oh, wow, that’s really weird, but I’ll keep your secret,’ which wasn’t what I wanted.”

Relatives would come visit, and they would notice something was different in the household. But McCarthy said no one ever acted on their suspicions.

The narrative McCarthy remembers hearing over and over compelled her to believe that “God will stop you from doing anything that’s bad for your soul.” To reach salvation, she had to follow the word of the man who presented himself to her as a prophet: Charles Aragon.

At age 18, she decided to tell her father.

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“I didn’t know. I thought what I was doing was wrong, that this was going to send me to hell forever, that even doubting meant God couldn’t save me,” McCarthy said of her decision to speak out.

She and her father brought her story to Murfreesboro Police Detective Tommy Roberts, who brought in Assistant District Attorney Hugh Ammerman for the 16th Judicial District.

By the time the couple was indicted in April 2015, they had moved to Nags Head, N.C.

Charles Aragon was indicted on six counts of rape, two counts of sexual battery by an authority figure and six counts of incest. Nancy Aragon was indicted for two counts of sexual battery by an authority figure.

"Every child sex-abuse victim who musters the courage to get on the witness stand and testify during a jury trial is doing a heroic thing for every other child sex abuse victim who might follow in their footsteps and do it themselves," Ammerman said. "I’m very proud of her for having the strength to come forward in a case that involves deeply personal facts regarding things that people would usually consider private and not share with the public."

The Aragons went on trial before a jury in February, but the case was declared a mistrial after jurors could not come to a decision for almost two weeks. Unsure if the case would go back to trial or to a plea deal, Roberts and Ammerman immediately began to prepare for a second trial.

"People have a natural tendency to not want to believe that parents would hurt their own children or that anyone would hurt a child, especially a child who’s dependent on them for their well being," Ammerman said.

In the end, the Aragons agreed to a plea deal that does not include jail time. In court, they each admitted to the charges in response to a direct question from Circuit Court Judge David M. Bragg.

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The Aragons also will be required to register as sex offenders for at least the next 10 years under both Tennessee and North Carolina law.

“I’ve found my peace. This is almost the better outcome. You can’t acquit on this,” McCarthy said. “At the end of the day, I know and they know. What I did is tell the truth."

Follow Mariah Timms on Twitter: @MariahTimms

To report abuse

Darby McCarthy said she wanted to speak out to be a voice for anyone else being sexually abused. Here are some steps to take:

• Call 911 in case of an emergency or life-threatening situation.

• Go to an emergency room right after an assault to have a rape kit done anonymously. It can be processed in case of future prosecution.

• Report suspicion of child sexual abuse to your state's child protective services office or a national hotline such as Childhelp, (800) 422-4453.

• Get confidential crisis support from the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization. Its National Sexual Assault Hotline is available at (800) 656-4673 or via a live chat in English and Spanish.