FYI: This longish post contains spoilers about a documentary that's currently streaming online. I have tried to objectively present the details without including any opinion. This post was to present factual information gained from the film and online sources.
What drew me in was the fact that while this happened in my home state of NJ almost a decade ago, I was ignorant of the story. After reading an online article, I watched the film to learn more. There was a lot to learn.
The story takes place in Irvington, NJ (where Johnson lived) and West Orange, NJ (where Stubblefield lived). The film was created by Louis Sebastian Theroux, a journalist and broadcaster known for documentaries exploring controversial issues. It was directed by Nick August-Perna, an award-winning director, producer and editor.
The 102-minute film includes interviews with Stubblefield and Johnson’s mother and brother with opposing views on their relationship. It features interviews with Howard Shane, an expert in the field of augmented and alternative communication systems, Devva Kasnitz, disabled anthropologist and professor as well as several others connected to the case.
In the documentary, Stubblefield claims she successfully taught Johnson to communicate through facilitated communication despite the fact that a clinical psychologist who evaluated Johnson determined that he couldn’t carry out basic tasks. His comprehension was termed limited; his attention span was extremely short. In the film, he appeared incapable of self-care and was fed by his mother who revealed that he also wore a diaper.
About Anna Stubblefield
Stubblefield’s last name is that of her former husband. Her maiden name is McClennen and she was raised in Plymouth, MI. Her parents trained in special education for their PhDs and were involved in women’s rights and environmental issues. Her mother worked with impaired children and taught social skills to disabled persons.
Stubblefield received her PhD and published articles on race and ethics. She was married to Roger Stubblefield, a black tuba player and classical composer with whom she had two children. For 11 years, she served on the faculty at the Newark campus of Rutgers University where she was a tenured professor. She prefers using her middle name.
About Derrick Johnson
Johnson was diagnosed with cerebral palsy after suffering multiple seizures as an infant. He's susceptible to muscle spasms, cannot stay in one position and has trouble with eye contact. He cannot dress or feed himself and only walks if someone holds him. He can’t control his speech, has never spoken, and screams when unhappy.
A clinical psychologist determined he lacked cognitive ability to understand and was unable to perform basic pre-school functions. He lives with his mother, who raised him and his brother as a single parent. A court made them his legal guardians.
What Is Facilitated Communication (FC)?
Facilitated Communication or FC, as it is commonly known, was developed in the 1980s in Australia by Rosemary Crossley, who remains a staunch advocate. It claims to allow nonverbal communication. Here's how it works: a person, called a facilitator, physically supports a disabled person’s hand or arm to help point to letters that spell words, similar to using a Ouija board. Research has shown the facilitator as the source of the messages, and not the disabled person.
Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable claims.
The controversial process has been labelled as pseudoscience, scientifically discredited by experts and raised serious concerns from disability advocacy groups.
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) termed it a discredited technique recommending it be avoided. The American Psychological Association and the Association for Science in Autism Treatment has also rejected FC.
How Did They Meet ?
Stubblefield and Johnson met in 2009 after his older brother, John, a PhD student at Rutgers University, took Stubblefield’s philosophy and disability studies class. He approached her to learn more about FC.
Once she started working with his brother, she claimed that he progressed quickly, that success only occurred when she was facilitating. In the film, she refers to Derrick as Dman, which she claims was at his insistence. However, his family always referred to him as Derrick.
Stubblefield said that Derrick preferred classical to the gospel music he was brought up listening to. She also said he liked red wine which his brother contradicted saying he would never drink it at church. His mother, Daisy, became suspicious, and stated that her son’s words sounded more like what Anna liked, not what Derrick liked.
After, she told Johnson's mother and brother they were in love and she planned to leave her husband, Daisy reported her to the police. During a recorded phone call as detectives listened, Stubblefield told her that she and Johnson had engaged in a consensual sexual relationship. She was arrested and charged with sexual assault. She was 41 and Johnson was 30.
What Happened Next ?
In 2013, grand jury in Essex County, NJ, indicted her on charges of first-degree aggravated sexual assault and she was held for trial.
Stubblefield maintained that she and Johnson had a sexual relationship. Expert witnesses testified Johnson was mentally impaired and unable to consent. Daisy Johnson further testified that her son could not engage in physical or emotional intimacy. She accused Stubblefield of manipulating him through the keyboard. In a statement that was read, Stubblefield's husband accused her of being a manipulator. Since FC was not recognized by established scientific communities, the court ruled no evidence could be introduced and that its founder, Rosemary Crossley, could not testify.
After a jury deliberated for under 3 hours in 2015, Stubblefield was found guilty and convicted on two counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault, She was sentenced to 12 years in prison to run concurrent.
Stubblefield appealed and 2 years later the verdict was overturned by a New Jersey State Appellate Court. Her conviction was revoked on a technicality because in her trial, the court had disallowed testimony about FC. She accepted a plea deal, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge (third-degree aggravated sexual contact) and sentenced to time served, 2 years.
Where are Stubblefield and Johnson Now?
Stubblefield had been suspended from Rutgers University before her arrest for allegations of improper conduct with Johnson. She held a job as a restaurant server upon her release. In the film, she says that she was let go due to a customer's complaint and now does unspecified part-time work from home. She has not seen Johnson since 2011. Her former husband retained custody of their son and daughter and has since remarried.
While Stubblefield has stayed clear of public scrutiny, that could change. She was featured prominently in the documentary and remains firm in her belief of a loving and consensual relationship despite evidence produced to the contrary. Despite the fact that she pleaded guilty, in the film, she defends her actions stating; I'm not guilty of a crime.
The documentary ended with a visit to Derrick Johnson at his NJ home, where he continues to live with his mother and spends time with his brother. It portrayed him as healthy, safe and loved. He no longer uses facilitated communication.
Media Reactions Varied
The Guardian (a daily British newspaper) reported that the film is a disturbing tale of a white female academic’s sexual abuse of a non-verbal Black man.
The Daily Beast (American news website) stated that though Stubblefield seemed sincere, it’s not the same thing as innocent. The article added that she seems to have deluded herself into believing a fiction because it made her feel good about liberating Johnson from his disabilities.
Many other publications including Time magazine, Forbes and the New York Times Magazine all published articles about this case and are available online for anyone interested.
Tell Them You Love Me was a hard watch, which raised many issues. In the end, I found myself left with more questions than answers, including why?
If you've seen it or watch it in the future, perhaps you will as well.
The posts this week were a break from recounting our recent road trip adventures. Next week there will be another of those posts and you will see folks walking on the ocean floor.
13 comments:
...if is interesting. One of our daughters has cerebral palsy and has been a speech/language pathologist for over 20 years and works with autistic children and a member of ASHA. I need to ask her if she know of this case.
What a sad situation. I think many experiences of love between those of highly different abilities (?) or age, or other evidences such as race, are very difficult for our society. And since there's one person often without the means of defending themselves, our society uses it's norms to judge the relationship, and stands up for the lesser or more dependent individual. And unfortunately the innocent ones sometimes can't make their own choices in the matter. Bring sex into the equation and people will all have their own opinions about the inequalities of the relationship. We defend the more innocent based on a code of morals of the majority.
This is such a bizarre and unusual case - thanks for sharing it. I have mixed feelings about this, which are probably best kept to myself.
That is a strange story. One of our good friends had a son with severe CP and he would not have been capable of a sexual relationship. He did use a communication board, but it must be different than what is told in the documentary. I guess a relationship depends upon the severity of the disability, but it sounds like that professor was a predator. Was there a backstory about her?
This is a strange story I didn't end up reading most of it, but a good one for discussion
I did not know anything about this. I truly don't know what to think, and I can't imagine how hard it must have been for the jury to decide anything. I am not sure she should have gone to jail. My word, what a story!! Her poor husband!
An ethics professor...hmmmmm. I can see it would be very disturbing. She seems deluded.
It's too upsetting.
I have worked with disabled people who have communication boards, but they manage them all on their own. No one is moving their hands or fingers around on the board. Sounds very strange.
I have this in my watchlist, but knew I'd have to really be in the right mood to watch it. From what little I have heard about the case and my own personal experience working with disabled persons...my first reaction is that she is deluded. I'll probably watch it one day...but am in no hurry.
On balance, I think I can live without watching this.
It does sound really disturbing.
Sounds a disturbing story.
Hi Beatrice, Watching the news unfold every day with strange, weird and obscene stories, we see all sorts of horrid stories ranging from rape to murder to child and spouse abuse and rampant violence and theft. It does get depressing. Having spent most of my career managing retail security, loss prevention and safety operations across the country, very little surprises me at this point. I guess that that is a sad commentary. Take Care, Big Daddy Dave
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