EDEN — Two mentally disabled girls allegedly sold into prostitution by their mother need long-term medical and psychiatric attention for repeated sexual abuse, according to a civil suit filed on their behalf.
Mickey Dale Snow and three other local men, each charged with paying to perform sex acts on the girls, should have to pay for their care, the suit contends.
The girls’ court-appointed legal representative and a Charlotte attorney filed the suit Dec. 14 in Rockingham County Superior Court.
It says the men sexually assaulted and battered the girls “on numerous occasions over the course of multiple years,” beginning when each was 12. Their emotional trauma and other injuries “are all ongoing and will continue into the future,” the suit says.
It asks for at least $25,000 in damages.
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The suit had an immediate effect on Snow and his company, Snow Enterprises. On Dec. 21, a Rockingham County Superior Court judge agreed to temporarily freeze Snow’s assets, which means he can’t cash out any of his considerable businesses or properties.
The girls’ attorney — Sam McGee of Tin, Fulton, Walker & Owen in Charlotte — said in the suit that Snow was “actively engaged” in selling or transferring his assets.
That order expires Jan. 29.
Snow’s family posted his $25 million bond — $1 million in cash, nonrefundable, and an additional $20 million in collateral — to get him out of the Rockingham County Jail in December.
Snow had criss-crossed the globe last year while authorities sought his arrest. They finally caught him in Thailand in November, with help from the Royal Thai Police, and extradited him.
This case has both captivated and repulsed the community since the girls’ mother, Teresa Ann Vanover, was arrested Sept. 10.
The investigation had begun a day earlier. Social workers received a tip, which they forwarded to the Eden police, that Vanover was selling the girls to older men for sex.
Because of the age of the girls and the nature of the charges, there are fewer records open to the public than in a typical case.
Rockingham County District Attorney Craig Blitzer is remaining tight-lipped about this situation, citing the ongoing criminal cases. And a judge sealed the search warrants issued by the Eden Police Department.
The filings that are available, however, detail allegations even more sordid than previously reported: two mentally handicapped children, their lives marked by instability, betrayed by their mother and abused by men at least four times their age.
Here’s what we know about those involved.
The girls
The civil suit dubs them Minor Doe 1 and Minor Doe 2.
The real names are available in court documents, but the News & Record doesn’t identify victims of alleged sex crimes.
Minor Doe 1 is 17 now, according to records. Her sister is 15.
Police allege the crimes started in January 2013, when they would have been 14 and 12, respectively.
The civil suit, however, said the abuse began for both girls at age 12.
The suit refers to their mental disabilities several times, but doesn’t elaborate.
It says Vanover “offered them up to men in the community for sexual acts in exchange for money.”
“The details of the sexual acts engaged in will not be recited here,” it continues, “but constituted numerous sexual assaults and batteries which occurred on many occasions over a significant amount of time.”
The girls weren’t legally capable of consenting to the incidents “both on account of age and mental handicap,” the suit says.
The actions, it says, caused “physical and emotional distress.”
The suit makes note of their mental disabilities, but doesn’t elaborate.
The state has terminated Vanover’s parental rights, according to the suit. The girls are in the custody of the Rockingham County Department of Social Services.
Their father, Kenneth Vanover, died July 24, about six weeks before the Eden police started its investigation. According to his obituary, Kenneth Vanover had four other children, but it doesn’t list their ages, addresses, or whether Teresa Vanover is their mother.
His obituary also said he was a former employee of Snow Enterprises.
Teresa Vanover
She’s charged with 24 counts of child abuse by prostitution and 24 counts of promoting prostitution.
Vanover, 52, remains in the Rockingham County Jail with bail set at $5 million.
Eden police arrested her at 5 a.m. Sept. 10, just one day after they received the tip about possible sex crimes involving children.
According to arrest reports, the alleged crimes took place from January 2013 until July 31 — just days after her husband died. The reports don’t specify where the alleged crimes occurred, only that they took place in Rockingham County.
Vanover lived in a small house on Carolina Avenue in the Draper section of Eden. It’s unclear whether the girls lived with her.
Court records show that before her arrest Vanover was unemployed and received Social Security disability benefits. It’s not clear whether she is disabled or received money on behalf of Minor Doe 1, Minor Doe 2 or another relative.
Thomas Obie “Tommy” Woodall
This man known to be a colorful barber from Eden is charged with 12 counts of statutory sex offense and 12 counts of patronizing a prostitute.
Woodall, 66, is in the Rockingham County Jail with bail of $5 million.
As with Vanover, Eden police said they arrested Woodall at 5 a.m. Sept. 10. The list of evidence, noted in court documents, includes numerous interviews with Woodall and Vanover, along with search warrant photos.
For nearly 40 years, he has owned and operated Woodall’s Barber Shop, a one-man operation on North Fieldcrest Road in Draper. The shop is less than a mile from Vanover’s house.
Woodall is known around town as much for his practical jokes, his collection of golf balls and his devotion to Duke University basketball as he is for his haircutting. The self-proclaimed “mayor of Draper,” he has played Santa in the annual children’s Christmas parade, where he was grand marshal in 2004.
Woodall’s alleged crimes are the only ones recounted in detail in court documents.
They describe 12 identical sex acts with Minor Doe 2 — the younger of the two — between Feb. 1 and July 31.
In each instance, Woodall allegedly performed oral sex on the girl, then ejaculated on her.
She was 14 then, the warrants say.
Vanover “did permit and encourage” those acts of prostitution with Woodall, according to the warrants.
There’s a list of evidence in one of the court files: several discs containing interviews of Woodall and Vanover; search-warrant photos; and an interview with Minor Doe 1.
Everett James Ferris Jr
Ferris, 67, was the third person arrested — on Sept. 21, almost two weeks after Vanover and Woodall.
Ferris was charged with six counts of indecent liberties with a child and six counts of patronizing a prostitute.
He’s in the Rockingham County Jail, also with bail set at $5 million, which last month he asked the court to reduce. In the motion, his attorney said Ferris has been “extremely cooperative with law enforcement since the alleged incident.”
Ferris grew up in Eden, is “actively involved in nursing his disabled wife” and isn’t a flight risk, his attorney wrote.
The judge chose not to reduce the bail.
Until 2010, Ferris owned a house on Vaughn Street in Draper, next door to Woodall.
Mickey Dale Snow
Snow, a 75-year-old businessman, is charged with six counts each of patronizing a prostitute and statutory rape.
He also is charged with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, a federal crime. The Eden police planned to make him the fourth person arrested in the case on Sept. 25.
Snow was long gone by then, according to a warrant from the FBI.
Authorities tracked him in South Korea, Thailand, Amsterdam, Panama, Costa Rica — where he was denied entry — and finally back to Thailand, where he was arrested.
By far the highest-profile defendant in the case, Snow has been out of jail since December, when his family posted his bond.
Blitzer, the district attorney, argued that Snow was a flight risk because he’s rich and had fled before.
The judge ordered Snow to stay at home and wear an electronic monitor.
His assets are frozen until at least Jan. 29, when the temporary restraining order expires. Until then, he’s barred from selling or liquidating any holdings, which include more than $7 million in property he or his companies own.
The girls’ attorney asked for the order “to preserve their ability to recover damages” from Snow.
Federal authorities also accused Snow of cashing out his holdings.
The warrant said Snow sold properties and drained accounts “to travel, to remain abroad and to avoid returning to the United States for a considerable amount of time.”
Snow long had maintained homes in Eden and in Ormond Beach, Fla., where he operates Snow Enterprise and Snow Enterprises Southeast. The companies offer home inspections, appraisals, disaster response and portfolio management.
Seth Woodall, an Eden attorney defending him against the criminal charges, didn’t return calls from the News & Record.
Snow’s attorney in the civil matter — Darren McDonough from the Greensboro firm Ivey, McClellan, Gatton & Siegmund — declined to comment.
Donnie Ray Carter
Carter, 55, was the last of the defendants to be charged — on Nov. 19. He faces three felony charges: two counts of indecent liberties with a minor and one count of patronizing a prostitute.
Last week, a judge reduced his bail from $5 million to $150,000, which he posted. He must observe a curfew of midnight to 6 a.m.
Carter’s attorney said the high bond was a function of the public’s fixation on Snow.
Carter never has met Snow, according to his attorney.