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'I feel like our voices were heard' | New law expands child abuse definition to include emotional and mental harm

Authorities found 38 kids in a Morristown woman's care last July but declined to press charges because there was no physical abuse. Moms fought to change that law.

MORRISTOWN, Tenn. — Brandi Gilliam still doesn't feel like anyone has been held responsible for what her son went through. Last July, authorities with the Hamblen County Sheriff's Office and Department of Children's Services found 38 kids in a Morristown woman's home.

Documents said she was running an unlicensed daycare, with possible safety hazards and improper staffing. Body camera video showed an investigator tearfully describing the gravity of what she had seen.

"16 years doing this job and I have never seen anything like this," she said. "It's literally child abuse."

RELATED: 'Literally child abuse' | Families frustrated after unlicensed daycare owner faces no criminal charges

District Attorney General Dan Armstrong told 10News he was unable to press charges against the woman because none of the children were physically harmed while in her care.

Gilliam said that's not right.

"Anyone that can see what happened knows that was wrong," she said. "They were strapped in Pack 'N Plays and bouncy seats, car seats, high chairs, in filthy conditions ... It was horrible."

RELATED: 'There's definitely emotional abuse' | Families push for stricter laws after unlicensed daycare operator faces no charges

That's why she worked with State Rep. Rick Eldrige (R-Morristown) to rewrite state law. As of July 1, abuse or neglect with "adverse effects on the emotional and mental health and welfare of the child" under 9 years old is a Class E Felony, even if there is no proof of physical harm.

It can't be retroactively applied in the unlicensed daycare case, but Gilliam hopes it'll prevent future situations like this.

"It was amazing just for all the hard work and all the stress, all the tears, all the things that we've went through to get it to where it is," she said. "It means so much. I feel like our voices were heard."

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