Chapter Thirty One:Avril Terry: Part Three
Chapter Three
Who was Emmett Hashfield and why did police go to his house so soon into the investigation of a missing child?
Emmett Oliver Hashfield was born April 4, 1907 in Cloverport, Kentucky according to his WW2 draft card. (Curiously his death certificate lists his birth date as March 4, 1907.) Cloverport is a small rural town on the Ohio River. The closest large town is Owensboro.
According to a 1962 article he first went to jail for child rape in 1927.
In July of 1928, he is said to be a married man but he and a married woman and her three year old child were caught trying to flee from her husband in a boat on the Ohio. Because of the three year old child, prosecutors considered a Mann Act Charge based on his previous history. In August of that year, he and another inmate set a fire in their cells at the Rockport Jail. He was then transferred to another jail.
In May of 1929 he assaulted a 13 year old girl and left her in critical condition.
According to Census records he was definitely jailed in Madison Indiana at the Indiana Reformatory in 1930. His records show, without a doubt, that he was a serial rapist and child molester. In 1935 he avoided jail by marrying his female victim. Why did we punish child victims of rape by forcing them to marry their rapists? The very backward thinking at the time was that the rapist would have to financially support the victim and any children that came of the rape. His victim, now his wife, gave birth to a little girl in 1935. She was 16 at the time of the birth.
Hashfield was back in jail again, according to the Census, in 1940. One can hope that his 5 year old daughter at the time was not his victim but he would have had easy access to her. After serving that sentence he was out again and in 1947 he was convicted of raping a 10 year old boy and sentenced to 14 years in prison. He was paroled after 11 years. (The parole board’s rationale was that if they paroled him; they could monitor him and keep an eye on him. If they simply released him after his 14 years they had no legal right to check up on him.)
But, let’s look at his history one more time. Let’s break it down. After getting out of jail for child rape; He again raped a girl and escaped prosecution by agreeing to marry her. As her husband he could then rape her legally as much as he wanted. Five years later he is in jail. Seven years after that he goes to jail again; this time for raping a boy. So, rape a boy and you get your longest sentence yet. But, rape a girl and society will just give her to you. This is what society thought about women and girls in those days.
The 1950 Census shows Emmett Hashfield living at his brother Richard Hashfield’s house. His brother and sister-in-law had numerous young children. In an interview in 1960; his brother says that Emmett didn’t leave their home because he was molesting his nieces and nephews. It is not clear if he was asked that question or if he just volunteered that information.
One problem with rape law in the past comes from the horrifying fact that rape was not considered a violent crime in those days. It was seen as misbehavior. Lots of excuses were made and there was lots of victim blaming. “What was she wearing?”, “Was she drinking?”, “Why did she let him do that?”. His crimes must have been brutal for him to serve any time in those days. Because rape was not considered a violent crime, the sentences were not very long.
Another problem with rape law in the past was that a husband could legally rape his wife. Violence of all types against a wife was legal. Beating your wife was not going to get you taken to jail. The prevailing thought was that she must have deserved it. Part of the 1960’s feminist movement was about changing those laws and society’s perception of women. It was an uphill battle to be seen as people who deserved rights. It was only in 1993 that it became illegal in all 50 states to rape your wife.
Back in 1960, Emmett Oliver Hashfield was living and working in Boonville, Indiana. There was no sex offender registration. He was not required to notify his neighbors. He could go anywhere and do anything.
Police must have been aware of his past because they went to his house to check on him early on in the search for Avril. The trail of blood from his door leading across his porch and to his car caused them to break in the door immediately. They found Hashfield on his blood stained bed. They found Avril’s pants, shirt and underpants. But, no Avril.
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