Edward Duncan, 28, was arrested Friday evening on Felony Indecent Exposure charges, for exposing himself to two 12 year old girls at Harpeth Hills School. Duncan, now an Uber/Postmates driver, but from the influential Duncan Family, stakeholders in Solidus, which owns SouthComm Communications, Nashville Scene, Nashville Post, & others worth hundreds of millions) and has been through this all before. Duncan’s father, Townes Duncan, has a long history of keeping his son out of trouble since adopting him from a Russian orphanage at the age of 13.
According to an arrest affidavit, the two students reported to a school counselor that a man driving an SUV entered the school campus and drove passed them with the window rolled down. When the vehicle passed, the girls were able to see the suspect had his penis exposed and was masturbating.
A school security officer later reviewed the school’s security surveillance system for the time of the event and caught a blue Honda Pilot entering the property. It also showed the suspect pass the girls with the vehicle window rolled down and his penis exposed and him masturbating, the affidavit states. Authorities ran the vehicle’s license plate and found it belongs to Duncan.
During an interview with detectives, the affidavit continues, Duncan told police the vehicle was his and that he drove onto the campus, exposed himself and masturbated in front of the girls.
Let’s take a look at what we do know, and a little history of one of Nashville’s wealthiest and most influential families.
The Nashville Scene reports on a 2008 grand jury indictment for 2 coutns of child rape, 3 counts of sexual battery, and 1 count of statutory rape for the ‘unlawful sexual penetration’ of 3 girls ages 5-7:
On Friday, Sept. 26 [2008], Edward Duncan pleaded guilty to three counts of simple assault, a misdemeanor. He will serve 24 months of probation. At the end of that time—if he keeps his nose clean—the case will be expunged from court files forever. There will no longer be any indication that he was indicted on two counts of child rape, three counts of sexual battery and one count of statutory rape for the “unlawful sexual penetration” of three girls ages 5 to 7.
The 2008 article continues:
Colleges and future employers will have no idea that Duncan, now 19, was accused of showing his penis to three little girls who lived next door to his parents’ Belle Meade home. They’ll never know that he was charged with tricking at least one of the girls into licking his penis by telling her it was a lollipop tree.
Edward’s father, Townes Duncan, probably prefers it this way. He’s an influential man in Nashville, a former attorney turned venture capitalist who owns a stake in SouthComm, parent company of The City Paper. He also sits on the board of the prestigious Ensworth School, where the three little girls go to school, and where Edward attended until his indictment.
In 2008, One of his victims came forward voluntarily and wrote this:
“Hello My name is Caroline Keeble and i am one of the young girls he sexually abused that night. I am here to say to these people how dare any of you who say we are lying what kind of child grows up thinking there whole life that they would like to make this big story up. How in the world would we know so much about rape and sexual abuse. I feel sorry for all of you to say we are lying. For those who support us thank you to no end we are glad that some people can see the truth and are not being bribed to say those things. I am 16 years old now and the details are blurry on what happened that night but what I can tell you is that it is true and screw any of you who say otherwise. He threatened us and said he would kill us if we told how is that for someone who says he is a good guy.”
And gave some more details in a second comment:
“For all you people out there that say he is innocent stop talking please. He is not. I am one of the three girls. Everything we said is true. I will never forget that night. The story above forgot one part. The reason we never told our parents until a month later is because he threatened us that he would hurt my mom if we did. My parents wanted the best for us after that situation and so that is why they called off us talking in court and the charges and everything. I didn’t understand any of it. I was so confused. I am staggered now knowing so much than only being 6. I mean yes, my mother did say that stuff on text, but only to Trey Harwell our lawyer and family advisor. I had to spend 4 years in S.A.C. just to get over this. I still have nightmares but don’t tell my parents because they would stress. I am just staggered since I am older and understand what happened other that when I was 6. Trust me when I say this, I would never lie about that. It happened. It is the truth. I am still scared to this day that he will be back and hurt my parents or sisters because technecly I am the one who told one night when my mom was tucking me in for bed. I am crying while typing this from just remembering.”
If should be noted that just after that 2008 agreement was reached, Duncan’s prominent family sent him on a 2009 trip to Europe, outside the jurisdiction of Nashville courts, and to make sure no more charges appeared during that crucial time. Maybe that was just a coincidence.
The Nashville Scene article continued:
Townes Duncan countered by hiring a dream team of lawyers and circulating an email to friends, family and business associates, decrying the charges and proclaiming his son’s innocence (Family Vs. Family, Sept. 4, 2008). If found guilty at trial, Edward would have spent much of his remaining time on earth locked in a cage of steel and cement.
But he would never face a jury. District Attorney Torry Johnson is a friend of Townes Duncan, so he recused himself from the case. In stepped former Williamson County prosecutor Joe Baugh, who didn’t have much to work with. His principal witnesses were three little girls who couldn’t even fully understand what they’d been through.
That brings us to current day, where Edward G Duncan is now charged with exposing himself to 2 12 year old girls at Harpeth Hills School. Will Justice prevail THIS time?
Duncan was released less than 2 hours after being arrested, on a $10,000 bond, and is due on court on October 20th.
a second Nashville Scene covered a lot more of the backstory:
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