Where Is Beth Thomas of The Child of Rage Now?

Beth Thomas is now a married woman, a nurse, and an author. She currently resides in Flagstaff, Arizona, where she works at Flagstaff Medical Center. She and her second adoptive mother, Nancy Thomas, published a book titled More Than a Thread of Hope which relates how she overcame her psychotic behaviors.

Beth has been married since the 18th of November 2016, but the identity of her husband remains unknown as they live a quiet life. She was the subject of the 1992 CBS television movie titled Child of Rage. The biographical drama television film directed by Larry Peerce is based on her true story. Starring Ashley Peldon and Mel Harris, the movie depicts how being sexually abused as a child left Beth with severe behavioral problems.

As shocking as this movie was when it was first released, it was nothing compared to a documentary HBO released about Beth in 1990 when she was only 6 and a half years old. The documentary was an interview between Beth and her psychologist wherein she disclosed the disturbing things she had done at a young age. This remains why people have been curious about what became of her life as an adult.

Where is Beth Thomas Today?

Beth Thomas is currently 39 years old. She is now a married woman who lives with her husband in Flagstaff, Arizona, where she works as a nurse. In addition to that, she is an author, and she assists her second adoptive parents in running a consultancy firm known as Families by Design: Nancy Thomas Parenting. Beth lives a quiet life with her husband, whose name is yet to be revealed.

However, reports have it that she got married to the man on the 18th of November, 2016. This means they have been married for 7 years. Despite this, much is yet to be learned about their life together as a couple. It is hard to tell if they have kids, but Beth has channeled her life goals toward helping children who need special care or medical attention.

Some reports have suggested that Beth Thomas chose not to have kids because of what she experienced in her early life. While this seems rational, there is no shred of evidence that supports this claim. The fact of the matter is that the public doesn’t know if she has children or not. As an adult, she has been open about her career and other related activities but has been secretive about her personal life; especially when it comes to her marriage.

She Works as a Nurse at Flagstaff Medical Center in Arizona

Beth Thomas was able to meaningfully turn her life around from the destructive destination it was headed to. She completely conquered the psychotic behaviors that came as a result of the abuses she faced as a kid from someone who was supposed to love and protect her. Now, she lives her life helping to save lives as a nurse. According to reports, she is an award-winning nurse at the Flagstaff Medical Center in Arizona.

After Beth defeated her demons and graduated from high school, she decided to pursue a career as a nurse. So she enrolled at Beth-El College of Nursing & Health Sciences at the University of Colorado. She eventually graduated with a bachelor’s degree in nursing, and it marked the beginning of her career as a nurse. Now a registered nurse at Flagstaff Medical Center, Beth has been working with the medical center in Arizona since 2005. She works in the Special Care Nursery, where she gets to care for newborn babies.

So far, she has received some coveted awards for the services she renders to humanity as a nurse. Four years into her career, she was recognized by the Nursing Spectrum Magazine as one of the best nurses in the Western United States. Many years later, precisely in 2010, she won the Mountain West Nursing Excellence Award under the Mentoring category. Accepting the award, Beth expressed that she was delighted to be honored as such and reiterated her commitment to caring for young lives in the neonatal ICU.

According to her, she loves what she does, and to be honored for it is the icing on the cake. Beth related that she finds working with premature infants and their families rewarding and fulfilling.

Beth Has Co-authored Two Book With Her Second Adopted Mother, Nancy Thomas

In addition to being a celebrated and accomplished nurse, Beth Thomas is also a published author. From what we gathered, she has thus far published two books with her second adopted mother, Nancy Thomas. The books are titled More Than a Thread of Hope and Dandelion on My Pillow, Butcher Knife Beneath. 

The first details the struggles, challenges, and treatment Beth had to live through during the intensive therapy she was subjected to in a bid to modify her psychopathic behaviors as a child. It also explores the abuses she suffered from her biological father, which inadvertently led to her psychotic behavior.

The second, Dandelion on My Pillow, Butcher Knife Beneath, captures touching, real-life stories of emotionally lost children. Beth’s adoptive family had helped the kids leave the destructive paths their lives were on through the activities of Families by Design.

She Also Works with Her Mother’s Consultancy Firm

Being an author and working as a nurse isn’t all Beth Thomas has going for her at the moment. In addition to those, she works in her adoptive mother’s consultancy firm called Families by Design: Nancy Thomas Parenting. The firm is renowned for offering children-oriented therapies and useful information to families and professionals on how to handle adoption, early trauma, and Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD).

The consulting firm also offers online courses, webinars, and camps. Working with the firm, Beth often engages in public speaking at seminars where she shares her early life experiences and how she got rid of her severe behavioral problems. As culled from the firm’s website, its goal is to provide resources that go a long way in helping kids with Reactive Attachment Disorder and other disorders like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD).

Families by Design prides itself as the home of brian based behavior intervention. Given what Beth went through in the early years of her life, she finds it rewarding working with the consultancy firm operated by her adoptive family.

Beth Thomas Gained Nationwide Publicity in 1990 When HBO Released Child of Rage

Beth Thomas was only 6 years and a half when she gained nationwide publicity thanks to an HBO documentary titled Child of Rage. The documentary, which left many in shock, was in the form of an interview between little Beth and her therapist, Dr. Ken Magid. Many found the documentary unsettling as little Beth, with a sweet demeanor, softly talked about things no one expected to hear from a six-year-old.

She talked about how she had tortured animals in the most gruesome of ways, how she sexually molested her infant brother Jonathan, how she attempted to kill him, and her desire to kill her adoptive parents as well. It was a shocking documentary that left many wondering how a little girl came about with such psychotic behavior. Well, the answer wasn’t far-fetched, for as disclosed in the documentary, she was severely abused by her biological father.

She Lost Her Mother When She Was a Year Old, and Her Father Began Abusing Her Sexually

Many things are yet to be learned about Beth Thomas’ biological parents. However, we can confirm that her mother died when she was a kid, and this gave room for her sadistic father to begin molesting her. Beth’s mother died when she was only one year old, leaving her and her infant brother Jonathan to the care of her father. Unfortunately for Beth and her brother, their father was an irresponsible sick fellow. He didn’t only neglect his kids but started molesting Beth. It is said that he sexually abused his daughter until she was 19 months old.

With crayons, Beth painted horrid images of herself in bed crying while her dad fondles her genitalia. Beth and Jonathan would be later rescued by Child Services, but grave damage had been done to the kids already. According to reports, Jonathan’s head bulged forward and was flat in the back. This was a result of him being left on his back in his crib for long hours, sometimes for days. It was said that he had a hard time rolling over and couldn’t raise his head. Beth, on the other hand, was always troubled with nightmares about a man falling on her body and causing her pain with his body parts.

Beth and Her Brother Were First Adopted By Tim and Julie Tennent

After Child Services rescued Beth and Jonathan from their abusive father, they were adopted by Tim and Julie Tennent, who had no kids of their own. Jonathan was only seven months old at that time, while Beth was approaching her second birthday. Tim and Julie were not informed of the abuse and neglect the siblings had suffered, but they soon learned that something wasn’t quite right with the kids.

Just about two months after Tim and Julie Tennent took the kids home, they realized that they both had disturbing behaviors, especially Beth. She was still a kid, but Julie caught her masturbating several times. It is said that she went at it on a certain day so much that her vagina began bleeding. She also began molesting her brother Jonathan, physically and sexually. He poked pins into Jonathan and at one point, attempted to kill him by smashing his head on the floor of their basement.

Beth also talked about killing her parents and the entire family. While all of these were disturbing, what was more worrying was the fact that she had no remorse for her actions. It is said that she understood that they were bad and despicable but didn’t just care. Though she was a kid, her adoptive parents became scared of her and started seeking ways to help her and protect themselves from harm.

Beth Thomas was Later Diagnosed with a Severe Case of Reactive Attachment Disorder

With the series of disturbing behaviors that Beth Thomas exhibited, her adoptive parents took her to a therapist named Connell Watkins. Watkins soon diagnosed Beth with a severe case of RAD. This means that she was unable to get along with anyone and lacked empathy. Essentially, she was a sociopath psychopath, but those terms weren’t used to describe her condition as she was a minor.

According to various medical platforms, RAD often emanates from the inability to form attachments to caregivers in early childhood. This arises from factors like sudden separation from a primary caregiver, neglect, or abuse. All of these were among the things Beth Thomas experienced as a child. To treat Beth, Watkins had to take her in so as to give her what has been described as intensive behavior modification.

Living with the therapist, Beth lost all her freedom. She couldn’t do anything without seeking permission first, and she was locked inside her bedroom at night as it was feared that she might escape and hurt people in the house. Although it was a harsh method, it worked as Beth gradually improved. Barley, a year after she started living with Watkins, she had learned how to be empathetic and remorseful. It is said that she cried while they revisited her abuse of her younger brother and stopped talking about killing people. However, the therapy went on for years, and she was later adopted a second time by Nancy and Jerry Thomas.

About Her Second Adoptive Parents, Nancy and Jerry Thomas

Following her years of treatment with Connell Watkins, the family that Beth Thomas was adopted into further facilitated her healing process. She was adopted for the second time by Nancy and Jerry Thomas. From what we gathered, the couple has shared over four decades of their lives raising and helping children who are severely emotionally disturbed.

Their home is said to be a place for healing the hearts of children. While they gave birth to three children, they adopted another three, including Beth. Nancy and Jerry Thomas are said to have fostered and cared for over 100 children.

What Happened to Beth Thomas’s Biological Father? Is He in Jail?

Beth Thomas’s biological father probably ended up in prison after what he did to his kids came to light. It is no secret that the sexual assault of a child is counted as a second-degree felony. The punishments handed to offenders upon conviction usually include up to 20 years in prison.

Having said that, the whereabouts of Beth Thomas’ father is not known to the public. It is not known if he is still in prison or if he has regained his freedom. In fact, it is not known if he is alive, and most people don’t know his identity in real life.