“The Crazy Train” is the telling of the bizarre yet true story of the Judd family, focusing primarily on Hannah and Phontaine, over the course of their marriage as they work to raise their 15 children. It's a story about a family simply trying to raise their children in a Christian home, only to have attacks against them from both inside and outside the church, from members of their own neighborhood, from legal authorities, and even from family and close friends. The story focuses on a period of approximately six years, starting in 2016, when their friend and business partner John Huffman embezzles their money, leading to financial duress. Logan Sheppard, their bishop in the church, refuses to help them and instead turns against them and actively persecutes their family, relying on misinformation and rumors to fuel his decisions. Instead of making things better, Logan becomes the embodiment of ecclesiastical abuse. When Phontaine approaches his father and stepmother for help, they reject his petition, citing his daughter Tia as a main reason for the rejection. Tia struggles with the rejection, church persecution, and financial difficulties, and she is unable to navigate the disparity between her religion (and relationship with God) and how she and her family gets treated by members of the church. Tia gets sexually assaulted by a boy at church but when she seeks help from Bishop Sheppard, her concerns get dismissed. These issues lead Tia to resort to self-harm and suicide gestures as ways to cope, only further complicating her relationships and making things more difficult for Hannah and Phontaine to get help. At the same time, a neighbor woman, Jerry Glass, takes advantage of Tia and begins grooming her for what appears to be sex trafficking and exploitation, being aided by Tia’s high school guidance counselor and a high school security guard. Jerry hides Tia from her parents for two weeks, but when Hannah and Phontaine call the police to bring Tia home, the police refuse and enable the child abduction. When Phontaine manages to retrieve Tia from a public park with the intent to send her to her grandparents to live and get treatment, the police arrive, dismiss witnesses, arrest Phontaine, throw him in jail, and accuse him of felony child endangerment and felony assault against Jerry Glass and Tiffany Wilson—the very women who had hid Tia from the Judds and abducted her. The police officers falsify their reports, and Phontaine gets put into the court system for trial. Still struggling financially, Phontaine lacks the funds to hire adequate legal counsel, and he ends up being found guilty of assault against the very persons who had taken his daughter from him. As part of the guilty verdict, the judge rules that Phontaine did not have a right to protect his own daughter. The judge has Phontaine’s request for “defense of others” stricken from the record, thus ensuring Phontaine cannot appeal the decision. Phontaine is found guilty by CPS on account of the false police report. When he files formal complaints against the officers and produces written and video evidence to prove it, his claims get dismissed. The story continues as the Judds relocate to a new church congregation, hoping for a fresh start. However, when Caleb breaks up with his girlfriend in order to prepare for serving a full-time mission, the girlfriend’s mother Sondra Brown gets upset. Sondra spreads false rumors about Caleb and the Judd family. The rumors all but destroy the Judds’ reputation. The Judds appeal to their new bishop for redress, only to be denied. They then appeal to their stake president, who also denies them, siding with his friends instead of addressing the problem. As the rumors become more extreme and damaging, the Judds again ask their church leaders to help resolve the problems caused by the Brown family, but they refuse. The Judds are assaulted by the Brown family when they try to make reconciliation. When the Judds appeal to higher authorities, their stake president Alan Smith retaliates. He revokes their church privileges, has them removed from his congregation, and presumably calls CPS to try to take away their children. As the Judds work to prove their innocence, the stake president and other church leaders threaten excommunication. The story continues into the present as the Judds begin a fight to clear their names, get their son cleared to serve a full-time mission, and restore their legal and church rights and privileges. While “The Crazy Train” is a story of rejection, defeat, persecution, and injustice, it’s also a story of determination, resilience, patience, love, longsuffering, and triumph.