Augusta broker tells tragic story of abuse, survival on 'Humans of New York' Instagram

Famed Augusta Realtor Venus Morris Griffin is going viral with her story of love and tragedy on the Instagram page, “Humans of New York.”

“You’d think I hate him, but I can’t,” she wrote. “Because I loved him. Everyone did.”

The Meybohm Real Estate vice president is referring to her husband, John (Tripp) Morris III, laying out, hour by hour, the story of how they fell in love and the abusive partner and father he became.

“How could I not have known?” she wrote in one of the posts. “I’ve asked myself that so many times.”

John (Tripp) Morris III is currently serving 45 years in prison for aggravated child molestation of a preschooler. He was sentenced in 2012 and later denied a motion for retrial.

In Humans of New York's 6 p.m. post she writes, "On the night of his sentencing I gathered my kids around the kitchen table. I told them: ‘Your father did some very bad things. But those things had nothing to do with us. I’m scared right now. But I’m your mother, and I’m not going to let this bring us down.’"

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HONY was created by Brandon Stanton in 2010 to tell the stories of New Yorkers and has expanded to feature stories from around the globe. Stanton encourages his followers to submit suggestions of interesting people to him. Across social media platforms, HONY has 29 million followers. 

Griffin's thread has generated a huge following, with the initial post gaining over 200,000 likes and over 4,000 comments. As of 6:30 p.m., HONY had posted 10 times as part of the thread, and will share three more soon.

This isn't the first time Griffin has shared this story. In recent months, she has posted on her own social media accounts about it, and includes it in her publicspeaking engagements. More recently, she has shared her story in a memoir titled “Validated.”