the debarge family are the children of robert debarge, sr. (died 2009), a white man of french descent, and etterlene debarge (née abney), a black woman born in michigan in 1935. they married when etterlene was 17, a year after the death of her father james abney, a church choir leader and peanut retailer. they separated in the mid-1970s and divorced in 1974. etterlene remembers robert debarge, sr. as physically and emotionally abusive to her and the children, and said he used her youth, the absence of her father, and continuous pregnancy to control her. debarge, sr. has been characterized as "domineering and physically abusive to his wife," and some of the debarge children have accused him of having sexually abused them. bunny debarge, the eldest, recalls being sexually abused by him between the ages of seven to 13.