"We didn't know if it could get worse if we were to confront [it]," Miller said.
Freeman and Miller also say that Matt kept Winkler from seeing her family.
"As these years went on, she seemed to be nervous to show love towards us," Miller said. "Now it's back to the old Mary [who] loves us and doesn't care to come and hug us and gives us a kiss on the cheek."
Winkler's attorneys say there are also indications that Matt may have sexually abused her as well.
"What went on behind their closed doors is going to have to be told," said Winkler's attorney Leslie Ballin. "Some of what we've got from the state of Tennessee touches on sexual abuse."
What's striking to many outsiders is how accepting and supportive the majority of the community has been to Winkler.
That sense of forgiveness, community members say, stems from the town's Christian roots and from its tendency to give people the benefit of the doubt.
Winkler's daughters are currently living with Matt's parents.
"She misses her daughters, but she's staying busy," said Miller, of her sister. "She's the loving Mary we used to know."
ABC News' Mary Fulginiti contributed to this story from Tennessee.
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