S2: E1 - Hidden
2023-05-18 00:43:43
<p>The Betrayal community is growing. From the producers that brought you the critically acclaimed Betrayal limited run series, a new always on docuseries will hit the feed every week. Our lives are all built on an invisible force: trust. But sometimes, the people we trust the most can turn out to be complete strangers. Every week, <em>Betrayal: Weekly </em>will share first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds.</p> <p> </p> <p>Go back and listen to Betrayal Seasons 1, 2, and 3!</p> <p> </p> <p>In Season 1 we follow Jenifer Faison's journey after discovering her husband Spencer Herron's hidden life. A reality TV producer, Jen moved across the country to be with Spencer, a beloved soccer coach and award-winning teacher in Acworth, Georgia. Their seemingly idyllic seven-year marriage abruptly ended when Spencer was arrested under shocking circumstances. Jenifer's quest for closure leads her to confront the truth about her husband through candid interviews with his victims and other affected women. Through these conversations, Jen begins to heal and reclaim her life from the shadow of betrayal.</p> <p> </p> <p>In Season 2, Ashley Lytton, a suburban mom of three in Utah, faces a life-altering revelation about her husband. His shocking crime not only jeopardizes their safety but thrusts Ashley into a relentless quest for justice and protection for her daughter. Through Ashley's harrowing journey, the season exposes a pervasive issue affecting families nationwide, shedding light on a betrayal that undermines our core values and communities.</p> <p> </p> <p>In “Betrayal” Season 3, Stacey Rutherford thought she met her soulmate when she laid eyes on Dr. Justin Rutherford. They fell in love, and it was better than she ever imagined. But this family doctor, beloved father, and cherished husband had dark secrets. He had sworn to do no harm but would resort to any means necessary to save himself. </p>
Tune into the podcast I Choose Me with Jenny Garth as the Beverly Hills 90210 alum explores the transformative power of those three words. Discover how you, too, can choose health, healing and happiness, and be the star of your own life.
I'm Jenny Garth and I have a brand new podcast called I Choose Me. Join Me each week as I continue my quest for contentment and gratitude.
Listen to I Choose Me with Jenny Garth on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
I'm Renee Stubbs and I'm obsessed with sports, especially tennis. Tune into my podcast each week to hear me and my friends in the community break down the latest matches, including the U.S. Open, plus hear from some of the biggest names in the sport about what the future holds. It's about belief, and once you break through that, then you know you can win a grand Slam.
Listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast every Monday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports.
Topics featured in this episode may be disturbing to some listeners. Please take care while listening.
My husband and I were opening a business, his first job was that very next day. One of the clients had asked if they could venmo him, so he'd called me that morning, September 29th, 2021. He was like, I need you to set up my business, Venmo.
And I was like, all right, username and password for whatever email is connected to your VenMo. So he sent me the login for his iCloud and as I'm signing in, he frantically calls me back. He was like, Oh, don't worry about it, we'll do it together when we get home.
I'm sorry, it's going to be too much. Don't do it. I knew by the tenor of his voice that he was trying to hide something. I thought maybe he bought something that he didn't want me to know about.
There was nothing in his photos. And then I scrolled down and that's when I saw a hidden folder and I opened it.
You know, when you open your photos, it's going to show you, like a whole bunch of them at once. I slammed my computer shut.
What the hell did I just see?
I'm like, No, there's no way. I saw that. My first reaction was like, that was disgusting. I need a shower, I need to get that off of me.
Unfortunately, you can't scroll down.
When I was in the shower, I said the most heartfelt prayer I think I've ever said in my life. I was like, God, something's wrong. Whatever you're about to hand to me, I'm ready, I can do this, God, I'm ready for you.
I'm Andrea Gunning. This is Betrayal Season 2, Episode 1 Hidden.
When we set out to make Season 1, our goal was simple If we could help make one person feel less alone, then we did our job. And the responses we got from you guys, it was overwhelming. Thank you all for sharing your thoughts and feelings. We value them so much.
In addition to feedback, we also heard from people wanting to share their story. Some of them were heartbreaking, some were inspiring. We received hundreds of emails, and several of them revealed a betrayal that nobody wants to talk about. I was surprised to see this issue reappear in email after email.
Would I be able to take this subject on? I was nervous, but it was something I could not ignore, especially since there was this one email I could not stop thinking about. It was from the woman you just heard that slammed her computer shut. She's based in Utah, and in the winter of 2022, I flew out to meet her.
It was late when I landed in Salt Lake and the roads were empty. It was a 20-minute drive to the place we were staying. It was dark. Looking out into the sky, there was an outline that almost split the sky into two two black shapes, gently resting against one another.
What was that?
It was a picture of a man in a white shirt.
At first, I didn't know what it was. They were the Wasatch Mountains. It was breathtaking. I had never been to Utah and the mountains that surrounded me, seeing the best of nature. It provided a sense of comfort, almost like a hug, almost as if the sky was saying, Welcome, you're safe here.
The mountains were keeping watch.
Despite the sense of safety and the beauty, I was guarded, thinking of what lies beneath. I was there to cover a story, a story born in the darkness, the shadows, a story about betrayal, invasion and, really, the worst parts of humanity. It's the story of Ashley Linton, a mother of three who lives in a town called Riverton, 25 minutes south of Salt Lake City.
I grew up in West Valley City, Utah. It's a suburb of Salt Lake City, and it's known locally as being just a little bit rougher, rougher crowds, tougher kids. And growing up, a lot of us kids kind of just ran the streets because our parents worked a lot. When I was a child, my mom got sick.
She has multiple sclerosis. My mom wasn't like super mobile instead of like, being a kid and being 10, and like playing at recess. That wasn't an option. The only option was to go home and check on mom, make sure she was OK.
Eventually, her mom needed more support.
My mom at this point was no longer in our home, and my dad worked nights and so I took care of my little brother and sister. Got them breakfast and I'd walk them to school every day, and then I'd go to junior high.
Just meeting with Ashley, I got the sense that she was someone who had to grow up quickly. She put her family's needs ahead of her own. She helped raise her two younger siblings, managed a household. There was never a question, Ashley just did what needed to be done.
Ashley's dad, John Trujillo.
Ashley's been the caregiver and still is more caregiver than all the kids Ashley's been the caregiver from day one.
She told me that her only escape from all of that responsibility was a boy she met at school.
I met Matt in seventh grade, he was handsome and all the girls liked him, and he just happened to notice me, too. I wrote in my journal the first day that I found out what his name was.
Met the man I'm going to marry today. And then I wrote his name on Yearbook Day that year. This is going to totally age me. But in my yearbook, he said, Hey, give me a call sometime, gave me his number.
And then he put p.
S.
You're pretty fly.
And I was like, Oh my God, he thinks I'm fly. I didn't even know what that meant, but I just knew that it meant something like, super cool.
We all know this kid, wild, unpredictable.
I'd see him, you know, getting in trouble all the time, and I don't know. I just. I think I really admired, like how brave he was. It sounds brave, but really, it was probably reckless and stupid.
Matt wasn't exactly faithful to Ashley.
Bad boys rarely are.
It was not an awesome relationship and so I kind of made trades with it. More than anything, it was transactional. I guess I'd get rid of my respect to have a safe place to go outside of my home.
They were kids at first, but stayed together for more than 10 years, and during that time, drugs became the third partner in their relationship.
He really started struggling with addiction when we were like 15 or 16.
That's when he started, like painkillers, ecstasy, and I had never even really seen marijuana at that point in my life.
The drug addiction continued into adulthood, and so did their relationship. They still felt like kids, but they had to grow up fast.
I got pregnant with Avea when I was 20 and she was not planned. So that was interesting because I didn't want kids and I was using contraceptives. And it just still happened.
Three years later, a son came along. Ashley stepped up to the plate, determined to take care of her kids, Ashley's sister Anna.
She tried to be a devoted partner and he just wasn't that person, he wasn't ready to be a father. And it resulted in a lot of dysfunction and instability that my sister did a really good job trying to shield the children from.
He would settle down for months on end, but never like super consistent. But I was like, maybe this will be it, you know? Because I saw so much potential in him and I just thought he was meant for so much more than what he was doing.
Then Matt disappeared on a three-day bender.
I just knew that I was done, so I took his shit and dumped it on his brother's front lawn like a crazy lady. And I left him. I had to because of his addiction. I was like, I need to give these kids a chance.
Ashley spent her whole life prioritizing others. Leaving Matt meant she needed to come first. Leaving a relationship where you're so emotionally invested in your partner so young can be scary, but she did it. She got herself out of an unhealthy relationship and went to work for herself and for her two kids.
She took a waitressing job and hustled she was finding independence while on the job. One customer kept coming in over and over.
So one day I'm at work and I saw him and he smiled at me.
The he was Jason Linton, and he looked familiar.
I recognized him at that point because my sister went to high school with him and I thought he was GTL. I was like, EW, this idiot.
Ashley remembered him being such a meathead, but he was undeterred. He made a point of coming into Ashley's workplace often.
He was flirty with me and he'd come in like two or three times a week. He'd always get a shake, a chocolate shake, but I'd give him like an extra large shake, but I'd only charge him for a small. Everyone at work always were like, Oh, hey, Ashley, your shake boyfriend's here.
Ashley was surprised when Jason changed jobs and started working at the same restaurant, and she was assigned to train him.
We're sitting there. And he kept trying to talk to me while I was training him, and I was like, What do you want to know about me? I like to work and be a mom. What do you like to do? And I was kind of being an asshole because I wanted to get past this and train him and get it done over with.
Jason was determined to impress her.
And he's like, Well, I can sing, and I'm like, you can sing, and I'm not a mean girl. But I was going to shut this down real quick, so I was like, all right, let's see what you can do. Took him in the back.
I was friends with all the cooks and all the waitresses, and I was like, Hey, everyone, come here, come here. This new guy says he can sing.
What did he say?
Rascal Flat Song God Bless the Broken Road or something.
It's a song about broken paths, leading you to your future soulmate. Ashley certainly had a broken road. She could relate the lyrics. Look back on decisions made, things not working out, but inevitably for the better.
And it struck a chord, and Jason could really sing it.
My jaw was on the floor and I was like, OK, I'll have lunch with you here after the shift.
Ashley started to look at Jason differently. He wasn't the goofy guy his sister knew in high school anymore, he was serious. It was also fun, sweet and talented, He could sing and had a great sense of humor.
It was pretty quick that we met him. I thought, Wow, she's found a good guy. He was real respectful, very manly.
He was like Knight in shining armor. I was like, here's this normal dude that wants to be with me. Like what? I even told Jason when we were first dating, I'm like, you're crazy.
Like, what are you doing? You are handsome, you are young, I have baggage, I have debt.
I have a crazy ex, you know, like, I had all this stuff and he was like, No, I'm going to stay, I'll take a chance on you. And I thought how lucky I was.
And my family told me how lucky I was.
It began as a three-word line, spoken by Kelly Taylor, Jenny Garth's character on Beverly Hills 90210.
But it became her own formula for personal fulfillment and the rallying cry of an entire movement. The phrase I choose me has come to mean so much to so many. It embodies self-care and self-love.
I'm Jenny Garth and I have a brand new podcast called I Choose Me. What started as a line in a script has become a guiding force for me. I've learned that loving yourself is not selfish.
Tune into the podcast I Choose Me with Jenny Garth. As she continues her quest for contentment and gratitude. And leads you on an exploration of the transformative power of those three words. You'll learn how you, too, can choose health, healing and happiness to be the star of your own life and watch everything around you improve.
Join me each week as I continue my quest for contentment and gratitude, come along and live by the words I choose me.
Listen to I Choose Me with Jenny Garth on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
For decades, the mafia had New York City in a stranglehold, with law enforcement seemingly powerless to intervene.
It uses terror to extort people.
But the murder of Carmichaelante marked the beginning of the end, sparking a chain of events that would ultimately dismantle the most powerful crime organization in American history. It sent the message to them that we can prosecute these people. Discover how a group of young prosecutors took on the mafia and, with the help of law enforcement, brought down its most powerful figures.
These bosses on the commission had no idea what was coming their way from the federal government.
From Wolf Entertainment and iHeart podcasts, this is Law Order Criminal Justice system. Listen to Law Order Criminal Justice System on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
I'm Renee Stubbs and I'm obsessed with sports, especially tennis. On the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I get the chance to do what I love. Talk about how tennis and other women's sports are growing and changing, and what the future holds.
I think I just genuinely loved what I did. I love this waking up, putting on my sports gear. I still believe it was so rewarding. Maybe you can relate to it as well as a woman. I think it's a very powerful feeling to have a job at which you're able to see improvements in real time.
On the show, we dissect everything going on in the game straight from the biggest players in the world. Plus, serve up recaps of all the matches and headlines in the game, including a rundown of the U.S. Open. Every Monday, listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis Podcast every Monday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports.
My name is Kathy Trujillo and I am Ashley's stepmom. I love Jason. You could just see how nice and kind he was to her. He's really funny, he has a really great personality, can cut up the room pretty quick with laughter and jokes.
If we're comparing my old relationship to this relationship, Jason was normal. Jason came from a good family, He was charming, he was kind, he was a hard worker.
You wouldn't meet a person that didn't like Jason.
The sweetest part was how much he seemed to love Ashley's children.
He's really, super good with her kids.
Her daughter, Avea, was only two when Ashley met Jason. her son was still a baby.
It was so natural and they loved him and my son. He did all of his firsts in front of Jason, his first words, first time crawling, first time walking, first time giggling.
I think Avea was probably like five when they got married.
The wedding was August 12th, 2011, and they eventually had a child together, a daughter.
And it just seemed to make their family complete.
We moved to Riverton. I hate to use the word bougie, but it is more bougie than West Valley. And you know, 10, 15 years ago, before we moved out here, that was a big deal. It was cleaner, it looked safer.
The house, a good school, district, safety, a promising future. She had achieved her dream.
I met Ashley at her house in Riverton, she was finishing work.
So yeah, this is our living room.
Your house is adorable, it's so homey.
Thank you, yeah, it's fun. The kitties stay away from it now. We had no, no kitty spray. I just like, put the spray bottle right there and they were like,....
The first thing I noticed about Ashley is how full of life she is and how dedicated she is to her three children. Oh, and she's also really short and always has heels on.
A typical day in our household was insanely busy. Avea played competitive soccer and had practice for two hours. My son played little league football and then my youngest danced and had to go to dance once or twice a week as well. So I spent the majority of my days being a taxi driver for two hours, I'm a free taxi.
That's what I call it, I'm a free taxi.
Ashley and Jason have been married for 11 years. The two little ones she had when she first met Jason, they're teenagers now, and the baby they had together is nine. Avea, her oldest, has a driver's license and a job. All marriages have ups and downs.
They've struggled making ends meet. Mortgage payments were almost missed, but this new business they were launching was going to be a game changer.
Park City is a very well-established, very rich area of Utah. I mean, your movie stars hang out up there.
It's also a ski resort town, only about 40 miles from Riverton. Jason would have a lot of business opportunity in Park City.
He had a lot of work up there, he was working on $3 and $4 million homes.
Jason's former employer, Steve Eihausen, was selling Jason and another contractor his business. He's very personable. The contractors especially really liked him because he was very organized and was able to talk with the customers and kind of show them what needed to be done. It was all starting the next day, Jason just needed to set up a business Venmo account.
And he asked Ashley for assistance.
I knew, by the tenor of his voice, that he was trying to hide something, there was nothing in his photos. And then I scrolled down and that's when I saw a hidden folder and I opened it.
It plays like slow motion in my brain when I think about it, you know, I think about it a lot. When you first pull up your photos, it gives you however many, like 30 photos or something, you know. And it gives you like little squares so you can't really see unless you click on it, but those little squares, I could tell, weren't women.
I think my brain went to what I could recognize, like what made sense, and so I went to what I thought was explicit. Adult photos. So I saw the adult, and then I saw that this adult woman's face was superimposed on a female child's nude body.
Did you ever see something and think this isn't real? it can't be real? It was too disturbing for words. Why would her husband have this?
I clicked on one or two and screenshot it real quick and then instantly slam it shut.
What was all of this? she thought about Jason, her husband? Yes, there were problems. This was not a fairytale marriage. He was far from perfect.
But he wasn't this kind of person, she wouldn't look at material like this. This was criminal. Ashley knew she needed support quickly, even with what she had just seen, she didn't completely trust herself.
So she facetimed her younger sister, Anna.
For some reason in my brain, even though my subconscious knew it, my brain could not comprehend it. And I was like, No, you need to call Anne.
Anna had a similar reaction.
I remember just feeling like, What the fuck am I looking at?
Anna tried to see the photos through the phone at the same time she was looking at Ashley.
I just remember her gasping and putting her hands to her face. She just kind of lost her shit, she started hyperventilating.
Ashley works at home a few days a week. Jason knew she'd be there, and his intuition started kicking in.
He just started calling me off the hook and texting me and I wouldn't respond, so I was scared because I knew he was coming home.
Jason sounded anxious when they spoke, and now he was calling and texting with a frenzied energy.
She started going into this really weird, dark place where she was like, Oh my God, I got to get out of the house. He's going to come back here, he's going to find out that I've seen this, he's going to come kill me.
Her mind immediately went to another well-known case in Salt Lake City, where a husband kept secrets from his wife.
My first thought was Mark hacking and Lori hacking.
In 2004, the hacking case made international news and dominated the front pages of Utah newspapers. A young pregnant woman, Lori Hacking, discovered that her husband had lied about his education. As they were preparing to move across the country for Mark to attend medical school, Lori also learned he had never been admitted.
And instead of being exposed, he killed her, and they had to, like, look for her body in the landfill. I instantly was terrified and I was like, he's going to kill me.
Neither Anna nor Ashley knew exactly what to do next.
And I was like, Oh my gosh, I can't see it really well, but from what I think I can see, you need to go show Kathy, Kathy. She works at the Department of Corrections for the State of Utah and specifically has to deal with a lot of correspondence from inmates in and out of the prison.
Her stepmom, Kathy, would certainly recognize the content in the hidden file.
She was at the Utah State prison. It was probably like a 20 minute drive from Ashley. I wanted her to go see her, to see if the images were as bad as we thought they were.
She's been around some bad people, you know, we trust her.
I got a phone call from Ashley's sister, Anna, and she said, Hey, there's something really bad going on. Ashley is headed your way. She needs help. OK, so I went out in front of my building to look out the window.
And I seen her car pull in.
She said she'd seen images on Jason's phone, so I wasn't sure what we were talking about. I just assumed maybe he was having an affair or something. I knew it was something probably not great, but I went out and she got out of the car.
She was walking towards me and Ashley's little.
She wasn't able to hold herself up really well, and so I just grabbed a hold of her and was hugging her and holding her. We got back in her car.
And she showed me a screenshot of it.
I said, Oh my God, he's in so much freaking trouble and we're back and forth crying, both crying so hard because those girls were too young.
I'm not a age expert, but I do work at the prison and sometimes people send inmates pictures that they're not allowed to have. And I knew those girls were too young.
What happened next might be hard to understand. Unless you've been in this situation, you know you're sitting on a ticking time bomb. You have information that won't let you sleep, it will blow up your life, as you know it.
And you want some control over how and when it will explode. Ashley had someone in mind to help.
It began as a three word line spoken by Kelly Taylor, Jenny Garth's character on Beverly Hills 90210. But it became her own formula for personal fulfillment and the rallying cry of an entire movement. The phrase I choose me has come to mean so much to so many. It embodies self-care and self-love.
I'm Jenny Garth and I have a brand new podcast called I Choose Me. What started as a line in a script has become a guiding force for me. I've learned that loving yourself is not selfish.
Tune into the podcast I Choose Me with Jenny Garth. As she continues her quest for contentment and gratitude. And leads you on an exploration of the transformative power of those three words. You'll learn how you, too, can choose health, healing and happiness to be the star of your own life and watch everything around you improve.
Join me each week as I continue my quest for contentment and gratitude, come along and live by the words I choose me.
Listen to I Choose Me with Jenny Garth on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
For decades, the mafia had New York City in a stranglehold, with law enforcement seemingly powerless to intervene.
It uses terror to extort people.
But the murder of Carmichaelante marked the beginning of the end, sparking a chain of events that would ultimately dismantle the most powerful crime organization in American history. It sent the message to them that we can prosecute these people. Discover how a group of young prosecutors took on the mafia and, with the help of law enforcement, brought down its most powerful figures.
These bosses on the commission had no idea what was coming their way from the federal government.
From Wolf Entertainment and iHeart podcasts, this is Law Order Criminal Justice system. Listen to Law Order Criminal Justice System on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
I'm Renee Stubbs and I'm obsessed with sports, especially tennis. On the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast, I get the chance to do what I love. Talk about how tennis and other women's sports are growing and changing, and what the future holds.
I think I just genuinely loved what I did. I loved this waking up, putting on my sports gear. I still believe it was so rewarding. Maybe you can relate to it as well as a woman. I think it's a very powerful feeling to have a job at which you're able to see improvements in real time.
On the show, we dissect everything going on in the game straight from the biggest players in the world. Plus, serve up recaps of all the matches and headlines in the game, including a rundown of the U.S Open. Every Monday, listen to the Renee Stubbs Tennis podcast every Monday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Jason's older brother is a police officer for one of the bigger police departments here in Salt Lake, and I trust him.
Anna was concerned that Ashley's brother-in-law would be a brother before a police officer.
I thought it was a terrible idea, it was a huge conflict of interest. They were both convinced that he would do the right thing. I don't want to bash his character or anything, but that's his brother.
She was reluctant, she was like, I don't know, I don't know if I should call him, and I said, No. He's going to help us, he's going to help you.
He's a good man, he knows the right thing, He knows what to do, He'll help you.
She thought of their kids, their home and their family. This was going to fundamentally change everything.
I knew something was going to come of whatever just happened over the last hour and a half of my life, like, I knew that.
Ashley called her brother-in-law. Everyone in the family trusted him. He was a police officer, so it didn't feel as scary to talk to him. He would know what to do.
I said, I need to show you something, it's an emergency, I just found something, and I need to show you, I don't want to tell you over the phone.
They agreed to meet up right away at a local grocery store.
I see his car, I pull in next to him, and, you know, we exchange pleasantries. And I was physically shaking, I remember feeling my body shaking.
I pull my phone out and he glances at it. And it was like, Oh, I don't want anything to do with that. Get it away from me, don't show me again. I'm like, What do I do with this?
Like, What do I do? And he's like, first of all, you need to calm down because we don't know what that is. Those girls are probably 18, like barely 18, but they're probably 18. Before you do anything, let's talk to Jay and we're going to figure this out because this is definitely not what it looks like.
Let's wait.
The reality was it was exactly what it looked like pre-pubescent, naked girls who had been posed in a sexually provocative manner.
I was like, he totally just gaslit me.
I wanted to get away from him and so I got in my car.
The text from Jason kept coming in. We need to talk. At least, allow me to talk to you. please don't go talking with people until you have at least spoken with me. Ash, Please come home and let's talk.
Please don't give up on me, Ash, I know I'm a better person than this. I will get the help I need and quit ignoring my issues. I want to do right by my family and give you guys a life that you deserve.
What was there to say? How could he possibly explain?
I called my sister right when I left and I started crying and I can't breathe, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't breathe. And then all of a sudden, like I could feel, I could feel my left side of my face and like my shoulder and my arms. It just went numb, everything went numb, and I was like, Ann, I can't move my arm.
I can't move my arm, my heart hurts because my heart physically hurt. Like I had a pain in my chest and it went to the back of my shoulder. I was like, I think I'm having a heart attack and then it snapped in my brain. I was like, the kids, they can't lose both of us on the same day, and so I was like.
I'm going to call 911 and I'm like, No, I'm right down the street from the hospital.
Anna had been in this with Ashley almost from the first moments, she was really scared.
I told her, I'm going to come to you, just go and get checked out. And my husband was home and I went upstairs and I told him she's going to the ER. And I remember saying something like, I can't believe this is happening, how is this happening? And he just gave me a hug and he said, You got to go.
Ashley is strong, resilient, she's a person who helps, not a person who needs help, so I wasn't surprised when I heard that she tried denying her own distress.
I parked my car like a normal person, going to a doctor's appointment.
Walking in, I thought to myself, What am I doing? There's really sick people here that really need to be seen. And I went up to the desk. And this lady was super sweet and just happy, and she's like, What are we being seen for? And I just lost it.
I sobbed so hard that there was no sound coming out of me and I just collapsed. I remember hearing her being like, we need a wheelchair, we need assistance. So somebody came over and kind of grabbed me from underneath my arms to pick me up and put me in the wheelchair. I had my hands cupped over my eyes because I was so embarrassed.
I was losing my bananas in front of all these people. One of the nurses was wheeling me back and she's like, Oh, honey, it's going to be OK. You're going to be just fine. We're going to take care of you, you're going to be just fine.
And Anna, at that point, had got there.
Her heart rate was at 188 when she got there. My heart rate doesn't even get up to 188 when I'm doing hardcore exercise, so it was incredibly high. I think they gave her some medicine to calm down.
And we just sat there and cried together. I don't even remember what I told her. I think I said, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.
I was not having a heart attack, apparently. That's what a panic attack is. I had no idea that's what a panic attack was.
Once the physical stress subsided, Ashley couldn't help but think about the cost.
It dawned on me how expensive this was going to be and that now I knew I was going to lose Jason's income. There was no ifs, ands or buts, whatever it was. I knew that he was no longer going to be a part of it. And so I was like, No, we're not doing any more tests, I'm fine.
Ashley's brother-in-law, the police officer, was working behind the scenes and sent Ashley a text.
He's like, I'm meeting Jason right now and he's going to come to my house so he can give you some space. I told my brother-in-law I do not want to speak to him, I don't want to talk to him yet. Then he said, Well, let's sleep on it and figure out what to do.
She thought of her brother-in-law as her brother, too, but he wasn't, he was Jason's. It was clear in that moment, blood relations were going to matter starting now, and Anna had enough.
I remember losing my cool, I'm like, there's nothing to fucking talk through. And I remember telling her, he's not going to report it, Ash, he would have reported it by now.
Jason sent one more message, This one was a video.
I'm sorry, Ash. I've been really, really working hard on myself, but this is a cloud that's hung over me. I don't want to be without my family.
I just love you guys so much and I'm sorry.
I'm just sorry.
His earlier text said I will get the help I need and quit ignoring my issues now. He said he was working really, really hard on himself, but it didn't matter. Ashley never watched the video message, she didn't want to hear it.
The anger started setting in for, you know, all those little girls I saw, too.
Anna intervened.
When one of the nurses came in, he was like, Is there something we can do? Do you need to speak to, like a resource officer? And I just remember cutting him off, and I said, we need to see a police officer, we need to report a crime.
On this season of betrayal, Ashley learns her husband is participating in a crime being perpetrated in every community in our country. But finds out there's so much more.
Not only was there child pornography that had been downloaded, but there was also homemade videos.
And we'll meet other families who had no idea they were living with a perpetrator.
I just started screaming, I remember just dropped to my knees and started screaming.
It's a betrayal of everything you value in your own home and community. They broke down the front door at our house and came in on him. Going through all his hard drives, trying to delete stuff and learning that justice for a felony isn't what you see on TV.
His crime of conviction carries a penalty of one to 15 years in the Utah State prison. Did he get that? No.
On the next episode of Betrayal, Ashley and the police concoct a plan to bring Jason into custody.
You have the right to remain silent.
So you don't need to say anything to me, anything you say can and will be used against you in court.
As a disclaimer, Ashley told her story about her conversation with Jason's older brother to police. And it was included as part of the affidavit of probable cause that led to Jason's arrest. His older brother's conduct as a police officer was investigated by the authorities and ultimately, it was determined that there was insufficient evidence of any violations of law by him. If you would like to reach out to the betrayal team, email us at Betrayalpod at gmail.com.
That's betrayalPod at Gmail.
CoM. To report a case of child sexual exploitation, call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's Cyber Tip Line at 1-800-the-Lost. If you or someone you know is worried about their sexual thoughts and feelings towards children, reach out to Stopitnow..org. In the United Kingdom, go to stopitnow..org..uk. These organizations can help.
We're grateful for your support, and one way to show support is by subscribing to our show on Apple Podcasts. And don't forget to rate and review. Betrayal. Five-star reviews go a long way. A big thank you to all of our listeners.
Betrayal is a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group, in partnership with IHeart Podcasts. The show was executive produced by Nancy Glass and Jennifer Faison. Posted and produced by Me Andrea Gunning, written and produced by Carrie Hartman, also produced by Ben Fetterman.
Associate producer Kristen Melchiorri. Our iHeart team is Allie Perry and Jessica Kreincheck. Special thanks to our talent Ashley Litton and production assistant Tessa Shields. Audio editing and mixing by Matt Dalbecchio. Betrayal's Theme Composed by Oliver Baines.
Music Library provided by My Music. And for more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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