S1: Bonus Ep 5 – Students
2023-04-27 00:22:56
<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.
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 Carmichael?
Alanti marked the beginning of the end. It sent the message that we can prosecute these people.
Listen to Law Order, Criminal Justice System on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hey guys, it's Andrea Gunning. And if you haven't heard yet, a lot has been happening with Betrayal. First. We'll be back with season two of Betrayal starting May 18th. And we even have a sneak peek at the end of this episode. Second, Betrayal season one is being turned into a documentary. More details on when and where it will launch, so stay tuned on the feed for updates.
Betrayal.
Hundreds of betrayal listeners have reached out to BetrayalPod.
Com over the past year, to share personal stories about their own betrayals, others have written about knowing Spencer personally. Some of the hardest letters to read have been from Spencer's former students. It's been surprising that so many months after we launched Betrayal, we are still receiving messages from graduates that encountered him during his 20-plus years as a high school teacher. We heard from many women over the last year who wanted to share their experiences with, but also heard from male students who were deeply affected, like Paul.
Paul, it's so nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you as well.
Yeah, thank you so much for listening to the podcast.
Of course, it was definitely enlightening to hear more about what happened.
Well, I'm curious, as a former student, you knew this person pretty well.
Yeah, I knew Spencer extremely well, he was like a mentor to me even beyond high school. Hearing the arrest, first of all, just a lot of disbelief, didn't really believe it.
Is this true? And then the arrest comes and it's like, Okay, I still am like, Is it really? could this really be true? I just don't fully believe it until, really, he's guilty. And then you come out the podcast and I jumped right on.
I have to figure out and hear for myself, what did he really do? did he really do these things? People are saying?
Right, well, and that's one of the questions that I get, why do you need to know? But you do when you know somebody, or you think you know somebody, and then they turn out totally different. Don't you want to find those answers?
Especially how well I knew him after high school, I met up with him past graduation. I helped him with his newer students and went back to the school to kind of help teach him. And teach some of the new students and take care of the lab. So I was very close with him and I considered him a friend of mine, so just hearing it was just such a shock and just really hurtful.
I still look at it to this day and try to ask myself, How did I not see any of it?
What was your experience with him as a teacher?
He was one of my favorite teachers, I spent any free time I had with him in his room. I worked on the video yearbook for him, I was on the Morning Show supporting that as well. A lot of extra time outside of the normal school day was spent in that lab, working with him on different videos and that yearbook.
So I was extremely close to him during the school year and had nothing but great things to say about him.
What made him a good mentor to you?
My original goal out of high school, I was going into video production and he was really helping me understand what's the real world's like. Where I can go, look for jobs, how I can get into that field. And just being a sounding board for, Hey, you know, here's what I'm thinking about. Which way should I go? And just helping give me that drive and motivation. Because I really, you know, at the end of high school, I really didn't know where I wanted to go in life. And he really kind of framed that for me. He portrayed a family man, happy marriage, he had great kids, you know, things that I looked for, and I wanted myself.
So I, you know, I kind of attached to that.
Did he always feel like a friend or did that come later?
I would say, you know, after graduation is when I really felt like that closer friendship, you know, started to bond. Because it was no longer a student-teacher relationship. It was, you know, two men, you know, working together, bettering each other, you know, going to see his band play and, you know, so on and so forth.
Did you ever come to the wine bar?
I did, I was at the wine cart when you were just a cart, and then, you know, the wine bar. And really enjoying seeing that success of a dream come to life.
So when you were listening to the podcast, was it hard for you?
It was definitely difficult, you know, I would be lying if I didn't say there were some tears. Just listening. That he really did these things and that, you know, these women were coming out about it. The one episode where I hear his voice, you know, I was just like, I really just want to call him and just say, why? Like, why are you that kind of person? You know, I had trust in you.
I, you know, I don't put myself in the shoes because I have a five-year-old daughter. Oh wow, I can't imagine what these, you know, these students have gone through. Let alone these other females that he's interacted with, and who knows how many are out there. I mean, it really hit home with me to being a father and having a daughter.
I'm sitting here and I'm just really sorry that you had to go through that. You know, teachers are supposed to be our mentors, so I'm really sorry that that happened to you as well.
I'm more sorry that it happened to you, I mean, I remember when he got married to you.
Really.
You know, I was in his life then and he seemed so happy and if I had ever known, he was going to do something like. I wish I could have saved you from going through all of this, like, I don't know how you're doing it. You're extremely brave and just an amazing person. To be able to go through this and unravel all of these lies and then talk to people about it, that's the biggest reason I wanted to be a part of this.
I want other females out there that may be dealing with something that isn't right. To know that there's people here to help you and to come out and step forward and make a voice for yourself. Don't be scared and don't be bullied into keeping quiet. That's where it comes from my heart. We need more people to speak up and talk about his experiences and make sure this doesn't happen to anybody else as best we can.
That's right, I mean, that's the whole point. If you were to run into him on the street, would you say anything to him or would you keep walking?
That's a funny question.
I think if I was by myself and I saw him, I would definitely want to confront him and just stop him and just say why? I think that's the last piece of closure I don't have is just talking directly to him. I'm not going to get an answer I want.
Right?
But for some reason in my mind, I just want to be able to just unload my feelings, make him understand how I feel. Now. If I was with my family, I would probably have to look the other way. I don't want my five-year-old daughter anywhere in the vicinity.
Yeah, that last episode where I was able to speak with him the last time, it was just kind of brief. Because I thought I wanted to talk to him. I thought I wanted these answers, but then I realized that he's not capable.
No, and you can hear it in his voice. He truly doesn't think he's done something wrong at this point, He really believes his lies. He won't understand anything I say.
I won't get the closure I truly want, but I will get enough closure. Of just getting words out and walking away from him and never seeing him again. But at least get those last words, because it still.
Bothers me. Thank you so much Paul. I really appreciate your time and being willing to speak to me and Jen.
I'm an open book with this at this point because I want to help any other victims that could be out there from anything. Anyone that's going through something like this. I hope they listen and I definitely hope this helps them feel comfortable coming forward.
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.
We think of Franklin as the doddering dude flying a kite in the rain, but those experiments are the most important scientific discoveries of the time.
I'm Evan Ratliff. Last season, we tackled the ingenuity of Elon Musk with biographer Walter Isaacson. This time, we're diving into the story of Benjamin Franklin, another genius who's desperate to be dusted off from history.
His media empire makes him the most successful, self-made business person in America. I mean, he was never early to bed and early to rise type person.
He's enormously famous. Women start wearing their hair in what was called the coiffure, a la Franklin.
The only other person who could have possibly been the first president would have been Benjamin Franklin.
But he's too old and wants Washington to do it. Listen to on Benjamin Franklin with Walter Isaacson 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.
The murder of Carmichael Ante 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.
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.
Amber, another graduate of Kell High school, listened to Betrayal and wrote in to share her experiences with Spencer. So Amber, tell me, when did you graduate, Kell?
2012 in May.
And did you have Spencer as a teacher?
I did, I believe, I had three classes with him, one sophomore, junior and senior year, but not my freshman. Up until senior year, I didn't have any sort of vibes or wonderings. But when I was approaching graduation, which was in 2012, is when there were a couple incidences that were questionable. He did call me into his closed door office for some random reason, not anything specific to talk to me about. He wanted to show me something cool on a camera, and it was a handheld camera with a flip out screen.
So when you're showing that to someone, you're kind of shoulder to shoulder with them. And he had turned the lights out and closed the door so we could see better. So I just remember when he did that, his body was touching the other side of my body and him leaning over and showing me this thing. With all the lights off, my heart started racing and I was like, Whoa, this is pretty close.
It's pretty dark.
I'm not even focusing on what he's showing me, I'm more wondering why he's feeling so comfortable being this close to me. Someone had interrupted, actually, someone had tapped his door and kind of pushed it open. It was another student.
And I was kind of like, thank you for opening the door, I'm out of here. When it happened, it felt like an outlier. It was so borderline of it being something passable. Because what other teacher would have the opportunity to turn the lights off to show someone something like that? Video production had that sort of pass?
It was very borderline.
Well, and part of that is because of who he was, he was this beloved teacher. So those borderline things were kind of blown off, I think, because it was like, Oh, no way it could be. Coach Heron, he would never. I feel like, you know?
Exactly, I think. Also when you have someone who's trustworthy, who can kind of bend the rules and be cool, you don't want to ruin that. You know, obviously that would be him ruining it himself, but you almost just don't want to believe that he would do that. Because it's, you know, it was such a special class and it didn't deserve to be tainted and abused by his authority.
You had that experience in his office. was there anything else that you experienced that made you say this feels off?
There were three other times, two while I was in school, one of the times senior year, during graduation. I had just gotten a new camera, like handheld digital camera. And of course, I was running around taking pictures with students and teachers, and I had someone take a picture of him and I.
And he put his hand around my waist and pulled me like up to his body. And I'm super sensitive to touch, so when those things happen, I'm very aware of it. And I remember wondering, like, Oh, is this how he acts when people graduate and turn 18, like he feels that he can make a touch like that?
That was the last time I had seen him, and then a year later, in 2013. In June, he sent me a Facebook message. The first message that he sends me is I miss Miami, which is this made up nickname based off of my name. With a bunch of exclamation points. He's never called it to me before.
I miss you. And then using this made up nickname, I was just really confused. And again, I was just like, is this just how he talks to grad students, like he just suddenly switches to this like flirty person that uses nicknames? And then we were talking a little bit about what I was studying in school.
And then again, he just switches back and goes, You know, I just knew how special you were. I always knew just how special you were. The last message he sent me was, Hey, babe, what's up? That's just not something that is appropriate at all.
Is there anything that you want to share that's important for people to hear?
I feel like the takeaway from this could be that we should have more of these conversations.
More confidants and more people that they feel safe confiding in when it comes to sexual harassment or anything insinuating sexual conduct that is inappropriate in any way.
I think that's a really good message and thank you so much for your time, Amber. I can't thank you enough and thanks to you guys, our betrayal community. And get ready.
We'll be back with season two of Betrayal starting May 18th. It's about a new betrayal that rarely ever is spoken about, but we'll confront it head on. Here's a sneak peek.
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.
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, like, I'm sorry, it's going to be too much, like, 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?
That's season two of Betrayal.
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 iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
We think of Franklin as the doddering dude flying a kite in the rain.
Benjamin Franklin is our subject for a new season with Walter Isaacson.
He's the most successful, self-made business person in America.
A printer, a scientist, founding father, but maybe not the guy we think we know.
Franklin casts his lot on the side of Revolution, and it's another thing that splits the family apart.
On the iHeart Radio 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 Carmichael Lanti marked the beginning of the end.
It sent the message that we can prosecute these people.
Listen to Law Order, Criminal Justice System on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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