S3: E3 – The Devil

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Speaker 3 She would go sit outside and smoke, and she was sitting on the phone talking to him. And I put my ear to the glass on our sliding glass door and listen.

Speaker 3 I caught conversations of them talking about, if I put this car in your name, she won't get it. And at that point, I was like, if you ain't for me, you're against me.

Speaker 1 I'm Andrea Gunning. This is Betrayal Season 3, Episode 3.

Speaker 1 The Devil.

Speaker 1 A listener note, some names have been changed to protect privacy.

Speaker 1 The Rutherford family was broken. Stacy threw Justin out of the house after detectives served a search warrant to collect electronic devices from their home.

Speaker 1 Stacy learned that a hidden camera had been placed in an upstairs bathroom. The device recorded thousands of images of mostly children and some adults using the bathroom and shower naked.

Speaker 1 Soon after the raid, a teenage boy confided in Stacy's daughter Michaela that Justin Rutherford had sexually abused him during a sleepover.

Speaker 1 Stacy and the Littles were staying at Michaela's apartment while they got the house ready to sell so they could move back to the Virginia area.

Speaker 1 Tyler, Stacey's son, was already there staying with his aunt Heather so that he wouldn't miss his first day at his new school.

Speaker 1 Heather received a call from Stacey that Justin may only be charged with a misdemeanor for the hidden camera.

Speaker 1 Heather was upset and was worried that there was more to this story.

Speaker 3 My sister had just called me and she's crying and she's like, this is crazy. Like, how are they going to let him go?

Speaker 1 And I'm like, I know, you know, God's got this.

Speaker 3 We're going to figure this out. Like, I do not believe in my heart of hearts that this man is going to walk free.
And Tyler's listening to this.

Speaker 3 I got the phone, and he was helping me fold laundry. And I said, Man, buddy, I said, I don't know, we got to do some serious praying.
He's like, Why? What's up?

Speaker 3 I said, They're talking about only charging Justin with the cameras.

Speaker 3 He goes, Well, what does that mean?

Speaker 3 And I said, Well, that probably means that

Speaker 3 your little brother will have visitation with his father

Speaker 1 in due time.

Speaker 3 And he just looked at me with the look I will never forget.

Speaker 3 And his eyes welled up with tears. And Tyler says, he'll never see the outside of a prison when I tell them what I know.

Speaker 1 A couple hours later, Stacey received a cryptic message from her sister, Heather.

Speaker 3 We were sitting there eating dinner, and I get a text message from my sister that said, I need you to video chat me. We need to talk about some things.

Speaker 3 Michaela and I went in the bedroom, and we called.

Speaker 3 I could tell Heather had been crying.

Speaker 3 I was just sick.

Speaker 1 There was an awkward silence. Tyler was quiet.

Speaker 5 I could have never looked my mom in the face and said it. And even I would say even a good year after that, it was like hard to look at my mom.

Speaker 1 So Heather broke the news to her sister.

Speaker 3 She said,

Speaker 3 he's been doing it to Tyler too for six years.

Speaker 1 And there it was, what Stacey had feared. Her husband had been abusing her son since he was 10.

Speaker 1 I went to visit with Stacy and Tyler in West Virginia. They told me what it was like in the days after Tyler disclosed his abuse.

Speaker 1 It was a shock.

Speaker 3 I remember just saying, you know, I'm so sorry.

Speaker 3 Like, I just kept saying, I'm so sorry.

Speaker 3 Because I didn't know what else to say.

Speaker 6 I could just see the guilt on her face looking at me.

Speaker 6 I wish she could have hid it from me. I just wanted her to act like everything was normal.
I don't want her to act like she could have done anything different because she couldn't have.

Speaker 3 It was very hard in the beginning to not feel every single thing, you know, of like,

Speaker 3 how could you let this happen to him?

Speaker 3 I still to this day feel like I failed on so many levels.

Speaker 3 The hardest thing for me is to just not feel like it's my fault.

Speaker 6 I love you. You know that it's not your fault.

Speaker 6 I don't.

Speaker 1 Stacy felt responsible, that this was all her fault. And on top of that, she continues to worry about the future.

Speaker 1 How will Tyler feel in a year or three years when he is older and has had time to process what happened to him?

Speaker 1 My

Speaker 3 greatest fear, and still to this day, is that someday you're going to be mad at me and never talk to me again.

Speaker 3 And I couldn't go the rest of my life without that. Like, that was always my fear was like, God, just don't let him stop talking to me.
You know, because I just was like, I can't lose one of my kids.

Speaker 1 Tyler was left with more than any adult, much less any teenager, should have to handle.

Speaker 1 There was the weight of the secret for six years,

Speaker 1 and then there was the weight of the destruction.

Speaker 5 There was no relief, but in that specific moment, it was just that out-of-body feeling.

Speaker 5 It's like everyone knows

Speaker 5 and they're just staring at you, and you feel like jumping out of your skin again.

Speaker 5 And you feel like the same way you feel when it all first starts.

Speaker 1 When it all first started. Well, that was a long time ago.
About two years before Stacey and Justin got married. As I said, he was only 10 years old then.
And their wedding day?

Speaker 5 That ring on the finger, I felt like that was like sealing the fate.

Speaker 5 I was standing in that courthouse trying to hold in my tears while everyone else is trying to hold in theirs for joy. Mine are not joy.

Speaker 1 But Tyler opening up to his family wasn't enough. He knew he needed to take this information to the police.
Justin was still a free man, and in fact, he was even checking in with Tyler in Virginia.

Speaker 6 He was trying to act like everything was normal and check in on me, ask how school was going, ask how life was going in Virginia.

Speaker 6 I guess to see if I was going to open up my mouth or say anything. I just kind of played along, played the part.

Speaker 6 I acted like everything was normal as well, just to keep him not suspicious that people were coming for him.

Speaker 1 A few days after Tyler disclosed everything to his family, he would have to endure one of the hardest days of his life. He would finally sit with law enforcement.

Speaker 6 It was an awful feeling like a...

Speaker 6 Like a mountain sitting on your chest.

Speaker 6 Pretty much the whole day.

Speaker 6 My school was right next to the sheriff's office. I could look out the window at my doom the whole eight-hour day.
Just sitting there looking at it, knowing it's coming.

Speaker 6 It was like I almost couldn't breathe.

Speaker 1 Heather picked Tyler up and brought him to the sheriff's office for an official forensic interview.

Speaker 5 They just put me in the room, and it was me and two detectives. And they had like a whole drawing board for me.
They had me draw like layouts of our house and like real real crazy stuff.

Speaker 1 Berks County Sergeant Detective Mike Fick.

Speaker 8 It's difficult because a lot of boys don't want to disclose that they were sexually abused, especially when they're in their teen years, because a lot of them will disclose to me and say, when he did this or that to me, he made me do that to them, but then they'll say that, you know, I'm not gay.

Speaker 8 You got to realize these are kids. It embarrasses them.

Speaker 5 That was probably the most uncomfortable talk I ever had in my life. Was that one right there?

Speaker 5 They ask you some of the most vulgar questions. They need so much detail, like so specific to the point where it doesn't even seem like how they can make any difference out of that very specific fact.

Speaker 5 Like such minute details that seem like they wouldn't even make a difference.

Speaker 5 They just cut really deep with those questions.

Speaker 8 He took advantage of these kids, especially Tyler, like from a young age up. He groomed them.

Speaker 8 Tyler thought, that's my stepfather. It's someone I can go to and trust.
Sometimes it's people closest to you.

Speaker 5 And that was right after just admitting it had happened.

Speaker 5 So it goes from not opening my mouth for years to spilling the whole story in it out.

Speaker 1 During this interview, Tyler disclosed all the painful details his family would never hear.

Speaker 1 He was smart enough to know that the detectives interviewing him were collecting evidence. This was excruciating, but it would matter.

Speaker 5 I knew my words in that conversation were going to do a lot of damage. I knew it was the main evidence they need on him.

Speaker 1 The hard truth was, law enforcement didn't have a strong case. Tyler's bravery in coming forward helped corroborate the other other victim's story.

Speaker 1 There was a good chance without this, Justin would walk away with a misdemeanor, a slap on the wrist.

Speaker 8 I mean, they're brave. And I just, I mean, to me, they're heroes.

Speaker 1 Tyler didn't realize his stepdad was a predator.

Speaker 6 I just never thought he would do it to anyone else. I like to have friends over because it was a sense of security and protection that nothing was going to happen to me.

Speaker 6 I just thought when there was a group of us us boys, everyone was safe.

Speaker 1 And Justin took advantage of that access. The other victim reached out to Tyler and shared his experience.

Speaker 5 My friend texted me and he's like, do you remember that night at your house when I had that crazy dream and I was sleepwalking and everything was all crazy? He was like, do you think that was Justin?

Speaker 1 Tyler deflected.

Speaker 6 I was just like,

Speaker 5 that's crazy. I don't know.
I don't know. Just like, think about it.
Are you sure? Because I'm still scared.

Speaker 1 He deflected and was scared for good reason.

Speaker 6 He could monitor everything I did on my phone.

Speaker 8 He read every word that

Speaker 6 went to another person through text.

Speaker 1 Justin had been monitoring all of Tyler's communication for years. There are apps that allow parents to see what kids are doing on their cell phones, and Justin used one.

Speaker 1 Stacy thought it was a good idea to help keep kids safe. But for Justin, it went beyond safety.
He used it to spy on Tyler. So he must have known the house of cards was about to fall.

Speaker 1 And he got a head start on law enforcement.

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You know that feeling when your alarm goes off and your first thought is, why do I feel so awful?

Speaker 1 It's like being betrayed by your own body. But here's the plot twist.
It's not your fault. Dehydration and brain fog are sabotaging you beneath the surface.

Speaker 1 When I found Early Bird's morning cocktail, I felt the shift immediately. It's this blood-orange mimosa drink that you mix the night before and you keep on your nightstand.

Speaker 1 When the alarm goes off, you drink and it's like flipping a switch. Clean energy, no brain fog, no crash.
I'm in control of my day again.

Speaker 1 Early Bird is clinically engineered to target morning fatigue from all angles. There's clean, natural caffeine, mood-lifting nootropics, and a supercharged electrolyte blend to combat dehydration.

Speaker 1 This is more than just a morning drink. It's a science-backed tool to help you take control of your mornings and own your potential.

Speaker 1 It gives me the energy to show up as the best, most accomplished version of myself. Discover how good it feels to rise and grind on your own terms.

Speaker 1 Visit clubearlybird.com and use code BETRAYAL for 20% off. That's clubearlybird.com.

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Speaker 1 Stacy had to triage her crises. She now knew for certain that Tyler and another child had been sexually abused.

Speaker 1 She was filing for divorce, selling her house, and trying to get back to Virginia where she could find more support.

Speaker 1 Meanwhile, back at her house, Justin's godmother Dee, or Nanny as everyone calls her, was living there.

Speaker 1 But Stacy didn't know where Justin was.

Speaker 3 Nanny calls me. She's like, i just got home and justin left a letter he's gone and everything is gone of his

Speaker 3 and i was like what

Speaker 3 what what did he say and she read me the letter and it just basically said something like i love you nanny tell the kids i love them you know take care of them i gotta leave i can't do this anymore i'm leaving my car i won't be back

Speaker 3 And I was like, huh. And she wasn't like frantic.
So I had a feeling that something wasn't right.

Speaker 1 Nanny lived with or near Justin since he was a child. She even lived with him and his roommates in college.
She would never be so matter of fact about him disappearing.

Speaker 3 I go to the house and his side of the closet is gone. All of his stuff was gone.
Anything in that house that remotely was his was gone, but his car was there. And I read the letter.

Speaker 3 And she's just like, I don't know. I don't know where he's at.

Speaker 1 Stacy had no idea where he'd gone, but eventually the police would have enough for charges right

Speaker 1 when would they come looking for him she would also need justin's

Speaker 1 the house sale and stacy needed that money it felt like justin fled but without an arrest warrant he wasn't technically a fugitive

Speaker 1 stacy knew justin packed up his things and moved out of the house but was shocked when her credit card company started asking about charges overseas he was charging things on one of my cards and then he would pay it off immediately so it wasn't showing a balance.

Speaker 1 The charges were from Great Britain and Amsterdam. He was in Europe.
It turned out that Justin left the country on August 28th. The first victim disclosed the abuse to police on August 31st.

Speaker 1 Tyler disclosed Justin's abuse days later. So Justin bolted before either one of the boys talked.

Speaker 1 Meanwhile, law enforcement was busy with their investigation.

Speaker 8 Some individuals sleep.

Speaker 8 I didn't think he was going to leave for good. I mean, his young children, I don't know what he was thinking.

Speaker 1 And neither did Stacey.

Speaker 3 Nanny would go sit outside and smoke, and she was sitting on the phone talking to him. She would have video chats with him, and I'd like put my ear to the glass on our sliding glass door and listen.

Speaker 1 Nanny Dee had become an important part of the Rutherford household. It was a tricky situation.
Stacy knew that she loved the kids, but she loved Justin fiercely.

Speaker 1 The two remained close no matter what chaos ensued.

Speaker 3 And I said, you know that if you know where he's at and if you took him to go there, the police can come after you. And I don't want you to get arrested.

Speaker 3 I really think that he's putting you in some dangerous situations. He's making you believe that these things are legal and okay.
And Nanny, they're not. They are not okay.

Speaker 3 And she flew off the handle.

Speaker 1 Oh, now I'm doing illegal shit too.

Speaker 3 You and your sister and your stories. And something just snapped in me and I said, you know what? You can get the fuck out of my house too.

Speaker 1 Battle lines were drawn.

Speaker 1 Nanny didn't believe the accusations. She was supporting Justin.

Speaker 3 I caught conversations of them talking about, if I put this car in your name, she won't get it. And at that point, I was like, if you ain't for me, you're against me.

Speaker 1 Justin was busy enjoying Europe. Stacey was picking up the pieces.
With him out of the country, it stalled the family's ability to move.

Speaker 3 It stopped the house sale. He was emailing with the underwriting people about the documents that he was supposed to sign because he told them in an email, I'm out of the country on business.

Speaker 1 It took almost two months for law enforcement to build their case.

Speaker 8 There was forensic work we had to do from the items that we seized in the home. And also, Detective Weaver had to identify every person that was captured on video.

Speaker 8 And each person had to be interviewed. We also received information that we had two victims out there that were being sexually abused by Justin.

Speaker 8 The one individual, I personally did a forensic interview and interviewed him, and he disclosed being sexually abused by Justin.

Speaker 8 The second individual was Tyler, and he was out of state.

Speaker 8 and he made a disclosure

Speaker 8 of being abused.

Speaker 1 Police were ready to issue an arrest warrant.

Speaker 1 And what Justin didn't know was that law enforcement was watching his every move.

Speaker 8 We had him on a watch list.

Speaker 1 So on October 2nd, when Justin flew back to the United States, Sergeant Fick, Detective Weaver, and their team were ready.

Speaker 3 They got word that he was boarding a plane.

Speaker 1 Justin flew into Dulles International right outside Washington, D.C.

Speaker 8 They were watching him and they secured him at the airport for us.

Speaker 3 And then the next morning I wake up to a message from Detective Weaver.

Speaker 1 We got him.

Speaker 1 The charges included multiple counts of invasion of privacy, rape of a child and rape of an unconscious victim.

Speaker 1 Seeing that warrant in black and white, reading those chilling words, Stacy faced the truth about her husband. She thought she had married a wonderful life partner.
But he was a sick, depraved man.

Speaker 1 Now he was in jail and she was trying to find solid ground after a devastating event.

Speaker 1 The house sale was settled. Justin's lawyer took the paperwork to the county jail and it was signed there.

Speaker 1 Stacy had four children impacted by the divorce and by Justin's crimes. They were all experiencing the loss in different ways.

Speaker 1 First, there was Stacey's eldest daughter who was in college.

Speaker 9 Michaela had felt she had lost her dad.

Speaker 9 I had to treat her a certain way when I talked about things. I had to be sympathetic.
I'm so sorry that you don't have your dad anymore.

Speaker 9 And Tyler, it was, I'm going to get you justice. I want him to fry the rest of his life.

Speaker 1 All the littles knew is that daddy had a sickness in his head, but they didn't care about that. They just missed him.
Stacy allowed the two youngest to write and receive letters from Justin.

Speaker 9 He sent color pictures and they knew once or twice a week it was going to be in the mailbox. You know, nobody would know, you know, how fast they would run to the mailbox to get those every time.

Speaker 9 And it was just color pictures. What could it hurt? And that's what I told myself.

Speaker 9 So it was like, you know, you're trying to parent four different ways and do what's best for you, but still not hurt you.

Speaker 9 It was just like,

Speaker 9 ever see those things where they juggle the plates and all the plates are spinning at once?

Speaker 3 That's how I felt during that time.

Speaker 1 It might be hard to digest that, but remember, the little ones had lost their home, a parent, their school, everything familiar. Stacy was doing whatever she could to quell their anxiety.

Speaker 1 Justin didn't just send letters to the kids. He also sent them to Stacy.
They were full of regret.

Speaker 1 Sometimes he pledged his love for her. Other times he tried to cryptically explain his behavior.
And then there were the letters that leveraged Stacy's faith.

Speaker 3 When everything first happened, I did send him a Bible from the kids and I for Christmas the first year he was in because he was talking about faith.

Speaker 1 In one letter, he wrote,

Speaker 3 You were the best thing that ever happened to me.

Speaker 1 We had two beautiful kids, and I fucked everything up. I alone, and you didn't deserve that.

Speaker 3 God, what I wouldn't give to be with you again. I would thank God every day if we could only have a time machine.

Speaker 1 Justin also acknowledged the deep connection they shared.

Speaker 3 We were soulmates. You were the only person on this earth who had the same thoughts as me every time.

Speaker 3 I feel like every time that happened, a jolt would go through my soul. Proverbs 31:11 through 12.

Speaker 4 Her husband trusts her judgment.

Speaker 4 He does not lack income. She brings him profit, not loss,

Speaker 4 all the days of her life.

Speaker 4 I should have been completely honest with you every day of our lives together.

Speaker 4 I was selfish because I was worried that you would leave me.

Speaker 1 What did that mean? Honest about what? That he was sexually abusing her son and would abuse another boy? That he was a pedophile?

Speaker 4 I wish we somehow could have solved all of this without the police because then maybe we could still have our family, but it's with God now.

Speaker 4 I pray for you every day, just like you did for me all those years.

Speaker 4 I pray for your healing and forgiveness.

Speaker 4 I pray for God's mercy.

Speaker 4 I pray that you find happiness, even if that means losing you.

Speaker 4 I'm sorry for my flaws.

Speaker 4 I'm sorry I let the devil into our lives.

Speaker 1 It was the devil's work, if only the police hadn't been involved. Even as he laments the loss of their life together, he skirts his responsibility.

Speaker 1 As Justin spent more time in jail and became more frustrated with his living conditions, he sent another letter escalating his faith-based manipulations.

Speaker 3 He was kind of like condemning me for not forgiving him, coming at it like, well, I'm just worried, you know, like you want to get into heaven, but Stacey, you can't with unforgiveness.

Speaker 3 I was like, oh, no, no, no, no. Hold up with your Bible vomit.
I don't need you to tell me how to get in with God. Like I already know that I'm okay.
So you need to worry about yourself.

Speaker 3 So he very much tried to appeal to the faith side of me.

Speaker 1 Stacy needed a safe place to grieve and plan her next steps. Her sister Heather opened her door once again and Stacy and the little ones moved in for about six months.

Speaker 1 It was crowded, but they made it work until Stacy could find a home of her own that she could afford.

Speaker 1 In April of 2022, she and the littles moved into an old farmhouse in Jaredstown, West Virginia. just down the road from her friend Karen.

Speaker 1 It wasn't the modern five-bedroom place they'd left in Pennsylvania, but they would have a roof over their heads. Nanny D also moved back to the Virginia area.

Speaker 1 She went to live with her sister, and she still supported Justin.

Speaker 6 I was working out, and I don't know where she comes in,

Speaker 6 which is really weird to see an old lady like that in the gym who I know doesn't work out. And she walks up to me and hands me this note, and it's a note from Justin.

Speaker 1 Justin was prohibited from communicating with the victims in his case.

Speaker 6 I read it while sitting on the machine at the gym and she's standing there right in front of me in the middle of everything going on, everyone watching.

Speaker 6 I get done reading it, and as soon as I lift my head, she just snatches it out of my hand. I was like, what are you doing? That's my letter.
Can I have my letter?

Speaker 6 No, no, he told me you couldn't keep it. And I was like,

Speaker 6 it's noted to me. Give it to me.
And she refused and then just left.

Speaker 1 Tyler wrote down everything he could remember about the letter to tell detectives later.

Speaker 1 We were able to find a letter that Justin wrote to him in court records. Tyler told us that it's not the same one, but its content was similar to the one Nanny showed him.

Speaker 3 T

Speaker 4 first,

Speaker 4 I would like to say that I am truly sorry.

Speaker 4 I wish there was a way I could take it all back and prove to you how sorry I am.

Speaker 4 All of this stems from the fact that I hated who I was.

Speaker 4 My body.

Speaker 4 My sexuality.

Speaker 4 I'm not making excuses. Just explaining that all I ever wanted was to be normal.
Your generation doesn't give a shit about normal, and I wish I was born later.

Speaker 4 I know I fucked up. And if I could take your pain away, I would.
I don't deserve it from you, but I am asking for your mercy.

Speaker 4 I'm asking for me to not miss the littles' whole lives and to hopefully have some sort of semi-normal life with them.

Speaker 4 I'm not trying to make you feel sorry for me. Just asking for a small amount of grace and mercy.

Speaker 4 I would still do several years in jail for the other charges, but not their whole lives. I'm already in treatment, and I one day hope to prove to you that I am changed.

Speaker 1 What Justin was really asking Tyler to do was recant his statement to police.

Speaker 3 I immediately text Nanny and I was like, what in the world were you thinking delivering a letter to my son from him? Do you understand? This is something that you could get in trouble for.

Speaker 3 He's to have no contact, even through third parties, third party being you. And her response was, well, Justin said it was okay.

Speaker 1 It was hard to know what to do with Nanny. Justin was like her child.
She took Justin at his word.

Speaker 3 She is so manipulated by him that he tells her it's okay and she doesn't even question it and goes and does it.

Speaker 3 And there was a part of me that almost felt sorry for her because I'm like, you don't even realize that you're breaking the law here.

Speaker 1 Maybe she was ignorant. Maybe she was biased.
Eventually, however, it would make her dangerous. When Justin couldn't get anywhere with Tyler, he worked on Stacey.

Speaker 1 When the reality of the prison time he was facing started to sink in, he wrote another letter.

Speaker 1 Here are portions of it.

Speaker 4 Dear Stacey,

Speaker 4 I guess now you know what they're trying to offer me is 30 years.

Speaker 4 I won't be able to do that amount of time. Going to trial would be worse and would result in even more time.

Speaker 4 I have have literally seen murderers get 10 to 20 or 7 to 15, so I don't understand the logic here.

Speaker 4 Mine is literally the worst offer, and I truly think it's because they want to make an example of me.

Speaker 4 And honestly, if it comes down to it,

Speaker 4 I guess I'll have to

Speaker 4 take the pain away myself.

Speaker 4 I don't want it to end that way, but

Speaker 4 I literally can't do it.

Speaker 4 Psalms 102, verse 23 and 24.

Speaker 4 God sovereignly brought me to my knees. He cut me down in my prime.

Speaker 3 Oh, don't.

Speaker 4 I prayed. Please, don't let me die.

Speaker 4 God has set me straight. First off, I want you to know I already started treatment.

Speaker 4 We meet two hours per week. I could have my lawyer go back to preliminary hearings and Ty could not show up or recant his statement.

Speaker 4 That would drop the mandatory 10-year charges.

Speaker 1 And so he had arrived at the real meaning of the letter.

Speaker 1 Tyler could recant. He could lie and say it never happened.

Speaker 1 Justin had broken the law and tried to get to Tyler. He had quoted Bible verses and leveraged his children to get to Stacey.

Speaker 1 But neither God nor guilt would work.

Speaker 1 Stacy and Tyler were after justice.

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Speaker 1 We first met Tyler and Stacey back in December of 2023. Their story was really upsetting and to be perfectly transparent, we were pretty hesitant to move forward with producing it.

Speaker 1 We weren't sure where Stacy and Tyler were in their journey. Stacy was willing to share everything, good and bad.
She's also an adult with a lot of experience. She's truly an amazing person.

Speaker 1 And then there's Tyler. He's young and has had unimaginable trauma no one should ever experience.
He does receive therapeutic support, but this is sharing on a very public level.

Speaker 1 So we had several conversations, and Tyler advocated for himself to participate hard. He wanted a platform.
He was not going to hide.

Speaker 6 So I was hoping by doing this podcast that

Speaker 6 somebody like me could find it and let them know they're not alone.

Speaker 1 Tyler wants to normalize this conversation and make it less uncomfortable.

Speaker 6 Guys don't really talk about our weaknesses. We just make jokes about it, about trauma and whatnot.

Speaker 6 People make sly comments about it,

Speaker 6 ask you questions that are highly uncomfortable, but they think it's a joke just because they don't see it out there.

Speaker 6 When they hear it happened to a guy, they think, oh, that must be the only guy in the world.

Speaker 6 But it's a lot more common.

Speaker 6 There's no one that relates to you.

Speaker 6 And it's really nice to have someone to relate to.

Speaker 1 Tyler wants wants to be that someone for another male sexual abuse victim who feels isolated and alone.

Speaker 6 I want to help other people. There's not really any resources for men.
That's really the biggest thing is being a guy. Not many talk about it.

Speaker 6 And I had to go through not really being able to relate to many people. I mean, the most I found was like Tyler Perry, you know, a few celebrities, but really, there's not much to go off of.

Speaker 6 And if I can be that person that people can look up to

Speaker 6 that would be awesome.

Speaker 1 He told us about the beginning when he was 10 and as a trigger warning some details may be difficult to hear.

Speaker 6 For the most part he was a he was a good father figure

Speaker 6 but at night is when the monster came out.

Speaker 6 I'm pretty sure I've said to you guys, and I've told my mom and anyone who questions me,

Speaker 6 without getting too vulgar, the only way I can put it is, if you can imagine it, it happened.

Speaker 5 This started about six months after he met my mom, maybe a little longer. That was before they got married.
That was before they even lived together.

Speaker 5 It's one of those things, like you're so young when stuff like that happens. It's hard to kind of process.

Speaker 5 Something feels wrong and off, but like you don't necessarily know how to go about it, what to do, what to say. And you kind of just want to keep that to yourself.
You know, you're scared.

Speaker 5 It just, you feel out of your own skin.

Speaker 1 Tyler was a child, weighing all the trade-offs of their relationship, not just for himself, but for his entire family. What if he told someone?

Speaker 5 As a kid, I wouldn't see my mom happily married and have younger siblings that I love.

Speaker 5 Without even saying anything, he knew that was on the line for me.

Speaker 5 He had definitely brought it up a few times.

Speaker 5 If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have this nice big house. We wouldn't be able to go to these fancy dinners.
We wouldn't have a pool which I've wanted my whole life.

Speaker 6 They were at work making the money, doing their jobs, and I was doing my job, keeping my mouth shut to keep the family together.

Speaker 1 There were many times that Justin gave Tyler drugs and alcohol.

Speaker 6 The first instance.

Speaker 6 I remember that night vividly up until blackout point.

Speaker 6 I mean, it was four locos and cinnamon moonshine. I do remember that pretty much.

Speaker 1 Tyler was way too young to be consuming alcohol, but he was happy to drink it.

Speaker 6 It numbed everything. I mean, not even numbed, it blurred everything.

Speaker 5 I would just go robot mode and just kind of let it happen.

Speaker 1 For all intents and purposes, this was Tyler's father. He'd been conditioned and emotionally blackmailed since he was in fifth grade.
This was his life.

Speaker 1 While Stacy slept, Justin would stay up late playing video games. Eventually, finding his way into Tyler's room.

Speaker 5 Every so often I'd tell myself, okay, it's clear he likes little boys.

Speaker 5 I'll grow to be a teenager and he won't want to do anything to me. So I'm 13 and it's still going on.
So then I go, okay, wait till I turn about 16. You you know, a 16 year well into puberty.

Speaker 5 I thought as I'd become to be more of a man, he wouldn't want anything to do with me. And then here I am, 15 and a half, coming close to 16, and here it is still going.

Speaker 5 It wasn't until I got around

Speaker 5 15 that I started vocally saying stuff to him and

Speaker 5 like speaking up for myself or trying to

Speaker 5 he would never hit me

Speaker 5 But he would talk to me with like a real stern voice and almost try to scare me and make me shut up.

Speaker 1 It's infuriating to think a man would trap, manipulate, and sexually abuse a child.

Speaker 1 But Tyler wants to turn his pain into purpose, and he is thinking of other victims and how he could help them.

Speaker 6 It doesn't make you less of a man. It doesn't make you weak.

Speaker 6 And I think this podcast can do a lot of good for a lot of heartbroken heartbroken young men out there and even grown men, because I know there's plenty out there who,

Speaker 6 you know, followed through with that plan of never opening up their mouth.

Speaker 1 Tyler is in a better place now, where he is able to process what happened to him. But before he could get there, things for Stacey and Tyler would take an even sinister turn.

Speaker 1 Even though Justin was behind bars, that didn't mean they were safe.

Speaker 1 On the next episode of Betrayal, Justin forms a plan to get out of prison.

Speaker 3 He knew he was looking at a very, very, very long time in jail on the sex assault charges. You don't want to believe somebody's like that.
We think that people can get desperate.

Speaker 1 If you're a man who has experienced sexual abuse or assault, or you know someone who is seeking support, go to 1in6.org. That's the number one I-N number6.org.

Speaker 1 Find a path to a happier, healthier future. If you would like to reach out to the betrayal team, email us at betrayalpod at gmail.com.
That's betrayalpod at gmail.com.

Speaker 1 Also, please be sure to follow us at GlassPodcasts on Instagram for all betrayal content, news, and updates. We're grateful for your support.

Speaker 1 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.

Speaker 1 Betrayal is a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group in partnership with iHeart Podcasts. The show is executive produced by Nancy Glass and Jennifer Faison.

Speaker 1 Hosted and produced by me, Andrea Gunning, written and produced by Carrie Hartman. Also produced by Ben Fetterman.
Associate producers are Kristen Melchiori and Caitlin Golden.

Speaker 1 Our iHeart team is Allie Perry and Jessica Kreinchek. Voice acting by Andrew Dobby.
Special thanks to Stacey Rutherford, Tyler, and the rest of Stacey and Tyler's friends and family.

Speaker 1 Audio editing and mixing by Matt Zelfecchio. Editing support from Nico Aruka.
Betrayals theme composed by Oliver Baines. Music library provided by MIBE Music.

Speaker 1 And for more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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