S2: E4 - Avaya

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He treated me so poorly, me and my mother unfair and it's rude and I don't want an ever.

I'm asking for you to send him.

I'm Andrea Gunning and this is Betrayal Episode four. Aveya. On our last episode, you heard the sentencing hearing for Jason Linton. He pled guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of a minor and two counts of voyeurism. His stepdaughter of Aya, made a plead to the judge to send him to prison. Would Jason go to jail or be set free? That decision was in the hands of Judge Mettler.

Okay, thank you everyone for your input the thinking about this for a while. This is a tough one and that court makes decisions concerning sentencing. The court really is balancing ways in which the victim can be made whole, which, frankly, it's pretty unusual when the victim can truly.

Be made whole.

Rehabilitating that the bennet is an important factor.

And then of course punishment chop pronography is a horrible thing, and a victimize is so many young girls on boys, and it's terrible, But the layers in charges here are really serious. The position of trust that you help with respect to your stepdaughter, violating.

That in the way that you did.

I agree with mister Sutton that they really take this case to a different lem and warrant some prey significant punishment.

Okay, So for.

The crown of sexual exploitation of mind or second three felony for what's going to pose a term of utest a prison not less than one for more than fifteen years, and for each town of lawyers in both class A Missioner Sport's going to pose a term in jail not to receive three hundred and sixty four days. Kort's going one of the two lawyers account on concurrence to one that are consecutive to the prison Sertens imposed on the

By AP and P.

To put it simply, Jason got less than a year of jail time for both voyeurism charges and would need to register as a sex offender less than one year. How is that even possible? I really thought this type of crime carried a hefty prison sentence, but that's not the case. We'll get into that later on in the episode. Not to mention the one to fifteen year sentence for sexual exploitation of a minor, It was suspended, meaning he wouldn't need to serve it if he doesn't violate probation.

Okay, your turn, but.

Great.

It was really nice to meet a via face to face. She is Ashley's mini me, though she's taller than her mom, but everyone is taller than Ashley. What struck me about Avea was her confidence and her maturity. She seemed wise beyond her years. And I just wanted to remind you that her court sponsored therapist supported her participation in the podcast, and she was open with her feelings starting with Jason's

I'd really thought about it, and so when I went in there, I had a whole bunch of things that I wanted to say to the judge and Jason, and I wanted to at least try and make an impact on it. I didn't want to be just like a bystander, don't want to just do nothing. Before he got locked up, I'd be laying in bed some nights and I'd just sit there thinking, like, you have no one's out there.

I'm really happy you haven't had that feeling. Because that must have been really scary. It's hard to imagine not feeling safe in your own home. And I really don't know how you processed and navigated that as a teenager.

None of us knew how to express our emotions because we were all so sad. But we were all like so upset about what had happened, and we still loved him. Yeah, we still loved him, like we felt like it was wrong too, because we were like, we were like, oh, well, he was our dad, like he was my dad, Like I loved him, like I loved the guy that he was.

But like, I don't know who this is it.

I'd put in so much trust into him because my dad wasn't there, and so he had taken on that role being my dad. So I had trusted him so much and I had really let him into my life. And I was just morely mad though that he had torn up our family. He had broke our family, and he had you know, hurt my mom and my brother and my sister, and what he did to me, I was definitely I was pretty heard about.

A lot of your family members mentioned to me that you were a serious soccer player, but this whole experience just made competing impossible.

What happened there at ourself. You have to have good grades to be on the team no matter what, and you can't miss more than two days of school, Like there's some new rules and things like that. And if you're going to an athletic school, you're going to be around some concaast people all day.

But there was some cool people.

Yeah, I mean, yeah there was. There are some pretty awesome people there. But can to get dressed up every day?

You know that?

That was really hard for me, And so I was so overwhelmed with everything that I just I didn't want to be around people.

Yeah, it sounds to me like you just needed a breather. So you switched to an alternative school. And just to be clear for people listening and just to make sure I'm understanding it right, all that means is it's a school that educates kids differently than a typical public school. Actually, I know you had a lot of dreams pinned up on a vea soccer. Were you on board with her leaving? Was that hard for you?

I mean we definitely struggled your whole life. We've had like this one plan soccer scholarships, California, California. But I guess that I'm hearing and I didn't realize. I mean, you don't want to be around all those people. And then they knew this awful secret.

You know.

It wasn't just like one thing, it was kind of all of it was so piled up on.

You that Yeah. Yeah, definitely. The reason why I wanted to go to Valley was it was a way better alternative for me. I was succeeding a lot more. I was on on a roll. When you go to an alternative school, too, people are there to get their shit done. Like there's people that are there that have kids and they're sitting in the day Like we have a daycare at our school too, Like we'll have people that have kids, they go and do some homework. You could show up

I kind of felt like I just had to trust what you were doing, even if I didn't think it was like best choice. You know, Like I wanted you to play soccer and you're beast. Yeah, you're amazing on the field. Yeah, you know, and I get that, Like your passion for it's not there anymore.

I get it.

And you also have a job, right.

I work at a daycare. I'm an opener, so I get there at six o'clock in the morning and I basically watch kids from the age five months all the way up to like ten years old. And yeah, I love it. I love my job.

Why did you want to participate in this project?

So when my mother had first told me about this project, I kind of was like, what is she? Like she's crazy, like she has lost her mind, like something is wrong with her, Like she is seriously batshit crazy. She thinks that she's getting on a damn podcast. And so when she had finally started getting into depth with everything, I was actually thought that it was really cool. I want

You know, Ashley, I know you wrote into us on a very bad day, but Avea. I think there are two reasons your mom wanted to do this, put her life out in public, share her story. One is to look for a community because we know this is happening in a lot of other homes, but also because she wants to let you know some things.

Right after it happened and Jason went to jail, that whole first month was kind of a blur, I feel like for.

All of us. Yeah, I definitely was.

But after he got out of jail, do you remember remember me going over to his grandpa's house to see him?

What did you think about?

That?

Just kind of frustrated me. How does didn't understand?

Yeah?

I think looking back on that time, there's a couple of things that I wish I would have done differently, but I didn't. And one of those things is, you know, when he got out, I kind of switched back into WiFi mode.

And just for clarity, Ashley, you're talking about after Jason was arrested and then released, before he pled guilty, so before the sentencing, hear right.

Yeah, I was trying to manage our family you know, you and your brother and sister less still be his wife. And even like with everything that happened, there wasn't a lot of people in like your corner when we should have been when we found out that this happened, we should have cocooned around you. It wasn't your job to step up and be MANI mom, while I was having a meltdown. That wasn't your job. And I think us not doing that pushed you away. And I'm so sorry that wasn't fair to you.

That was why I went stayed with my dad. It was the only one that was really in my corner. He was lonely. It was the only one that really stood up. And I are you okay, No, That's why I stayed there. And at the beginning of all this too, it was all such like a big like shock to all of us.

It's not a good excuse though.

But no, like the thing is too, I really don't remember like everything you know. I'm telling you right now. Mom, I'm like we were all in shock, Like everyone had to write to be in shock in that situation, and you were definitely in shock, and I was too. I'm not mad at you, I'm really I'm really not mad at you.

Maybe you're not right now, well maybe someday you might be.

Though maybe someday I might will be. But also maybe a point where I'm not ever going to be mad at you, Like this is not your fault. I'm telling you, like from this point right now, like in my life, like i am not mad at my mother whatsoever. Like I'm beyond proud of my mother, beyond anything. I love you. I love you, yeah forever.

At the beginning of the series, I told you that we had received several letters about families being destroyed because the husband was looking at illegal images of children online like Jason, and I will freely admit, before we really investigated, I assumed these offenders are put away for a long time. I really thought the law threw the book at them they were off the street. But when I met Ashley and other women who reached out, I learned that isn't

In the nineties, child sexual abuse reports were predominantly handled.

By the US Postal Service, who.

Was responsible for intercepting things like magazines and that type of contraband that would be sent around.

That's Gabriel Dance. He is a reporter for the New York Times, and in twenty nineteen he and his colleague Michael Keller published a groundbreaking investigative series called Exploited, which documented how seesam has exploded along with the growth of the Internet and social media.

What we know is that with the advent of cell phones and the Internet, there was both the opportunity to produce material much more easily and also the opportunity to distribute that material much more widely.

The Internet also provided the opportunity for people with similar interests to get together, learn from each other, and create online clubs, which is fine when you're talking about baking or car repair, but this is an underground that shares information on seesam how to acquire it, produce it, and hide it. Average citizens are downloading and viewing this material. Some states get three thousand cyber tips a day. New York Times reporter Michael Keller.

One question that we heard a lot was, well, what's the big deal? They're just sharing images? Why is that so bad? Why should someone be punished for that? And in speaking with survivors of the abuse, we really understood that it is the ongoing trade in imagery that makes this that much more serious and harmful to the people involved.

These are people who have had one of the worst crimes you could possibly imagine, documented and shared for the pleasure of other people.

Former Utah United States Attorney John Hubert.

This goes on constantly, dozens upon hundreds of cases where you have these images and collections and trading images and bartering them like their baseball cards. And it's those run of the meal offenders that I am so concerned about because they're not getting the attention in court or according to state law that I believe they should. During my tenure as a United States attorney, we were getting some pushback from federal judges of why are you bringing these

You can probably imagine Ashley's surprised when she first learned what kind of justice Jason would be facing.

The prosecutor made it sound like he's not going to go to prison and the most time that he's going to do.

Is probably six months in jail.

That was pretty normal for this type of events, and I'm like, are you kidding?

The punishment just didn't seem to fit the crime. This doesn't just upset victims, it also demoralizes law enforcement. Riverton detective Jason Rue was one of the first who looked at the hidden file and had to view the evidence.

It frustrates me, especially with these kind of crimes. It's a lifelong sentence for these victims, and not just the victim, but the victim's mom or the victim's dead or whoever else might know this in the family. And you're letting them out in six months to a year with probation for four That means basically someone's coming to check up on them every now and then asking if they're doing okay.

And if you're waiting for the federal government to jump on the problem, don't hold your breath.

We found systemic failures in responding to this rising problem, and one of the big things was the failures of the federal government to live up to its own promises that it made around two thousand and eight to develop a strong national response. That involved creating a high level position at the Department of Justice. It required analyzing the issue every few years and creating national strategy reports, and it required creating a funding mechanism for state and local

And as a response to our reporting, Senator Ron Wyden introduced a bill that was supposed to create nearly two hundred positions at federal law enforcement, allotting a total of five billion dollars over ten years to address exist exactly this problem. And as far as I know, that Bill's gone nowhere.

So our elected officials in Washington aren't living up to their promises, and people like Ashley and the rest of us are here scratching our heads at a venders like Jason thinking you'll be out in months? Is that really okay?

So in mister Litton's case, on paper, his crime of conviction carries a penalty of one to fifteen years in the Utah State Prison. Did he get that? No? And in lieu of that he was given days in jail and a term of probation.

You probably remember that Jason's plea agreement tied the judge's hands pretty much. And while John Humer thinks the sentence fall short, he supports plea bargains, especially in cases like these.

I think there's a public view that plea bargain is a bad word, that that's a sham and a shame, it's just a reality. But it is also true that in cases of child sexual abuse, that there is a reluctance to press every case to trial because what is the impact of calling a child witness to the stand to be asked questions in an open courtroom about such intimate victimization and what does that cost for a victim and their family?

And at the time of sentencing, Sam argued vigorously for the most jail time possible considering the existing plea deal.

In my opinion, that was one step beyond just the child pornography possession and just one step below and actual hands on sexual.

Offense with a childbirth.

And so it's obviously very concerning, it's extremely troubling behavior. And somebody in this defendant's position also by is what Utah law calls a position of special trust, and that's an aggravator under Utah law. And so I felt that this was a case where the judge should consider imposing a very significant amount of jail time.

Er.

But we also emphasize the overarching goal of the DA's office isn't just throwing offenders in jail.

The systems interested not just in imprisoning offenders or putting people in custody and locking them away. You know, sometimes punishment for punishment's sake is appropriate, but the system generally tries to avoid that. In favor of rehabilitating people. We don't want this to happen again, So what does it take to do that. The end of the day, we're dealing with people's freedom, and we're dealing with the trauma that's been inflicted on victims, and the system can't go

But not everyone agrees that is this hope and a prayer philosophy that he will change his ways in the days of probation and some days in jail, that he.

Will not reoffend when he is released back into the community. That hope and a prayer is exactly what it ends up being. What about the community? What about his victims, the child victims who are violated by his conduct? How much does that cost to put that risk back on a family, that risk back on the community at large. What is the amount of money that it's worth if he does reoffend that in that one to fifteen years. He could have or should have been in the Utah

He's not.

He's out.

Since Sam Sutton mentioned rehabilitation, I was curious about what kind of court mandated treatment was required of Jason or someone in Jason's position. This is important to me because I want to know what information Ashley will have and Aveyo will have. For example, how does one measure rehabilitation? How can one know if rehabilitation is successful? I think this is important to know when you need to make decisions to keep your kids in family safe. His court

So my name is Joel Kittrell and I'm a criminal defense lawyer based in Saltlake City, Utah.

Joel spent five years in the Public Defender's Office before going into a private criminal defense practice. He explains what steps and programs returning citizens have to go through in order to enter back into society.

Their therapy would include both individual psychotherapy, group therapy focusing on victim empathy, and then something that's interesting that a lot of people may not know is generally you've got to be able to pass polygraphs. While polygraphs aren't admissible in court. As we all know, you can't pass a polygraph that you haven't viewed child images or haven't acted on these impulses, then you may not finish the therapy classes that are required of you or the treatment that's required of you.

You know, there'll be some type of overview with a dul probation and parole and his parole officer that will be making sure that he completes that. If he say just quits going or says this is not for me, then a warrant would likely issue and you would probably be sent to.

Prison, and unfortunately, he would have lots of company. There will never be a shortage of people looking at child sexual abuse material because in the past twenty years, the problem has evolved to a place that is beyond epidemic. It's a public health crisis.

We spoke with people who said that as early as two thousand, tech companies knew this was a very serious problem and we're doing nothing to solve it. Two thousand and nine, when they introduce scanning technology, we knew that it could be effective and helping stem the problem. Still, tech companies were not using it.

I would say, if you talk with most technology policy people, their answer would be technology companies don't have that much pressure to get rid of harmful content on their platform.

You can't sue them for what someone posts or sends through their platform.

Section two thirty of the Communications Decency Act shields technology companies from any liability for content that users post, So.

For now law enforcement has to rely on tips those companies give to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. But the tips from known social media sites are only part of the story. There are plenty of hidden places on the dark web defined ce SAM as well. Teams

I remember just dropped to my knees and started screaming.

And later on season two of Betrayal, another mom makes a daring escape.

I packed that bag and I just got in the car and I went to the airport.

If you would like to reach out to the Betrayal team, email us at Betrayal Pod at gmail dot com. That's Betrayal Pod at gmail dot com. To report a case of child sexual exploitation, called the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's cyber Tipline at one eight hundred the Lost. If you or someone you know is worried about their sexual thoughts and feelings towards children, reach out to Stop It Now dot org. In the United Kingdom go to