S3: E3 – The Devil

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. 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.

I'm Andrea Gunning. This is Betrayal, Season three, episode three, The Devil a listener. Note. Some names have been changed to protect privacy. The Rutherford family was broken. Stacy threw Justin out of the house after detective served a search warrant to collect electronic devices from their home. Stacy learned that a hitting camera had been placed in an upstairs bathroom. The device recorded thousands of images of mostly children and

My sister had just called me and she's crying and she's like, this is crazy, Like how are they gonna let him go? And I'm like, I know, oh, you know, God's got this. We're going to figure this out. Like I do not believe in my heart of hearts of disman is.

Going to walk free.

And Tyler's listening to this.

I got phoned and he was helping me fuld laundry and I said, man, buddy, I said.

I don't know.

We gotta do some serious pray.

And he's like, why, what's up.

I said, they were talking about only charging Justin with the cameras and he goes, well, what does that mean?

And I said, well.

That probably means that your little brother will have visitation with his father.

In due time. And he just looked at me with the look I will never forget, 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.

A couple hours later, Stacy received a cryptic message from her sister, Heather.

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. Mikayla and I went to the bedroom and we called. I could tell Heather had been crying.

I was just sick. There was an awkward silence. Tyler was quiet that.

I could have never looked at my mom on 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.

So Heather broke the news to her sister.

She said he's been doing it to Tyler too for six years.

And there it was what Stacy had feared. Her husband had been abusing her son since he was ten. 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. It was a shock.

I remember just saying, you know, I'm so sorry, Like I just kept saying I'm so sorry because I didn't know what else.

Tuesday, I could just see the go on her face looking at me. I wish she could have hit it from me. I just wanted 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.

It was very hard in the beginning to not feel every single thing you know of like how could you let this happen to him? I still to this day feel like I failed on so many levels. The hardest thing for me is to just not feel like.

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

I don't know.

Stacey felt responsible that this was all her fault, and on top of that, she continues to worry about the future. How will Tyler feel in a year or three years when he is older and has had time to process what happened to him.

My greatest fear and still to this day, is that someday You're going to be mad at me and never talked to me, and I couldn't go to 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.

Tyler was left with more than any adult, much less any teenager should have to handle. There was the weight of the secret for six years, and then there was the weight of the destruction.

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

Like everyone knows and they're.

Just staring at you, and you feel like jumping out of your skin again. You feel like the same way you feel when it all first starts.

When it all first started. Well, that was a long time ago, about two years before Stacy and Justin got married. As I said, he was only ten years old then, and their wedding day.

That ring on the finger. I felt like that was like sealing the fate. I was standing in that courthouse trying to hold in my tears while everyone else is trying to hold in theirs for joy mine or not joy.

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.

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

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.

It was an awful feeling, like a like a mountain sitting on your chest. Pretty much the whole day. 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. It was like I almost couldn't breathe.

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

They just put me in the room and it was mean 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 crazy stuffs.

Any sergeant Detective Mike Thick.

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. You got to realize these are kids and embarrasses them.

That was probably the most uncomfortable fulk I ever had in my life, was that one.

Right there.

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, like.

Such minute details that seem like they wouldn't even make a difference.

They just cut really deep with those questions.

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

He groomed them.

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

And that was right after just admitting it had happened. So it goes from not opening my mouth for years to spilling the whole story.

Out during this interview, Tyler disclosed all the painful details his family would never hear. He was smart enough to know that the detectives interviewing him were collecting evidence. This was excruciating, but it would matter.

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.

The hard truth was law enforcement didn't have a strong case. Tyler's bravery and coming forward helped corroborate the other victim story. There was a good chance without this, Justin would walk away with a misdemeanor, a slap on the wrist.

I mean, they're brave and I just I mean, to me, they're heroes.

Tyler didn't realize his stepdad was a predator.

I just never thought he would do it to anyone else. I'd like to have friends over because it was a sense of security and protection that nothing was going to happen to me. I just thought when there was a group of US boys, everyone was safe.

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

My friend texted me and he's like, you remember that night at your house when I had that crazy dream and how a.

Sleepwalking and everything was all crazy. He was like, do you think that was Justin?

Tyler deflected.

I was just like, that's crazy. I don't know.

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

He deflected, and was scared for good reason.

He could monitor everything I did on my phone. He read every word that went to another person through text.

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. 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, and he got a head start on law enforcement. Stacey had to triage her crises. She now knew for certain that

Nanny calls me, she's like, I just got home and Justin left a letter. He's gone and everything is gone.

Of his.

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

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.

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 and she's just like, I don't know, I don't know where he's at.

Stacy had no idea where he'd gone, but eventually the police would have enough for charges. Right when would they come looking for him? She would also need Justin's signature to finalize the house sale, and Stacy needed that money. It felt like Justin fled, but without an arrest warrant, he wasn't technically a fugitive. 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 cars, and then he would pay it off immediately, so it wasn't showing a balance.

The charges were from Great Britain and Amsterdam. He was in Europe. It turned out that Justin left the country on August twenty eight. The first victim disclosed the abuse to police on August thirty. First Tyler disclosed Justin's abuse days later, so Justin bolted before either one of the boys talked. Meanwhile, law enforcement was busy with their.

Investigation some individuals sleep. I didn't think he was going to leave for good. I mean his young children. I don't know what he was.

Thinking, and neither did Stacy.

Annie 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.

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. The two remained close no matter what chaos ensued.

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

Battle lines were drawn. Nanny didn't believe the accusations. She was supporting Justin.

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.

Justin was busy enjoying Europe. Stacy was picking up the pieces with him out of the country. It's stalled the family's ability to move.

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

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

There was forends of 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 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. The one individual, I personally did a forensic interview and interviewed him and

Police were ready to issue an arrest warrant, and what Justin didn't know was that law enforcement was watching his every move.

We had him on a watch list.

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

They got word that he was boarding a plane.

Justin Fluenta Dulles International, right outside Washington, d C.

They were watching him and they secured him at the airport for US.

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

We got him. The charges included multiple counts of invasion of privacy, rape of a child, and rape of an unconscious victim. 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. Now he was in jail and she was trying to find solid ground after

Mikaela had felt she had lost her dad. 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. And Tyler, it was I'm going to get you justice. I want him to fry the rest of his life.

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.

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

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. Justin didn't just send letters to the kids, he also sent them to Stacy. They were full of regret. Sometimes he pledged his love for her, other times he tried to cryptically explain his behavior. And then there were the letters that leverage Stacy's faith.

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. In one letter, he wrote, you were the best thing that ever happened to me. We had two beautiful kids, and I fucked everything up, I alone, and you didn't deserve that. 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.

Justin also acknowledged the deep connection they shared.

We were soulmates. You were the only person on this earth who had the same thoughts as me. Every time. I feel like every time that happened, a jolt would go through my soul Proverbs thirty one eleven through twelve.

Her husband trusts her judgment.

He does not lack income.

She brings him profit, not loss, all the days of her life. I should have been completely honest with you every day of our lives. Together. I was selfish because I was worried that.

You would leave me. What did that mean? Honest about what? That he was sexually abusing her son and would abuse another boy, that he was a pedophile.

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. I pray for you every day, just like you did for me all those years. I pray for your healing and forgiveness. I pray for God's mercy. I pray that you find happiness, even if that means losing you. I'm sorry for my flaws. I'm sorry I let the devil into our lives.

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 as Justin spent more time in jail and became more frustrated with his living conditions. He sent another letter escalating his faith based manipulations.

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. I was like, oh 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. So he very much tried to appeal to the faith side of me.

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. It was crowded, but they made it work until Stacey could find a home of her own that she could afford. In April of twenty twenty two, she and the littles moved into an old farmhouse in Jared'stown, West Virginia, just down the road from her friend Karen. It wasn't the modern five bedroom place they've left in Pennsylvania,

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

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

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 every thing going on, everyone watching. 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?

No? No, He told me that you couldn't keep it, and I was like, it's noted to me, give it to me, and she refused and then just left.

Tyler wrote down everything he could remember about the letter to tell detectives. Later, 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.

T first, I would like to say that I am truly sorry. I wish there was a way I could take it all back and prove to you how sorry I am. All of the stems from the fact that I hated who I was, my body, my sexuality. 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. I know I fucked up, and if I could take your pain away, I would. I don't deserve it from you,

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

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. He used to have no contact even through third parties. Third party being you, and her response was, well, Justin said it was okay.

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

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.

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.

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 Stacy. When the reality of the prison time he was facing started to sink in, he wrote another letter. Here are portions of it.

Dear Stacy, I guess now you know what they're trying to offer me is thirty years. I won't be able to do that amount of time. Going to trial would be worse and would result in even more time. I have literally seen murderers get ten to twenty or seven to fifteen, so I don't understand the logic here. Mine is literally the worst offer, and I truly think it's because they want to make an example of me, and honestly, if it comes down to it. I guess I'll have

And so he had arrived at the real meeting of the letter. Tyler could recant, He could lie and say it never happened. Justin had broken the law and tried to get to Tyler. He had quoted Bible verses and leveraged his children to get to Stacy. But neither God nor guilt would work. Stacy and Tyler were after justice. We first met Tyler and Stacy back in December of twenty twenty three. Their story was really upsetting, and to be perfectly transparent, we were pretty hesitant to move forward

So I was hoping by doing this podcast that somebody like me could find it and let them know they're not alone.

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

Guys don't really talk about our weaknesses. We just make jokes about it, about trauma and whatnot. People make sly comments about it, ask you questions that are highly uncomfortable, but they think it's a joke just because they don't see it out there. When they hear it happen to a guy, they think, oh, that must be the only guy in the world. But it's a lot more common and there's no one that relates to you, and it's really nice to have someone to relate to.

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

I want to help other people. There's not really any resources for men. That's really the biggest thing is being a guy, and not many talk about it. 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. And if I can be that person that people can look up to, that would be awesome.

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

For the most part, he was a good father figure. But at night is when the monster came out. I'm pretty sure I've said to you guys, and I've told my mom and anyone who questions me. Without getting too vulgar, the only way I can put it is if you can imagine it, it happened. It started about six months after he met my mom, maybe a little longer. That was before they got married. That was before they even

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

As a kid, I wouldn't see my mom happily married and have younger siblings that I love. Without even saying anything, He knew that was on the line for me. He had definitely brought it up a few times. 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 in my whole life. 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.

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

The first instance I remember that night vividly up until blackout point.

Me.

It was four locos and cinnamon moonshine. I do remember that pretty much.

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

The numbed everything, I mean not even numbed. It blurred everything. I would just go robot mode and just kind of let it happen.

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

Every so often, I'd tell myself, Okay, it's clear he likes little boys. I'll grow to be a teenager and he won't want to do anything to me. So I'm thirteen and it's still going on. So then I go, okay, wait till I turned about sixteen, you know, a sixteen year well into puberty. I thought, as I'd become to be more of a man, he wouldn't want anything to

It's infuriating to think a man would trap, manipulate, and say actually abuse a child. But Tyler wants to turn his pain into purpose, and he's thinking of other victims and how he could help them.

It doesn't make you less of a man, it doesn't make you weak. And I think this podcast can do a lot of good for a lot of heartbroken young men out there, and even grown men, because I know there's plenty out there who you know, followed through with that plan of never opening up their mouth.

Tyler isn't 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. Even though Justin was behind bars, that didn't mean they were safe. On the next episode of Betrayal, Justin forms a plan to get out of prison.

He knew he was looking at a very, very, very long time in jail on the sex assault charges. I want to believe somebody's like that. I think that people can get desperate.

If you're a man who has experienced sexual abuse or assault, or you know someone who is seeking support, go to one in six dot org. That's the number one I n number six dot org. 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 dot com. That's Betrayal pod at gmail dot com. Also, please be sure to follow us at Glass Podcasts on Instagram for all Betrayal content, news and updates. We're grateful for your support.