Speaker 1: Hey, Betrayal fans, I have exciting news to share. Season
Speaker 1: three of Betrayal is now a docu series on Hulu.
Speaker 1: It's the gripping story of Stacy Tyler and the doctor
Speaker 1: who betrayed them. See the voices You've come to know
Speaker 1: in Betrayal Under his Eye, streaming now on Hulu.
Speaker 2: Within seconds, I get a Facebook message and he goes,
Speaker 2: is this about your dad? And I got like a
Speaker 2: chill down my back and I responded with yes, with
Speaker 2: like a bunch of dots, and he immediately replied with
Speaker 2: I know this because it happened to me too.
Speaker 1: I'm Andrea Gunning and this is Trail, a show about
Speaker 1: the people we trust the most and the deceptions that
Speaker 1: change everything. Recently, a listener were calling, Taylor wrote into us.
Speaker 1: She grew up with her two parents and her older
Speaker 1: brother in a small Midwestern town.
Speaker 2: Very small town feel. Everyone kind of knew each other
Speaker 2: in some capacity. Had to drive about an hour to
Speaker 2: a decent mall.
Speaker 1: That mall was a place Taylor and her mom would
Speaker 1: go shopping together.
Speaker 2: We were kind of attached to the hip. At one point.
Speaker 2: She would always say that I had to go shopping
Speaker 2: with her because I was the only one who knew
Speaker 2: where she parked her car.
Speaker 1: Growing up, Taylor's mom was her best friend.
Speaker 2: My mom was very demure, the trendy popular word to use.
Speaker 2: She was quieter, and she was to stay at home
Speaker 2: mom for most of our lives.
Speaker 1: That gave her a lot of time to spend with Taylor.
Speaker 2: She was always the one that pick up drop off.
Speaker 2: She was definitely the default parent. She was a self
Speaker 2: proclaimed bookworm. We both enjoyed reading together, playing with dolls.
Speaker 2: She taught me how to bake, She taught me how
Speaker 2: to cook. We always did things together.
Speaker 1: Taylor's dad was the head of the household. He was
Speaker 1: beloved in their family and in their community.
Speaker 2: Easy go lucky, wore Margueriteaville t shirt, always had a
Speaker 2: smile on his face.
Speaker 1: Taylor's parents had been together since they were young.
Speaker 2: My mom was pregnant when she was sixteen, he was twenty.
Speaker 2: She dropped out of high school and he moved her
Speaker 2: across the country to follow him to the Air Force.
Speaker 1: That military background became part of the family culture.
Speaker 2: It was a pretty strict household growing up. We definitely
Speaker 2: grew up with rules, and one of the rules was
Speaker 2: do everything you're asked.
Speaker 1: Striving to be a good daughter was really important to Taylor.
Speaker 1: She respected her parents. She even shared her dad's name.
Speaker 1: My dad was Big Taylor and I was Taylor Lynn.
Speaker 1: Big Taylor was a big sports guy. Some of my
Speaker 1: happiest moments growing up revolver ond sports. I always played
Speaker 1: a sport ever since I was five. She started with
Speaker 1: her dad's sport, soccer. He was a well known soccer
Speaker 1: coach in the area.
Speaker 2: My dad coached my brother, he coached me. He coached
Speaker 2: beyond both of us.
Speaker 1: Everyone in their small town adored Taylor's dad.
Speaker 2: He had the nickname of GC, which stood for a
Speaker 2: goofy coach, because he kind of took the happy role
Speaker 2: in the coaching situation, the good cop role. I did
Speaker 2: not know a world that did not involve sports, but
Speaker 2: I loved it. I got really involved in volleyball, especially
Speaker 2: travel volleyball.
Speaker 1: Quickly the sport became her entire life.
Speaker 2: Being good at volleyball and trying to get a scholarship
Speaker 2: or trying to get a spot on a college team
Speaker 2: was my biggest objective in high school.
Speaker 1: She wanted to leave her small town and make it
Speaker 1: to a big state school.
Speaker 2: If I would have stayed at home and maybe even
Speaker 2: played at the community college. That was out of the question.
Speaker 2: I didn't even want to talk to the community college coach.
Speaker 1: Her dad could be hard on her, pushing her to
Speaker 1: get better.
Speaker 2: On the court. My dad looked like he was the
Speaker 2: most supportive dad in the world because he would come
Speaker 2: watch my practices. But if he thought I didn't play
Speaker 2: well enough, or if he thought I wasn't practicing hard enough,
Speaker 2: I would get pulled aside to a place where no
Speaker 2: one could hear, or in the car on the way
Speaker 2: home or at home, and he would say how terrible
Speaker 2: I was, and how I'm half assing things, and just
Speaker 2: be so mad at me. He'd had this dart side
Speaker 2: where he would just flip a switch where nothing could
Speaker 2: get him out of it.
Speaker 1: The pressure from her dad could be intense. By her
Speaker 1: senior year of high school, Taylor had made it onto
Speaker 1: one of the best volleyball teams in the area.
Speaker 2: We were really good. There wasn't a lot for my
Speaker 2: dad to critique, so he kind of had to ease
Speaker 2: up there.
Speaker 1: Taylor's hard work paid off when she was accepted to
Speaker 1: a liberal arts college on a volleyball scholarship. The school
Speaker 1: was an hour away from her parents' house, so when
Speaker 1: she started that fall, her dad came to every game.
Speaker 2: He was my biggest cheerleader. He was being so great
Speaker 2: to me. He was being the dad that I always wanted.
Speaker 2: He came to everything. He never critiqued how I played,
Speaker 2: even when I didn't know the best game, which he
Speaker 2: would have tore me apart when I was younger. For
Speaker 2: some of that, and volleyball became like a happy space again.
Speaker 1: But that pressure to be the best didn't go away.
Speaker 1: After every mistake or lost game, she heard her dad
Speaker 1: dad's voice in her head.
Speaker 2: I still wanted him to think I was the best,
Speaker 2: so I still tried hard. I worked as hard as
Speaker 2: I could. Every summer, I would do all of the
Speaker 2: workouts plus more to try to be the best that
Speaker 2: I could.
Speaker 1: Her relationship with her dad had ups and downs, but
Speaker 1: her connection with her mom was steady.
Speaker 2: We had those little moments where we felt like best
Speaker 2: friends and people thought we were so fun together.
Speaker 1: They even worked together when Taylor was home from college.
Speaker 2: We both worked at Tjmax and it would be really
Speaker 2: funny to page her from the fitting room and say, Mom,
Speaker 2: you need to come clear out the fitting room.
Speaker 1: By the time Taylor graduated, she had developed a real
Speaker 1: sense of self.
Speaker 2: I was finally figuring out who I was, and it
Speaker 2: took me all four years to do that. I came
Speaker 2: out such a stronger, independent, hard working person who knew
Speaker 2: that sports wasn't all that I was worth.
Speaker 1: Once Taylor felt more secure in herself, she med a
Speaker 1: really great guy, someone who truly valued her.
Speaker 2: He's a babe first and foremost. He's six foot five.
Speaker 2: I'm the people person and he is more of the strong,
Speaker 2: silent type. But we really balance each other out.
Speaker 1: Taylor started a career in marketing and coach girls volleyball
Speaker 1: on the side. She and her boyfriend shared the same interests.
Speaker 1: Their lifestyles just aligned.
Speaker 2: We both worked really hard at our career. We both coached.
Speaker 2: I coached girls volleyball, he coached girls basketball. We worked
Speaker 2: out together.
Speaker 1: They got engaged and started planning a wedding.
Speaker 2: Our wedding was great. My mom helped me get ready
Speaker 2: with my bridesmaids. My dad helped walk me down the aisle,
Speaker 2: had my father daughter dance.
Speaker 1: Taylor talked to her dad on the phone almost every day,
Speaker 1: and the family spent long weekends together as Taylor's husband
Speaker 1: started spending more time with the family.
Speaker 2: My husband would always mention how thick my dad laid
Speaker 2: it on with me. Man, he just gushes over you.
Speaker 2: It's kind of weird, it's kind of gross. And I
Speaker 2: would just be like, well, I'm the golden child, I'm
Speaker 2: the best and kind of justified as that. And it
Speaker 2: took a long time for me to understand my dad
Speaker 2: was just laying it on thick because he knew what
Speaker 2: he did to me.
Speaker 1: Taylor and her husband were settling into married life and
Speaker 1: beginning to plan and for a family of their own.
Speaker 2: In twenty sixteen, my husband and I were actively trying
Speaker 2: to have a baby. We got a house together, and
Speaker 2: just really getting excited for my professional career to really
Speaker 2: take off, and life was pretty.
Speaker 1: Great at the time. Taylor had just started a new
Speaker 1: career in social media marketing.
Speaker 2: I always had to keep in mind what trending topics
Speaker 2: were and how the brand could maybe resonate in some
Speaker 2: of those. The me too movement started trending in twenty seventeen,
Speaker 2: and it wasn't just a one day trend. Every single
Speaker 2: day there were new trending tweets with the me too
Speaker 2: hashtag that showcased stories of abuse. Seeing these headlines just
Speaker 2: really put me in a dark place and put a
Speaker 2: dark cloud over my life.
Speaker 1: Taylor's husband started noticing a change in her.
Speaker 2: He thought maybe there was something wrong in our marriage,
Speaker 2: or it's something that he did to make me upset.
Speaker 2: But I would go home from work and I just
Speaker 2: wouldn't want to talk. I would just kind of try
Speaker 2: to block everything out.
Speaker 1: After a few months, Taylor's husband encouraged her to start therapy.
Speaker 2: And it was through therapy that really helped me understand
Speaker 2: why I was feeling so upset seeing the Me Too movement.
Speaker 2: That was a major thing that happened to me that
Speaker 2: was not normal. I found a therapist and I first
Speaker 2: just started talking about my relationship with my husband. I
Speaker 2: think halfway into our first session, she asked me about
Speaker 2: my family life, and I just blurted it out that
Speaker 2: my dad abused me growing up.
Speaker 1: It was a truth that she buried for years. She
Speaker 1: knew it happened, but she kept those memories locked away
Speaker 1: to protect herself. That was until the Me Too movement
Speaker 1: brought them back into her conscious awareness.
Speaker 2: It was so far back in my mind, the memories
Speaker 2: and reminders would truly only come out every once in
Speaker 2: a while in very weird situations, whether it be a
Speaker 2: dream or when I was drinking with my friend, or
Speaker 2: an episode of Law and Order SVU would just hit
Speaker 2: way too close to what happened. I actually have to
Speaker 2: stop watching that show.
Speaker 1: With the support of a licensed therapist, she began revisiting
Speaker 1: the memories she tried so hard to forget. As a
Speaker 1: note to listeners, Taylor is about to describe her experiences
Speaker 1: of sexual abuse. If it's best for you not to
Speaker 1: hear this, you can skip ahead two minutes.
Speaker 2: The earliest time I can recall is around like three
Speaker 2: or four years old, and I just remember being in
Speaker 2: the dark with the TV on, laying next to my
Speaker 2: dad and him pleasuring himself next to me. He referred
Speaker 2: to it as helping him out, and so the phrase
Speaker 2: ever since I can remember was Hey, I need you
Speaker 2: to come help me out, or how about you help
Speaker 2: me out? Or well I could probably convince your mom
Speaker 2: to unground you if you come help me out. It
Speaker 2: was his code word. I was crying like quietly, eyes shut,
Speaker 2: gritting my teeth, silent, stiff as a board. As soon
Speaker 2: as it would be over, I would get out of there,
Speaker 2: out of that room as fast as I could, and
Speaker 2: I would lock myself into my room.
Speaker 1: The sexual abuse was a constant threat she navigated every day.
Speaker 2: I drew being home alone with him at any instance
Speaker 2: my whole entire childhood. Anytime I could go to the
Speaker 2: grocery store with my mom, I would go. Anytime I
Speaker 2: could try to get out of the house, I would
Speaker 2: get out of the house. I would even bring tons
Speaker 2: of food and snacks from the pantry and hide them
Speaker 2: in my room to try to avoid going in and
Speaker 2: out of my room, because there would be times where
Speaker 2: I would just walk past his room, and that's where
Speaker 2: I would get the request to help him out. I
Speaker 2: just knew growing up, the faster I could get it
Speaker 2: over with, the faster I could leave.
Speaker 1: He manipulated and threatened her into staying silent. When she
Speaker 1: started looking back on her childhood, her fixation with sports
Speaker 1: started to make more sense. It wasn't just about getting
Speaker 1: a scholarship. Volleyball gave her an escape from her dad
Speaker 1: and her home.
Speaker 2: Sports were also a great way to stay busy and
Speaker 2: not be in the house, like I always try to
Speaker 2: sign up for as much as I could and we
Speaker 2: had to do a lot of traveling with that, so
Speaker 2: the abuse wasn't as often, which was nice. It was
Speaker 2: a nice break.
Speaker 1: But volleyball wasn't always a reprieve. The bad moods her
Speaker 1: dad would get in after she lost a game were
Speaker 1: used to control her.
Speaker 2: If I made a mistake. I was terrified what was
Speaker 2: going to happen when I went home. The only way
Speaker 2: for me to get out of trouble or not grounded
Speaker 2: was to help him out. I would help him out,
Speaker 2: and then everything would reset and we would be completely
Speaker 2: back to normal. He would be an overly loving dad
Speaker 2: for that time period, and I was just I would
Speaker 2: go back to my room and be relieved, but at
Speaker 2: the same time, I would be counting down the days
Speaker 2: until I had to do this again.
Speaker 1: Every time. She hoped it would be the last time,
Speaker 1: but it went on right up until she left for college.
Speaker 2: I get mad at myself sometimes, which is really hard
Speaker 2: to deal with. I should have just called the police.
Speaker 2: I should have told a teacher, but who knows if
Speaker 2: they would have even taken me seriously because he was respected
Speaker 2: in the community.
Speaker 1: As soon as Taylor left for college, she buried the
Speaker 1: memories of her dad's abuse. It was a survival mechanism
Speaker 1: because she depended on her parents, and despite it all,
Speaker 1: she still wanted a connection with them.
Speaker 2: I relied on my family for a lot of things,
Speaker 2: and you know, they supported me and they helped me
Speaker 2: buy my first car.
Speaker 1: Through years of abuse, she had been taught that love
Speaker 1: was conditional and that it was her responsibility to make
Speaker 1: her parents happy with her. That pattern of thinking stayed
Speaker 1: with her even after the abuse ended.
Speaker 2: So when a memory would come up, or when I'd
Speaker 2: be in college and that definitely wasn't happy to me
Speaker 2: and anymore, and I would think of something, I'm like, well, like,
Speaker 2: you know, now, they're nice to me. Now, my dad
Speaker 2: treats me like his best friend. And all those great
Speaker 2: moments in my mind at that time outshadowed some stuff
Speaker 2: in the past, because hey, that's done, that's over, and
Speaker 2: look at how nice he is to me now. And again,
Speaker 2: I would talk to my dad or my mom like
Speaker 2: every other day, and never at a time where we'd
Speaker 2: be talking would I be thinking about that, because I
Speaker 2: was so focused on how good it was to have
Speaker 2: a supporting dad or loving dad. It was definitely everything
Speaker 2: that I was craving growing up, and I feel like
Speaker 2: I was trying to take full advantage of that as
Speaker 2: an adult.
Speaker 1: But as hard as she tried to keep it out
Speaker 1: of her mind, those memories sometimes came back up.
Speaker 2: There would be time all throughout my life where I
Speaker 2: would remember, like, oh, yeah, I remember that terrible stuff
Speaker 2: you seda happen to you. I even remember this was
Speaker 2: probably twenty fourteen, living in a different city, and my
Speaker 2: friend and I were drinking, you know, just young twenties,
Speaker 2: getting ready for a night on the town, and I
Speaker 2: don't know what triggered it, but all of a sudden,
Speaker 2: I just started crying. And I've never told anyone up
Speaker 2: to that point, and I told her what had happened
Speaker 2: to me, and she gave me the biggest hug and
Speaker 2: we kind of just talked about it.
Speaker 1: But back then Tiler wasn't ready to confront the reality
Speaker 1: of what her father had done to her.
Speaker 2: And the next day she was like, I remember what
Speaker 2: you told me. If you ever needed to talk to me,
Speaker 2: let me know. And I just kind of was embarrassed
Speaker 2: that I even brought it up. I didn't want anyone
Speaker 2: to look at me as a victim or think of
Speaker 2: me like as gross you know, for that happened to
Speaker 2: me as like damaged even my friends.
Speaker 1: Taylor felt like if she came forward it would destroy
Speaker 1: her family.
Speaker 2: And I would quickly be like, well, your family's all
Speaker 2: that you have. Do you want to blow up your
Speaker 2: whole life? And I turned out okay, so it really
Speaker 2: must have not done that bad. And if I'm going
Speaker 2: to bring it up, then I'm just being a drama queen.
Speaker 2: Or maybe people aren't even going to believe me, so
Speaker 2: why would I even bring it up. So that's kind
Speaker 2: of how I would talk myself out of it and
Speaker 2: kind of push those memories back down.
Speaker 1: By twenty seventeen, when she saw other survivors coming forward
Speaker 1: and being believed, something shifted for Taylor. She couldn't keep
Speaker 1: the memories at bay anymore.
Speaker 2: I would cry on my way to work sometimes out
Speaker 2: of the blue, because I started having those memories that
Speaker 2: were just unavoidable, and I couldn't really push them back
Speaker 2: like I had been doing all those years.
Speaker 1: With the help of her therapist, she integrated those experiences
Speaker 1: into the story of her life, but she still wasn't
Speaker 1: ready to confront her parents. And then my husband and
Speaker 1: I were trying to have our first child, and.
Speaker 2: The minute I found out I was pregnant, I just
Speaker 2: wanted to keep this thing safe. I was getting very
Speaker 2: protective over my future baby and really was having a
Speaker 2: hard time and had to talk to my therapist about
Speaker 2: do I wanted to have a relationship with my dad
Speaker 2: knowing what happened to me. Finally, my therapist suggested, well,
Speaker 2: have you ever talked to your mom or told your
Speaker 2: mom about this? And that really opened the door to
Speaker 2: I need to bring light to this or I don't
Speaker 2: know what's going to happen next.
Speaker 1: It was the last thing she wanted to do, but
Speaker 1: now that she had a baby on the way, she
Speaker 1: knew she couldn't interact with her parents without addressing her
Speaker 1: dad's abuse. She hadn't told anyone except her college friend
Speaker 1: and now her therapist. If she was going to confront
Speaker 1: her parents, he needed to tell her husband first.
Speaker 2: My husband and I were driving a car and I
Speaker 2: was still not mentally in a great place that I said, Okay,
Speaker 2: do you want to know why I am in therapy?
Speaker 2: And I said there was a family member that abused
Speaker 2: me sexually abused me growing up. And then I was
Speaker 2: able to tell him that it was my dad, and
Speaker 2: he instantly wanted to drive two hours to go see
Speaker 2: him and confront him. He was supportive a thousand percent
Speaker 2: of the way. He is a fierce protector. He would
Speaker 2: do anything for me.
Speaker 1: But she wanted to do this on her own. He
Speaker 1: respected that and supported her as she made a plan.
Speaker 1: But in the meantime she distanced herself.
Speaker 2: I definitely became a little bit more distant to them,
Speaker 2: you know, blamed like, oh, work is really busy, card
Speaker 2: a lot going on. All my anger was directed at
Speaker 2: my dad, not my mom.
Speaker 1: She knew her mom would be on her side. She
Speaker 1: was her best friend. One time, when Taylor was young,
Speaker 1: her mom even asked her if something was wrong.
Speaker 2: I remember I was five or six years old, and
Speaker 2: she asked me if my dad ever touched me. And
Speaker 2: I remember saying to her just because I was so
Speaker 2: scared that I said no and just kind of let
Speaker 2: it go.
Speaker 1: But now, as an adult, she was ready to answer
Speaker 1: that question. Honestly. A few months into Taylor's pregnancy, her
Speaker 1: mom invited her on a shopping trip. Taylor decided, this
Speaker 1: was the time.
Speaker 2: I took my mom to just a little cafe and
Speaker 2: I said, I have something to tell you. It's really
Speaker 2: hard for me growing up. Dad sexually abused me. I'm
Speaker 2: now pregnant and I'm terrified that something's going to happen
Speaker 2: to this kid, and I just need you to know.
Speaker 2: And she immediately started crying, and I started crying, and
Speaker 2: she said, you know, I really there was this one
Speaker 2: time that he was holding you weird that I really
Speaker 2: thought maybe, but you told me it wasn't happening. Why
Speaker 2: didn't you ever tell me? Like? She just kept like
Speaker 2: crying and asking me that, and I just kept telling
Speaker 2: your dad told me not to like he said, I
Speaker 2: would get in trouble if I told you. She was
Speaker 2: just super upset, gave me all the hugs, told me
Speaker 2: how sorry she was that that happened. And I went
Speaker 2: home to where I lived at the time, and she
Speaker 2: went home with the plan to confront my dad.
Speaker 1: It was a huge relief, but she knew that confrontation
Speaker 1: would change her parents' relationship forever.
Speaker 2: I was in hopes that she was going to leave him.
Speaker 2: I offered her replace to live with us. We would
Speaker 2: help so or her financially.
Speaker 1: Taylor didn't hear anything from her parents for a few days.
Speaker 1: The whole time she was Bracing for her dad's reaction,
Speaker 1: she and her husband prepared for her mom to move in,
Speaker 1: but Taylor was surprised when a few days later she
Speaker 1: received a call from her dad.
Speaker 2: My dad then called me and asked me to meet
Speaker 2: him at a halfway point in like a Walmart parking lot.
Speaker 2: He said he wanted to talk and apologize. So it
Speaker 2: wasn't even like an angry call. It was a we
Speaker 2: need to talk. I'm just so sorry. Can we please
Speaker 2: meet somewhere? Will you ever forgive me?
Speaker 1: Taylor was hopeful that her dad would apologize, acknowledge the
Speaker 1: impact of what he'd done, and get help.
Speaker 2: I thought maybe this could turn around into a story
Speaker 2: that had some sort of reconciliation or some sort of
Speaker 2: alternate ending. So I wanted to be a little bit
Speaker 2: open there because I did love him.
Speaker 1: With that in mind, she agreed to meet him.
Speaker 2: So we meet at the Walmart parking lot.
Speaker 1: For her own protection, she decided to document the conversation.
Speaker 1: I actually started recording with.
Speaker 2: My phone, and he just starts going off on how
Speaker 2: sorry he is and he doesn't get those thoughts anymore,
Speaker 2: and how good I turned out, and could I ever
Speaker 2: forgive him? I didn't have an answer for him. If
Speaker 2: I could forgive him, I said, I don't know, and
Speaker 2: he goes, do you still love me? I said yes,
Speaker 2: because that's my dad.
Speaker 1: They sat in her car for an hour crying. His
Speaker 1: apology felt genuine. It was the first time he ever
Speaker 1: acknowledged what he'd done.
Speaker 2: Once they parted ways, I immediately called my mom and said, hey,
Speaker 2: I just met up with dad. He said he was
Speaker 2: so sorry, Like, how did your conversation go? And this
Speaker 2: is when she told me that he denied it, denied everything,
Speaker 2: said I was crazy, said I was making it up
Speaker 2: for attention, and she didn't know what to believe anymore.
Speaker 2: And I said, mom, I have a recording of him apologizing,
Speaker 2: and she goes, hold on, your father's calling me and
Speaker 2: so hangs up, calls me back. Yeah, he just said,
Speaker 2: you admitted that you were lying. The minute I got home,
Speaker 2: I sent her all the recording. It was like an
Speaker 2: hour long, and he never once in the recording said
Speaker 2: I'm sorry for sexually abusing you as a child. But
Speaker 2: he said, I am sorry. Can you forgive me? I
Speaker 2: don't get these thoughts, And she said, well, he could
Speaker 2: have been apologizing that anything. She just flipped the switch
Speaker 2: completely to not believing me.
Speaker 1: After confiding in her mom about the abuse she experienced
Speaker 1: as a child, Taylor's dad reached out. He said he
Speaker 1: wanted to apologize, so she met him in person. To
Speaker 1: her surprise, he took accountability and was apologetic. She recorded
Speaker 1: the conversation on her phone, but when Taylor sent that
Speaker 1: audio to her mom.
Speaker 2: She thought I manipulated the recording. She just flipped the
Speaker 2: switch completely to not believing me. This began a painful
Speaker 2: back and forth. Taylor was desperate to prove the truth
Speaker 2: to her mom. I had multiple phone calls at lunch
Speaker 2: break at work trying to convince her that yes, this
Speaker 2: happened to me, sharing very specific instances or phrases that
Speaker 2: he would use, like how do you not believe me?
Speaker 2: This went on for months Throughout my whole pregnancy. My
Speaker 2: mom was going back and forth with believing me or not,
Speaker 2: which was extremely stressful for me because I wanted her
Speaker 2: in my life. I wanted her to be my son's grandma.
Speaker 1: As she got closer to her due date, she tried
Speaker 1: to have one final conversation with her parents together.
Speaker 2: Probably halfway through my pregnancy. I did show up at
Speaker 2: their house and they were both home. She stepped out
Speaker 2: of the room and she's like, I need a minute.
Speaker 1: As soon as her mom left the room.
Speaker 2: My dad was acting so weird and definitely scared. He
Speaker 2: went from remorseful to angry and said, I don't understand.
Speaker 2: You turned out great. This wasn't a problem when we
Speaker 2: bought you clothes, this wasn't a problem when we bought
Speaker 2: you a car. And I freak out and start crying
Speaker 2: and going. So that was supposed to make it okay.
Speaker 2: My mom turns the corner, she goes, what's going on.
Speaker 2: I'm like, he's just justifying it with all of these reasons,
Speaker 2: and I left and at that point I quit trying.
Speaker 1: That was the moment she decided to cut her dad off.
Speaker 2: I have not talked to him looked at him since
Speaker 2: that moment when I fully understood that he does not
Speaker 2: love me the way that he says he did.
Speaker 1: Distress took a toll on her health and her pregnancy.
Speaker 2: I was thirty seven weeks and my ob was like, hey,
Speaker 2: you don't really have a lot of fluid. You might
Speaker 2: want to go to the hospital because they might want
Speaker 2: to deliver the baby early. And this is my first kid,
Speaker 2: and I was like, what My first instinct was to
Speaker 2: go to my work and get my laptop for some reason,
Speaker 2: and I just started like crying on the stairs at work,
Speaker 2: and people at work were so nice, and I was like,
Speaker 2: I'm not ready to be a mom, and they're like,
Speaker 2: You're going to be great.
Speaker 1: She called her husband too, met her at the hospital.
Speaker 1: They didn't even have their hospital backpacked. A few hours later,
Speaker 1: their son was born.
Speaker 2: Was born perfect, with blonde, curly hair and just adorable
Speaker 2: and so loved. I had friends visit me in the hospital,
Speaker 2: my in laws.
Speaker 1: Her mom showed up too, but she was distant.
Speaker 2: The minute the baby was born, she gave my son
Speaker 2: a kiss on the forehead and said that she was
Speaker 2: leaving just extremely weird.
Speaker 1: Taylor and her mom barely spoke for months. That was
Speaker 1: until Taylor's grandma passed away.
Speaker 2: I went to my grandmother's house to pick up some
Speaker 2: things and help them move some stuff around. My mom
Speaker 2: was bringing up like happy memories and trying to talk
Speaker 2: to me about the baby and just trying to pretend
Speaker 2: like everything was normal. That's when I had the conversation
Speaker 2: with my mom, like stop skirting around this. I gave
Speaker 2: her the ultimatum. I said, you either believe me and
Speaker 2: stand by me and you are in this child's life,
Speaker 2: or I can not have a relationship with you anymore.
Speaker 2: She just finally straight up. Her reaction was I don't
Speaker 2: believe you, and I go okay, and I locked and
Speaker 2: that was the last time we've ever spoke, which was
Speaker 2: probably the hardest thing, hardest conversation her and I ever had.
Speaker 1: For Taylor, this was the ultimate betrayal.
Speaker 2: I truly believed after we talked in that cafe that
Speaker 2: she believed me.
Speaker 1: It was also an incredible loss.
Speaker 2: It was very devastating to think of a world where
Speaker 2: I just don't have a mom.
Speaker 1: But Taylor had to protect her child, even if that
Speaker 1: meant cutting off her mom.
Speaker 2: And I feel so sorry for her because to this day,
Speaker 2: she's financially, emotionally, she's just everything is under the rule
Speaker 2: of my dad. She has always been so controlled by
Speaker 2: my father, could never have her own opinion. I never
Speaker 2: saw her hang out with friends unless they were wives
Speaker 2: of my dad's friends. While my dad was hanging out
Speaker 2: with his friends. I truly think that there were times
Speaker 2: where I was her only friend, and I definitely missed
Speaker 2: that friendship, but I also have to do what's right
Speaker 2: for my family. Sorry, that wouldn't hit me kind of hard.
Speaker 2: It's funny I'm angry about my mom, but I'm just
Speaker 2: I'm like mourning the loss of my mom and she's
Speaker 2: not even dead. And I get so upset still when
Speaker 2: I see my friends and their moms are so involved
Speaker 2: with their kids. It's just not fair.
Speaker 1: For a while, this was something Taylor handled privately, but
Speaker 1: over time, Taylor felt more empowered to share what happened
Speaker 1: to her.
Speaker 2: One day, I was on Facebook and there was just
Speaker 2: a post and it was kind of like a meme
Speaker 2: style where it said reason number like three hundred and
Speaker 2: blah blah blah why abuse victims don't come forward? And
Speaker 2: all I did was hit share. I didn't say like, yep,
Speaker 2: this happened to me. It was just like resharing a post.
Speaker 2: Within seconds, I get a Facebook message and it is
Speaker 2: from my older cousin. He's about ten years older than me.
Speaker 2: He goes, hey, what's this about.
Speaker 1: It was a cousin she would see once or twice
Speaker 1: a year at family events. We'll call him Henry. She
Speaker 1: kept it big, told him it was something she was
Speaker 1: working through.
Speaker 2: And he responds with, is this about your dad? I
Speaker 2: got like a chill down my back and I responded
Speaker 2: with yes, with like a bunch of dots, and he
Speaker 2: immediately replied with I know this because it happened to
Speaker 2: me too. It was like eleven o'clock at night. I'm
Speaker 2: in my bedroom. I just start crying, and he proceeds
Speaker 2: to tell me that when he was young, around five
Speaker 2: years old, my dad sexually abused him, and the exact
Speaker 2: same things that he used to say to me. He
Speaker 2: said to my cousin, Henry of helping him out. My
Speaker 2: cousin said he'd never told anyone because he was so afraid.
Speaker 2: We started talking like every other day on the phone
Speaker 2: and just sharing experiences and like support for one another.
Speaker 1: It was the first time she felt seen as.
Speaker 2: Unfortunate as it was that it happened to both of us.
Speaker 2: I felt like I had someone who fully understood what
Speaker 2: I went through, believed me, and was equally as angry
Speaker 2: as I was in the sense of how much innocence
Speaker 2: that this person stole and that I just wasn't alone.
Speaker 2: My cousin Henry told his kids, who are in their twenties,
Speaker 2: and before he could even say what family member did
Speaker 2: something to him. His daughter asked if it was Uncle Taylor,
Speaker 2: because I apparently at a family event he had groped
Speaker 2: her and told her not to tell me a one
Speaker 2: and so this clearly is in an instance where it
Speaker 2: was a one off with one kid or another kid,
Speaker 2: there could be multiple victims out there.
Speaker 1: Even though Taylor wasn't speaking to her mom, Henry took
Speaker 1: it upon himself to message her.
Speaker 2: He Facebook messaged her probably a little over a year ago, saying,
Speaker 2: when we were living in the Midwest, it was happening
Speaker 2: to me my uncle Taylor. I thought it stopped once
Speaker 2: we moved away and he wouldn't do it to any
Speaker 2: other kid. But Taylor Lynne is not lying, and I
Speaker 2: know this goes beyond just us. Never read it, never
Speaker 2: responded to him. So there's definitely been attempts, even after
Speaker 2: that moment to try to snap her out of it,
Speaker 2: and nothing has worked, and I don't think anything will work.
Speaker 1: Henry and Taylor took their information to authorities.
Speaker 2: He contacted the state where he lives because the groping
Speaker 2: of his daughter happened in that state, and unfortunately they
Speaker 2: haven't really paid much attention.
Speaker 1: So at first, she was told the abuse she suffered
Speaker 1: would be classified as second degree criminal sexual misconduct and
Speaker 1: in her state there's a statute of limitations for that.
Speaker 2: And it's extremely frustrating, but I'm choosing to accept that.
Speaker 1: Taylor and her cousin decided to do something together to
Speaker 1: symbolize what they went through.
Speaker 2: I got Medusa tattoos recently, so Medusa. The lore is
Speaker 2: she was seduced by Poseidon and raped by Poseidon in
Speaker 2: Athena's temple, and Athena didn't believe her and chose to
Speaker 2: make her a monster. And that definitely spoke to both
Speaker 2: of us of just fear of not being believed and
Speaker 2: where both in each other's corner, still being there for
Speaker 2: each other when there are some dark days, or just
Speaker 2: reassurance that it wasn't our fault.
Speaker 1: Just recently, the district attorney has decided to re examine
Speaker 1: the case. They are reclassifying her abuse as first degree
Speaker 1: criminal's sexual misconduct and there are no statute of limitations.
Speaker 1: Taylor and Henry hope they might see justice. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: She's focused on moving forward and raising her kids in
Speaker 1: a safe, happy environment.
Speaker 2: I have a career, then I chasing. I don't have time,
Speaker 2: nor like the desire at this moment to potentially chase
Speaker 2: down a case that has anyone said that they don't
Speaker 2: believe me when I know the truth. I also have
Speaker 2: three beautiful voys that need all my attention, all of
Speaker 2: my love. Right now. I have the best kids in
Speaker 2: the world. They are fun, they're smart, they're goofy, and
Speaker 2: I know I'm their mom, so I have to say
Speaker 2: all of those things.
Speaker 1: She's sad that her mom doesn't get to see her
Speaker 1: boys grow up.
Speaker 2: I feel sorry for her in the sense that she's
Speaker 2: never going to know them and know how amazing they are.
Speaker 2: Last week, I got a message from my oldest son's teacher.
Speaker 2: He's in first grade. It was interesting fact day and
Speaker 2: my son all he knows about my parents is that
Speaker 2: they are I just say, you know, they're not very
Speaker 2: good people, and so that's why they're not in our lives.
Speaker 2: And I haven't elaborated. And my oldest son told his
Speaker 2: entire class that my parents are bank robbers and they
Speaker 2: stole money from a bank and that's why he doesn't
Speaker 2: know them. So I think it's kind of hilarious. The
Speaker 2: little kids' minds just are so imaginative, so one day
Speaker 2: I'll be able to tell them the real reason, but
Speaker 2: for now, they just know that the people who are
Speaker 2: in their lives are people who generally love them and
Speaker 2: will protect them. And I refuse to have it any
Speaker 2: other way.
Speaker 1: Throughout this whole experience, She's had the support of her husband.
Speaker 2: I know I have such a great life partner. He
Speaker 2: stood by me this entire time, and his family has
Speaker 2: stood by me the entire time, and that just has
Speaker 2: meant the whole world to me. And he's such a
Speaker 2: good dad. He is so fully involved, and we are
Speaker 2: building this little family from scratch and starting this new
Speaker 2: life I see.
Speaker 1: We end every weekly episode with the same question, why
Speaker 1: do you want to share your story?
Speaker 2: The first reason is I think this is a part
Speaker 2: of my healing journey first and foremost, and provide myself
Speaker 2: some additional closure. A second reason is when I found
Speaker 2: out that my cousin Henry had this had happened to him,
Speaker 2: there was this sense of I'm not alone, and if
Speaker 2: I can give someone else this sense of them not
Speaker 2: feeling alone, then I want to be able to do that,
Speaker 2: and that's why I'd chosen to say something.
Speaker 1: On the next episode of Betrayal Weekly.
Speaker 3: So we sat down and he was like, he doesn't
Speaker 3: believe in NBA, so he's not going to ask for
Speaker 3: one of them. And I was just like, what the
Speaker 3: hell is going on here? Like what is happening? And
Speaker 3: it was like, Oh, do you know what? I think?
Speaker 3: I need to tell you a little bit about my
Speaker 3: family history.
Speaker 1: Before we end the episode. I have some exciting news Betrayal.
Speaker 1: We'll be doing our first ever live show as part
Speaker 1: of the Virgin Voyage's True Crime Cruise. We'll be answering
Speaker 1: listener questions and discussing them live on stage with Stacey
Speaker 1: and Tyler from Betrayal season three, as well as Caroline
Speaker 1: from season four. So if you have a question for us,
Speaker 1: please email us at Betrayalpod at gmail dot com with
Speaker 1: the subject line listener question and if you want to
Speaker 1: join us on the Caribbean cruise, there are still spots
Speaker 1: available search Virgin Voyages dot com slash true crime. If
Speaker 1: you would like to reach out to the Betrayal team
Speaker 1: or want to tell us your Betrayal story, email us
Speaker 1: at Betrayalpod at gmail dot com. That's Betrayal Pod at
Speaker 1: gmail dot com, or follow us on Instagram at Betrayal pod.
Speaker 1: You can also connect with me on Instagram at It's
Speaker 1: Andrea Gunning. To access our newsletter, view additional content, and
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Speaker 1: thank you to all of our listeners. Betrayal is a
Speaker 1: production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group
Speaker 1: and partnership with iHeart Podcasts. The show is executive produced
Speaker 1: by Nancy Glass and Jennifer Fason, hosted and produced by
Speaker 1: Me Andrea Gunning, written and produced by Monique Leboard, also
Speaker 1: produced by Ben Fetterman. Associate producers are Caitlin Golden, Olivia Hewitt,
Speaker 1: and Kristin Melcurie. Casting support from Curry Richmond. Our iHeart
Speaker 1: team is Ali Perry and Jessica Krincheck. Audio editing and
Speaker 1: mixing by Matt Delvecchio. Additional audio editing by Tanner Robbins.
Speaker 1: Betrayal's theme composed by Oliver Baines Music Library provided by
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