WEBVTT - Dead Weight | EP 3 | Saskia's Story 0:00:03.720 --> 0:00:07.480 On the night of October twenty eighth, twenty eighteen, Saska's 0:00:07.520 --> 0:00:10.880 eyes fluttered open in the darkness, and they landed on 0:00:10.920 --> 0:00:11.959 her husband's laptop. 0:00:14.240 --> 0:00:18.040 The open screen was facing me. I saw what looked 0:00:18.079 --> 0:00:26.239 like a mostly naked back, but with some light blue underpanthon. 0:00:26.480 --> 0:00:28.960 Mike was turned away from her. He didn't see that 0:00:29.040 --> 0:00:32.479 she had woken up. She blinked against the blur of 0:00:32.479 --> 0:00:35.720 the computer light, trying to get her eyes to focus. 0:00:36.320 --> 0:00:37.720 I was so out of it, it was like I 0:00:37.800 --> 0:00:41.000 was in a dream. But I also knew that this 0:00:41.320 --> 0:00:43.040 was really serious. 0:00:43.320 --> 0:00:46.040 She fought to keep her eyes open. Her meds were 0:00:46.080 --> 0:00:49.040 pulling her to sleep, but as her mind shut down, 0:00:49.680 --> 0:00:55.640 something within her whispered, remember this moment, Remember that screen. 0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:01.400 I don't know how I was able to do this, 0:01:01.640 --> 0:01:06.760 but I remember looking and I saw the name Chatterbait, 0:01:08.080 --> 0:01:13.080 and then I remember seeing sixteen hundred followers. I didn't 0:01:13.120 --> 0:01:16.920 know what that meant, but I just knew, just remember 0:01:17.000 --> 0:01:22.000 these things. These are significant. And I passed back out. 0:01:36.640 --> 0:01:41.320 I'm Andrea Gunning, and this is Betrayal, Season five, episode three, 0:01:41.640 --> 0:01:48.680 dead Weight. The next time Saskia opened her eyes, it 0:01:48.760 --> 0:01:53.440 was morning, Sunday morning. The street outside was quiet and 0:01:53.560 --> 0:01:57.240 daylight streamed through the blinds, but as she lay in bed, 0:01:57.600 --> 0:01:59.760 she could feel panic rising in her chest. 0:02:00.600 --> 0:02:03.960 I woke up feeling so scared, like petrified. 0:02:05.280 --> 0:02:08.640 Her mind was flooded by that underwater feeling, and her 0:02:08.680 --> 0:02:11.320 body felt heavy, as if she were unable to move. 0:02:12.200 --> 0:02:15.040 But those feelings were interrupted by the image of the 0:02:15.080 --> 0:02:20.840 person in their underwear and those words chatterbait sixteen hundred followers. 0:02:22.160 --> 0:02:26.240 She remembered, what did it all mean? And what was 0:02:26.320 --> 0:02:27.679 Mike doing on his laptop. 0:02:28.440 --> 0:02:32.959 I still didn't know what was happening, and I don't 0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:34.320 know what he knows. 0:02:34.880 --> 0:02:37.680 She had no memory of whether Mike had turned around 0:02:38.080 --> 0:02:41.760 and caught her looking before she blacked out again. But 0:02:41.880 --> 0:02:45.360 that morning, Mike seemed normal. He came back in the 0:02:45.440 --> 0:02:45.760 room to. 0:02:45.720 --> 0:02:49.680 Get dressed, and he was like, I'm going to get 0:02:49.800 --> 0:02:50.360 the kids. 0:02:51.480 --> 0:02:54.280 At this point, three kids of theirs were staying with them, 0:02:55.000 --> 0:02:58.720 Soasky's two children and Mike's younger daughter they'd all spend 0:02:58.760 --> 0:03:04.320 the night at her sister house nearby. For Mike, this 0:03:04.560 --> 0:03:07.320 was any other Sunday. He had to drop his younger 0:03:07.400 --> 0:03:10.239 daughter off at his ex wife's house about an hour away. 0:03:11.320 --> 0:03:13.720 I figured I would let him do that and then 0:03:13.880 --> 0:03:16.079 I would talk to him. 0:03:16.919 --> 0:03:20.200 Mike left to get the kids from Marisa's house before 0:03:20.240 --> 0:03:23.919 Saskia could even think her fingers dialed her sister's number. 0:03:24.520 --> 0:03:28.480 Marisa remembers picking up the phone. 0:03:27.560 --> 0:03:29.960 When I spoke to her first, she was not really 0:03:30.000 --> 0:03:33.160 with it yet. She was incoherent, and she was trying 0:03:33.200 --> 0:03:37.520 to explain what she saw, and she was distraught. 0:03:38.360 --> 0:03:41.880 Saskia was trying to relay information as quickly as she could, 0:03:42.560 --> 0:03:45.800 and she was still in the fog of sleep. Marisa 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:47.240 could barely understand her. 0:03:48.000 --> 0:03:49.920 I was like, what are you talking about? 0:03:50.840 --> 0:03:55.200 And she said something about chatterbait when I remember saying 0:03:55.240 --> 0:03:58.240 that for the first time and just not having a 0:03:58.280 --> 0:03:59.880 clue what she was talking about. 0:04:00.640 --> 0:04:03.520 She tried to get Saskia to slow down to walk 0:04:03.560 --> 0:04:07.400 her through what had happened, but just then Mike arrived 0:04:07.400 --> 0:04:11.240 to pick up the kids. They hung up the phone. 0:04:10.520 --> 0:04:12.960 And she texted me like, call me, call me when 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:13.280 you can. 0:04:14.640 --> 0:04:18.960 Marisa didn't grasp what was going on, neither did Saskia really. 0:04:19.720 --> 0:04:22.480 What she did know was that Mike was doing something 0:04:22.560 --> 0:04:27.320 behind her back, and it involved something called chatterbait. Whatever 0:04:27.400 --> 0:04:30.440 that was. Her gut told her this was bad. 0:04:31.640 --> 0:04:36.760 It was like right away she knew the significance her 0:04:36.800 --> 0:04:43.440 life was falling apart. 0:04:43.800 --> 0:04:47.000 While Mike drove his daughter home, Saskia tried to prepare 0:04:47.040 --> 0:04:50.680 herself for the confrontation. She had no idea what Mike 0:04:50.720 --> 0:04:53.800 had been doing online. She couldn't help but go to 0:04:53.880 --> 0:04:55.360 worst case scenarios. 0:04:56.000 --> 0:04:58.760 My mind was just starting to go everywhere. I actually 0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:02.440 thought that maybe he's not who he says he is, 0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:05.320 maybe he's on the run, or maybe he has a 0:05:05.440 --> 0:05:06.600 family somewhere else. 0:05:07.640 --> 0:05:10.000 The man she had slept next to for seven years 0:05:10.560 --> 0:05:14.360 suddenly felt like a stranger. The more she thought about it, 0:05:14.760 --> 0:05:17.600 the more she realized she had no idea what Mike 0:05:17.680 --> 0:05:20.839 did every night after she took her sleeping meds. She 0:05:21.000 --> 0:05:26.280 was always out cold in those hours. He could be anyone. 0:05:29.160 --> 0:05:31.520 When Mike walked in the door a couple hours later, 0:05:31.760 --> 0:05:34.560 she was ready. Not with a thought through plan of 0:05:34.560 --> 0:05:37.920 what to do or say, she was ready in her 0:05:37.960 --> 0:05:39.479 bones to confront him. 0:05:40.000 --> 0:05:41.760 I told him I needed to talk to him. 0:05:42.520 --> 0:05:46.240 I had his laptop and I put it under my 0:05:46.320 --> 0:05:49.120 pillow in the bed, and I was sitting on it 0:05:49.800 --> 0:05:51.640 so that he didn't know where it was and so 0:05:51.680 --> 0:05:52.560 that he. 0:05:52.400 --> 0:05:53.880 Couldn't try to take it. 0:05:55.640 --> 0:06:00.960 I told him what I had seen the night before, 0:06:02.640 --> 0:06:06.880 and immediately the mask came off. 0:06:08.920 --> 0:06:10.600 His face totally changed. 0:06:11.200 --> 0:06:13.479 And then as if he was throwing his hands up. 0:06:14.200 --> 0:06:16.440 The first thing he said to me, I know things 0:06:16.480 --> 0:06:20.279 are over with us, but you can't tell my work, 0:06:20.960 --> 0:06:23.080 and you can't tell my oldest daughter. 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:28.719 Tell them what. She didn't recognize this mic. He was 0:06:28.800 --> 0:06:35.000 calm as always, but behind his eyes there was nothing. Suddenly, 0:06:35.120 --> 0:06:38.279 she was scared, so much so that she thought about 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:41.839 calling the cops. But this might be her only chance 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:45.240 to get answers from him, so she told him what 0:06:45.360 --> 0:06:46.200 he needed to hear. 0:06:47.080 --> 0:06:49.440 I said, I need you to tell me exactly what 0:06:50.520 --> 0:06:54.360 you're doing, and I'm not going to tell the police 0:06:54.920 --> 0:07:00.840 or your job or your daughter if you totally come 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:03.200 clean and you tell me what has been going on. 0:07:05.080 --> 0:07:07.640 So he explained that for many years he'd been using 0:07:07.960 --> 0:07:09.760 this website called Chatterbait. 0:07:11.040 --> 0:07:14.760 Chatterbait, he said, was a popular camming website. It's a 0:07:14.800 --> 0:07:19.000 place where everyday people perform sexual acts live on camera 0:07:19.640 --> 0:07:23.920 and anyone can watch, comment or pay for private shows. 0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:28.680 Mike worked at a bank. He often traveled for work now. 0:07:28.720 --> 0:07:32.160 He admitted to Saskia that for the last seven years, 0:07:32.640 --> 0:07:34.040 whenever he'd go on these. 0:07:33.880 --> 0:07:39.280 Trips, every time he would be camming with women. 0:07:42.480 --> 0:07:44.960 He used the site to watch live streams and video 0:07:45.040 --> 0:07:49.200 chat with women directly? Was that what Saskia had seen 0:07:49.280 --> 0:07:52.720 last night? A private show? That woman? 0:07:53.560 --> 0:07:54.160 Who was she? 0:07:55.360 --> 0:07:58.720 When I immediately said, how do you know these people? 0:07:59.160 --> 0:08:01.040 Is it the same people that you do it with? 0:08:01.920 --> 0:08:05.000 He said sometimes? Then I said, like, are you in 0:08:05.000 --> 0:08:05.840 love with somebody? 0:08:06.320 --> 0:08:07.080 And he was like. 0:08:07.800 --> 0:08:13.440 What Saskia thought, Mike was playing dumb. There must be 0:08:13.520 --> 0:08:16.800 someone else, a woman he talked to after she went 0:08:16.840 --> 0:08:20.240 to bed, So she opened up Mike's computer. If he 0:08:20.320 --> 0:08:23.160 wasn't going to come out with the information, she'd look 0:08:23.200 --> 0:08:26.760 at the website herself. She found her way to chatterbait 0:08:27.200 --> 0:08:29.600 and demanded that Mike log in and walk her through it. 0:08:29.800 --> 0:08:32.320 The way he was explaining to me was like explaining 0:08:32.320 --> 0:08:35.800 how to fold a fitted sheet or something. It was 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:40.600 so detached from any emotion or any remorse. 0:08:41.080 --> 0:08:44.840 And what he was describing went far deeper than calls 0:08:44.880 --> 0:08:45.559 with other women. 0:08:46.360 --> 0:08:49.360 He explained to me, see all these tokens, people pay 0:08:49.440 --> 0:08:53.160 me money to look at my stuff. Then I can 0:08:53.240 --> 0:08:57.120 use those tokens to look at other stuff. 0:08:58.040 --> 0:09:02.560 Mike wasn't just watching other people can He was performing. 0:09:03.400 --> 0:09:06.280 People were paying him for sexual content. 0:09:09.960 --> 0:09:10.560 I was in shock. 0:09:10.600 --> 0:09:12.959 I wasn't disbelief. I felt like I was on the 0:09:13.000 --> 0:09:16.560 twilight zone. I think that's where he hoped it would end. 0:09:17.760 --> 0:09:21.400 Instead, Saskia took control of the computer. She started scrolling 0:09:21.400 --> 0:09:23.920 through the website, trying to make sense of it all. 0:09:24.480 --> 0:09:27.679 I was still trying to just take information in. 0:09:29.080 --> 0:09:33.000 That's when she saw it, the image that made her 0:09:33.040 --> 0:09:34.360 blood run cold. 0:09:34.679 --> 0:09:39.360 I remember looking and I saw a picture and I 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:41.600 was like, that's my underwear. 0:09:42.440 --> 0:09:45.280 The image she'd seen the night before on his computer 0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:49.199 screen was now right in front of her, in focus, 0:09:50.040 --> 0:09:53.120 and it was posted publicly under Mike's profile. 0:09:54.040 --> 0:10:00.000 I said, is that me? And he said, yes, that's you. 0:10:22.080 --> 0:10:25.120 Saskia was scrolling on Mike's chatterbait account when she saw 0:10:25.160 --> 0:10:28.520 a still image of herself. It was a picture of 0:10:28.559 --> 0:10:32.600 her sleeping in their bed, in her underwear. She stared 0:10:32.640 --> 0:10:36.760 at her husband, too shocked to speak. The woman she'd 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:39.679 seen on his screen it was her. 0:10:40.960 --> 0:10:43.960 He explained, I've been doing chatterbait for a long time. 0:10:44.559 --> 0:10:48.880 I didn't start using us. Until the last year or 0:10:48.960 --> 0:10:51.800 a couple of years using us. 0:10:52.640 --> 0:10:56.240 She'd never heard of chatterbait. She never agreed to have 0:10:56.280 --> 0:10:59.760 her image published on the web. She never even knew 0:10:59.840 --> 0:11:03.880 this photo was taken and by Mike, the man she 0:11:03.960 --> 0:11:05.160 trusted more than anyone. 0:11:05.960 --> 0:11:08.640 I said, how could you do this to me? How 0:11:08.640 --> 0:11:13.199 could you show people my body? And he said, well, 0:11:13.200 --> 0:11:17.120 I guess I thought it was sexy. I said, did 0:11:17.160 --> 0:11:22.640 you ever love me? And he just stayed silent. It 0:11:22.679 --> 0:11:26.880 was just no answer. He said, I guess we're both 0:11:26.920 --> 0:11:29.640 a little bit crazy. I said, no, no, I have 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:33.720 mental health issues. You're a predator and you're a monster. 0:11:35.360 --> 0:11:39.360 We need to talk about what's going to happen. And 0:11:39.480 --> 0:11:43.520 when I said that, he started walking frenzied around the house. 0:11:45.360 --> 0:11:49.120 He was beginning to panic. Saskia had the laptop. She 0:11:49.200 --> 0:11:52.400 knew Mike wouldn't leave without it. She needed to hold 0:11:52.480 --> 0:11:55.320 on to it. She also knew it wasn't safe to 0:11:55.320 --> 0:11:59.480 continue confronting Mike alone. Her mind went to Marisa, but 0:11:59.520 --> 0:12:02.880 her sister was busy with her kids, so Saskia called 0:12:02.880 --> 0:12:04.679 her brother in law, Ronnie, and. 0:12:04.640 --> 0:12:06.760 I said, I really need you to come over, please. 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:11.000 Ronnie couldn't be interviewed for this story. He passed away 0:12:11.000 --> 0:12:14.640 in twenty twenty two. Saskia remembers it was a relief 0:12:14.720 --> 0:12:18.440 to have Ronnie there. He was twice Mike size. Mike 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:23.040 wouldn't do anything with him around. Immediately, Ronnie tried to 0:12:23.040 --> 0:12:24.120 diffuse the situation. 0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:27.720 He came over and he was like, what's going on, guys. 0:12:28.280 --> 0:12:31.520 But before Saskia could share what she'd just seen, Mike 0:12:31.559 --> 0:12:35.600 took control. He pulled Ronnie aside. He tried to explain, 0:12:36.040 --> 0:12:38.199 you know, guys look at porn. 0:12:38.960 --> 0:12:39.160 Right. 0:12:40.360 --> 0:12:43.680 It seemed like Ronnie was buying Mike's story that this 0:12:44.360 --> 0:12:47.480 was no big deal. Saskia had to get him to 0:12:47.600 --> 0:12:51.520 understand the gravity of the situation. This wasn't about Mike 0:12:51.600 --> 0:12:54.520 looking at porn or even talking to other women. 0:12:55.200 --> 0:12:58.440 He was using me and I knew nothing about that. 0:12:59.679 --> 0:13:03.200 Mike hosted a naked photo of her online, a photo 0:13:03.280 --> 0:13:07.280 from when she wasn't awake. As she spoke, she watched 0:13:07.360 --> 0:13:11.720 Ronnie realize this wasn't right. He understood he was on 0:13:11.800 --> 0:13:15.319 her side, and he made it clear Mike needed to 0:13:15.400 --> 0:13:17.160 leave the house right away. 0:13:18.000 --> 0:13:19.120 Mike looked terrified. 0:13:19.520 --> 0:13:22.000 I said, what are you so upset? About what are 0:13:22.000 --> 0:13:25.559 you so scared of like you did this? And he said, 0:13:25.960 --> 0:13:29.280 I'm afraid of losing all this, like his stuff in 0:13:29.320 --> 0:13:29.800 his house. 0:13:31.280 --> 0:13:36.000 It was so strange and so unbelievable. Mike was already 0:13:36.040 --> 0:13:39.439 worrying about dividing up their things. He seemed sure their 0:13:39.480 --> 0:13:44.040 life together was over all because of one photo. Sask 0:13:44.320 --> 0:13:49.400 just needed Mike out, and eventually he agreed. Ronnie stayed 0:13:49.400 --> 0:13:52.000 by her side as Mike began packing a bag. 0:13:53.080 --> 0:13:56.040 He said he would leave and go to a hotel. 0:13:56.920 --> 0:14:00.320 I said, you're not coming back here until I say 0:14:00.320 --> 0:14:02.400 it's okay, and if you do everything that I ask 0:14:02.640 --> 0:14:05.920 you to do, I won't call the police. He acted 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:09.760 like he was leaving, but then he came back up 0:14:09.760 --> 0:14:12.600 the stairs and told me he needed the laptop twice, 0:14:13.679 --> 0:14:17.240 so the second time he did that, I actually did 0:14:17.240 --> 0:14:20.520 start to call the police and he ran out. 0:14:21.840 --> 0:14:24.840 Finally Mike was gone, and as soon as he drove away, 0:14:25.320 --> 0:14:28.840 Saskia and Ronnie went back to the laptop. They had 0:14:28.880 --> 0:14:31.080 to know what else Mike was trying to hide on 0:14:31.080 --> 0:14:35.200 this website and if he'd posted any other photos of Saskia. 0:14:36.080 --> 0:14:40.040 We sat at my little kitchen island. Ronnie did a search, 0:14:40.840 --> 0:14:44.800 and he said, you're not going to be happy. And 0:14:44.800 --> 0:14:47.840 that's when I saw a ton of images. 0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:53.480 What she saw on chatterbait. It wasn't just the one photo. 0:14:54.400 --> 0:14:59.040 It wasn't even ten or twenty photos. There were dozens. 0:14:59.480 --> 0:15:04.000 They were all of me naked without clothing. 0:15:04.800 --> 0:15:07.800 When she had first seen the website that morning, she'd 0:15:07.800 --> 0:15:12.360 been groggy, her sleeping meds were still wearing off. But 0:15:12.480 --> 0:15:16.160 it was the afternoon. Now she was more alert, and 0:15:16.240 --> 0:15:19.320 now she realized that the photos Mike had taken of 0:15:19.360 --> 0:15:24.080 her weren't really photos at all. They were thumbnails of videos, 0:15:24.960 --> 0:15:29.160 videos that had been live streamed on Mike's page. The 0:15:29.200 --> 0:15:33.240 image she'd seen earlier, it was just a preview, a 0:15:33.280 --> 0:15:37.840 thumbnail showing one of Mike's past live streams. The word 0:15:37.960 --> 0:15:43.080 sixteen hundred followers now made sense. Mike had been videotaping 0:15:43.120 --> 0:15:48.280 her while she was completely undressed, broadcasting it to thousands 0:15:48.320 --> 0:15:52.360 of strangers on the Internet, and seeing these thumbnails on 0:15:52.400 --> 0:15:58.160 Mike's profile, she could tell he'd done this many, many times. 0:16:01.800 --> 0:16:04.920 You don't see my face in most of them, but 0:16:05.040 --> 0:16:08.000 you see his face, and just the look on that 0:16:08.080 --> 0:16:11.840 face was just so painful for me to see who 0:16:11.880 --> 0:16:12.560 he really was. 0:16:16.680 --> 0:16:19.880 After he went to sleep, he turned their bedroom into 0:16:19.960 --> 0:16:25.480 a set. She recognized her walls, her sheets, but looking 0:16:25.520 --> 0:16:28.720 at the body in those images, it was like seeing 0:16:28.760 --> 0:16:34.240 someone else. It was her underwear, her tattoos. And yet 0:16:34.680 --> 0:16:37.920 she had no memory of any of these videos being taken. 0:16:39.280 --> 0:16:42.840 All those nights she'd been knocked out, all those nights 0:16:42.960 --> 0:16:45.400 she thought she'd been sleeping soundly next to the man 0:16:45.480 --> 0:16:50.800 she loved. Her body was there in bed, living a nightmare. 0:16:53.600 --> 0:16:57.320 I was terrified because I knew my life would never 0:16:57.360 --> 0:16:57.880 be the same. 0:16:58.720 --> 0:17:00.960 I knew I would never be this. I knew my 0:17:01.040 --> 0:17:04.680 family would never be the same. I was just terrified, 0:17:04.760 --> 0:17:09.240 Like what am I going to find out? 0:17:09.840 --> 0:17:13.480 There was a video behind each of these images, but 0:17:13.560 --> 0:17:17.240 the videos had only been live. They weren't accessible anymore 0:17:17.240 --> 0:17:20.480 on the site. She wanted a fuller picture of what 0:17:20.560 --> 0:17:24.600 Mike was doing to her while he was streaming. Just 0:17:24.680 --> 0:17:27.040 as her brother in law was about to dig deeper 0:17:27.640 --> 0:17:31.159 to see if there was any way to access past streams. 0:17:31.040 --> 0:17:33.720 Ronnie couldn't get access anymore. He was like, oh, this 0:17:33.760 --> 0:17:34.560 stuff's not there. 0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:39.720 Suddenly, the thumbnails of Saskia, the only proof they had 0:17:39.840 --> 0:17:44.520 of what Mike had done, began disappearing from chatterbait right 0:17:44.560 --> 0:17:49.320 before their eyes. Mike was stileting the evidence. 0:17:50.320 --> 0:17:54.080 And that's when I started freaking out because I knew 0:17:54.200 --> 0:17:56.600 then he was going to try to get away with this. 0:17:57.560 --> 0:18:01.560 Within a matter of minutes, there was only one thumbnail remaining, 0:18:02.240 --> 0:18:05.800 but that wasn't going to stop her. Uploading nude videos 0:18:05.800 --> 0:18:09.600 of her had to be a crime, and Mike needed 0:18:09.640 --> 0:18:10.720 to be held accountable. 0:18:11.640 --> 0:18:17.000 So I did call the police and two officers came 0:18:17.480 --> 0:18:21.280 and I showed them one of the pictures that was 0:18:21.320 --> 0:18:26.399 still there. One police officer said, how do we know 0:18:26.480 --> 0:18:27.480 that these are his pictures? 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:30.399 And made me feel like I was in the wrong. 0:18:32.160 --> 0:18:36.280 Saskia didn't feel like the cops took her seriously. To them, 0:18:36.560 --> 0:18:39.840 this was a routine domestic issue and the one picture 0:18:40.600 --> 0:18:44.200 wasn't enough to convince them otherwise. She pleaded with. 0:18:44.119 --> 0:18:48.439 Them, but they basically told me to file for a 0:18:48.440 --> 0:18:51.639 protective order and then to get the locks changed. 0:18:52.560 --> 0:18:56.280 So the police left and Saskia was at a loss. 0:18:58.040 --> 0:19:01.119 Then she felt her phone buzz. She looked at the 0:19:01.160 --> 0:19:05.480 screen and her stomach dropped. It was Mike, He texted 0:19:05.480 --> 0:19:08.000 her from his hotel. Let me just tell you more 0:19:08.040 --> 0:19:09.080 about the site. 0:19:09.320 --> 0:19:11.360 I have had access for years, but to not do 0:19:11.400 --> 0:19:13.120 anything with us until more. 0:19:12.920 --> 0:19:19.040 Recent us him and Saskia together. But so far as 0:19:19.040 --> 0:19:22.320 Saskia was concerned, he'd taken every one of those videos 0:19:22.359 --> 0:19:27.040 without her consent, without her being conscious. To her, this 0:19:27.240 --> 0:19:30.280 text was an admission of guilt, and that's when Saskia 0:19:30.359 --> 0:19:33.119 knew she didn't just want him out of her life. 0:19:33.200 --> 0:19:34.960 She wanted him behind bars. 0:19:35.240 --> 0:19:38.080 I wanted justice, and I promised myself that I was 0:19:38.119 --> 0:19:41.720 going to do anything possible, anything necessary, to try to 0:19:41.720 --> 0:19:42.040 get it. 0:20:03.359 --> 0:20:06.479 The day after discovering what Mike had been hiding, Saski 0:20:06.640 --> 0:20:10.199 started calling her friends, anyone who might be able to 0:20:10.240 --> 0:20:13.520 come and be with her as she navigated next steps. 0:20:14.200 --> 0:20:16.600 Her friend Heather was at work when she got the call. 0:20:17.800 --> 0:20:24.960 I answered the phone and it was the most horrible, sorry. 0:20:27.359 --> 0:20:32.040 The most horrible scream and cry I've ever heard out 0:20:32.040 --> 0:20:37.200 of another person, and she could barely get the words out. 0:20:38.480 --> 0:20:40.240 I was just like, what's wrong, what's going on? 0:20:41.560 --> 0:20:45.199 She didn't even know how to put together what she 0:20:45.359 --> 0:20:47.720 had seen and what she had experienced. 0:20:48.920 --> 0:20:52.120 Saski was still putting the pieces together about what Mike 0:20:52.200 --> 0:20:55.719 had done to her. It was difficult to process. Let 0:20:55.800 --> 0:21:00.160 alone communicate to another person. But Saskia recounted the story 0:21:00.200 --> 0:21:03.440 as best she could of seeing these thumbnails on Mike's computer. 0:21:04.000 --> 0:21:06.639 As soon as you said the computer, my mind flashed 0:21:06.680 --> 0:21:08.120 back to what she had told me about the night 0:21:08.119 --> 0:21:08.800 before the wedding. 0:21:09.760 --> 0:21:13.000 Two years before, Saskia had told Heather about waking up 0:21:13.040 --> 0:21:16.160 to Mike on his laptop and seeing people on screen, 0:21:17.000 --> 0:21:20.160 but at the time Heather and Saskia wrote it off. 0:21:21.240 --> 0:21:23.320 Now it was clear. 0:21:24.440 --> 0:21:26.840 He was testing the waters that night before the wedding. 0:21:27.240 --> 0:21:29.400 If that was the testing of the waters and had 0:21:29.400 --> 0:21:31.360 not been something that he had done before. 0:21:31.960 --> 0:21:36.040 This was serious, she knew. If Mike had been using 0:21:36.080 --> 0:21:40.320 these kinds of sights since before the wedding, the thumbnails 0:21:40.359 --> 0:21:43.520 Saskia had seen were just a sample of what was 0:21:43.560 --> 0:21:49.400 to come. The day Saskia called her with this, Heather 0:21:49.560 --> 0:21:51.440 was dealing with an emergency at work. 0:21:51.800 --> 0:21:56.200 She couldn't leave, so I called Megan and I was like, Megan, 0:21:56.800 --> 0:21:58.320 you have to go see what's going on with. 0:21:58.280 --> 0:22:02.919 Sauas Megan when is another friend of Saskia's. At the time, 0:22:03.119 --> 0:22:07.000 Saskia and Meghan were sisters in law. At the Halloween 0:22:07.040 --> 0:22:11.359 party the night before, Saskia had been drinking, and once again, 0:22:12.080 --> 0:22:16.600 she suddenly lost control. For Megan, it was a breaking point. 0:22:17.359 --> 0:22:20.480 She'd seen Saskia get like this one too many times. 0:22:20.920 --> 0:22:23.240 I was like, I'm never speaking to her again. Tonight 0:22:23.320 --> 0:22:25.359 is the end of our friendship. We're done. I'm not 0:22:25.359 --> 0:22:27.359 going to make it awkward for our family, but I 0:22:27.400 --> 0:22:29.560 am not going to be her friend anymore. 0:22:30.359 --> 0:22:32.639 But when Megan got the call about what Mike had 0:22:32.640 --> 0:22:35.600 been doing, she drove straight to Saskia's house. 0:22:36.200 --> 0:22:39.600 I forgot about everything in those moments because it didn't 0:22:39.640 --> 0:22:44.280 matter anymore. When someone needs help, I will jump right 0:22:44.320 --> 0:22:44.920 in and help. 0:22:46.000 --> 0:22:49.800 Meanwhile, Saskia was spreading the word about what Mike had done. 0:22:49.920 --> 0:22:53.600 She posted on Facebook and many people saw it, including 0:22:53.640 --> 0:22:54.920 her work friend Colleen. 0:22:55.640 --> 0:23:00.800 I was at work and I saw on Facebook's posted 0:23:01.600 --> 0:23:05.040 something like I need help. Mike turned off all of 0:23:05.040 --> 0:23:09.800 his social media profiles. This isn't a joke, and I 0:23:09.840 --> 0:23:10.640 was like, oh my god. 0:23:11.800 --> 0:23:15.600 Colleen couldn't understand how this could be. Maybe Saskia had 0:23:15.640 --> 0:23:19.320 been hacked. Just to be sure, Colleen checked Mike's page. 0:23:19.960 --> 0:23:23.600 Then his profile was gone on Facebook and I was like, 0:23:23.720 --> 0:23:25.680 oh god, that's true. 0:23:25.840 --> 0:23:28.240 This is true. 0:23:29.000 --> 0:23:32.640 As a social worker at Child Protective Services. Colleen had 0:23:32.720 --> 0:23:37.200 experience responding to crisis situations. She headed right to Saskia. 0:23:38.119 --> 0:23:42.640 When she arrived, Megan was there too. Finally Saskia had 0:23:42.680 --> 0:23:44.080 people around to help her. 0:23:44.480 --> 0:23:47.040 I felt so grateful to them. 0:23:48.280 --> 0:23:49.320 Here's Colleen again. 0:23:50.000 --> 0:23:52.520 We went to the apartment and she came out and 0:23:52.800 --> 0:23:57.200 was crying and kind of screaming, and bit by bit 0:23:57.359 --> 0:23:58.600 things came out. 0:24:00.080 --> 0:24:03.159 Old Meghan and Colleen the full story, as much as 0:24:03.240 --> 0:24:05.960 she knew of it. Anyway, Megan could hear the weight 0:24:06.040 --> 0:24:08.120 of Mike's actions in Saski's voice. 0:24:08.560 --> 0:24:12.600 She just found out she was being violated by her husband. 0:24:13.640 --> 0:24:17.400 She was just beside herself, and I don't blame her. 0:24:18.520 --> 0:24:19.719 She was just a mass. 0:24:20.600 --> 0:24:24.000 Sask couldn't think. So Megan got to work and planning 0:24:24.000 --> 0:24:25.040 the best next step. 0:24:25.440 --> 0:24:28.720 We needed to protect her from this man who is 0:24:28.800 --> 0:24:32.000 now a monster. I was like, we need to go 0:24:32.040 --> 0:24:33.880 to the courthouse right now and get a protective order. 0:24:34.400 --> 0:24:37.400 Before they could think about any kind of criminal investigation, 0:24:37.960 --> 0:24:41.360 they had to make sure Saskia was safe. Colleen agreed 0:24:41.800 --> 0:24:44.359 they should go get a protective order right away. 0:24:44.960 --> 0:24:47.560 People who've been found out or who were about to 0:24:47.600 --> 0:24:51.520 lose control are really dangerous. That's when you see people 0:24:51.600 --> 0:24:55.520 getting desperate and doing things, killing themselves, killing other people. 0:24:55.600 --> 0:24:59.680 That's the highest risk time period. So the first thing was. 0:24:59.640 --> 0:25:03.560 To have a mediate safety So Megan, Colleen, and Saskia 0:25:03.800 --> 0:25:06.679 drove to the Montgomery County Family Justice Center. It's a 0:25:06.680 --> 0:25:09.840 one stop shop for victims of intimate partner violence. 0:25:10.600 --> 0:25:13.320 The Family Justice Center and our jurisdiction does a really 0:25:13.359 --> 0:25:17.119 good job of being co located with sheriffs, with state's attorneys, 0:25:17.480 --> 0:25:20.640 connecting people with social workers and victim advocates in one location. 0:25:21.680 --> 0:25:24.560 The day is a blur for Saskia, but she remembers 0:25:24.600 --> 0:25:27.399 going with Meghan and Colleen to meet with the social 0:25:27.440 --> 0:25:31.240 worker about getting the protective order. They all waited together 0:25:31.359 --> 0:25:32.240 in a small room. 0:25:32.800 --> 0:25:36.280