WEBVTT - Ruins | Ashley's Story 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:03.720 Topics featured in this episode may be disturbing to some listeners. 0:00:04.440 --> 0:00:06.240 Please take care while listening. 0:00:07.760 --> 0:00:10.559 I want to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again. 0:00:11.440 --> 0:00:13.440 I'm grateful to all that have shown me love and 0:00:13.480 --> 0:00:19.720 compassion that this is the end of my story and 0:00:19.840 --> 0:00:21.919 this doesn't have to define me the rest of my life. 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:42.400 I'm Andrea Gunning and this is Betrayal, Episode three Ruins. 0:00:44.520 --> 0:00:47.320 Reports of Jason Litton's arrests were all over the local 0:00:47.400 --> 0:00:51.879 news and on Facebook pages. Aveya, Ashley's oldest daughter and 0:00:51.960 --> 0:00:55.200 a victim, found out when her friend's mother asked her 0:00:55.560 --> 0:00:59.000 if anyone else had been videotaped in the house. Ashley's 0:00:59.000 --> 0:01:01.880 fifteen year old son would stoic and refused to discuss it. 0:01:02.600 --> 0:01:05.000 She tried to explain what happened to her youngest, but 0:01:05.040 --> 0:01:07.399 it was a lot for a nine year old to understand. 0:01:07.760 --> 0:01:10.920 The way that Ashley said was like, Daddy is in trouble. 0:01:11.440 --> 0:01:14.600 He's in jail for doing something he wasn't supposed to do, 0:01:15.560 --> 0:01:18.280 and she just went off the rails, like asking all 0:01:18.319 --> 0:01:20.360 of these questions, like am I going to see him again? 0:01:20.400 --> 0:01:22.000 What does that mean? Is he going to be gone forever? 0:01:23.120 --> 0:01:24.840 How do you explain this to a nine year old? 0:01:25.840 --> 0:01:27.400 Her dad was taken away. 0:01:27.680 --> 0:01:30.640 Her kids lost their dad, and she lost her husband. 0:01:31.760 --> 0:01:32.680 It's like he died. 0:01:33.600 --> 0:01:36.880 He was like my security blanket. He didn't do much 0:01:36.959 --> 0:01:39.240 for me but make me feel safe and make me 0:01:39.280 --> 0:01:45.320 feel just He was there, and I don't know, I 0:01:45.000 --> 0:01:47.119 just I just really really missed my life. 0:01:48.000 --> 0:01:50.560 In the aftermath, Ashley was just trying to hold on 0:01:51.080 --> 0:01:53.240 and leaned on her best friend Emmy for support. 0:01:53.520 --> 0:01:57.600 In an instant, he was gone. I still dream about it. 0:01:57.960 --> 0:02:02.800 I still hear her. I still dream of holding her, 0:02:03.400 --> 0:02:07.400 but to have to sit there and listen to that 0:02:08.560 --> 0:02:11.680 and no, there was absolutely nothing I could do to 0:02:11.720 --> 0:02:14.240 make her feel better, to change things. There was nothing 0:02:14.280 --> 0:02:14.760 I could do. 0:02:15.639 --> 0:02:19.520 During their marriage, Ashley recognized that things weren't normal, but 0:02:19.560 --> 0:02:21.840 there's only so much you can do for a person. 0:02:22.880 --> 0:02:26.640 I had told myself that there was a mental illness 0:02:26.800 --> 0:02:29.280 going on, and he wouldn't go see anybody for it. 0:02:30.000 --> 0:02:33.440 Clearly Jason was dealing with something, but his poor behavior 0:02:33.560 --> 0:02:37.000 had existed for most of his adult life. Jason had 0:02:37.000 --> 0:02:40.440 made appalling choices at times, but Ashley always gave him 0:02:40.440 --> 0:02:44.239 the benefit of the doubt. Candace Holden and her husband Jeff, 0:02:44.400 --> 0:02:47.600 were good friends with Ashley and Jason. She shares a 0:02:47.760 --> 0:02:51.680 very awkward encounter some years back and Candace just had 0:02:51.720 --> 0:02:53.960 a baby girl that you might hear in the background. 0:02:54.360 --> 0:02:56.919 My husband was playing football for us in my Pro 0:02:56.960 --> 0:03:00.960 Football League and tour his ACL and partially towards he 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:03.320 had surgery on it. And it was a couple weeks 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:06.600 after his surgery that we drove to Salt Lake and 0:03:06.639 --> 0:03:08.960 we were saying the night at Jason and Ashley's. They 0:03:08.960 --> 0:03:12.080 had us in the basement and Jeff had like a 0:03:12.120 --> 0:03:17.600 brand new bottle of pain pills with him. I want 0:03:17.639 --> 0:03:19.639 to say that he had pulled it out to take 0:03:19.720 --> 0:03:23.960 one when we were upstairs, so that's how I feel. 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:26.360 Jason knew that the bottle was with us, but we 0:03:26.400 --> 0:03:30.480 went downstairs with it and we went to bed. The 0:03:30.520 --> 0:03:34.160 next morning, half the bottle was gone. I went to 0:03:34.280 --> 0:03:37.680 Ashley and she was like, no, no, he wouldn't. We 0:03:37.680 --> 0:03:40.839 didn't need her to validate that. I just felt bad 0:03:40.880 --> 0:03:46.360 that she believed his side so strongly. Jeff was frustrated, 0:03:46.360 --> 0:03:49.560 so he went to Jason. He absolutely denied it, but 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:52.360 it didn't change the fact that literally half the bottle 0:03:52.480 --> 0:03:58.160 was gone. In my opinion, when Jason would lie pres 0:03:58.200 --> 0:04:02.200 surely about something big, he get like overly emotional. You know, 0:04:02.240 --> 0:04:04.360 he's on the verge of crying, just kind of like 0:04:04.440 --> 0:04:06.160 a little kid that gets in trouble and they start 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:09.480 crying because you don't believe them and they know they're busted, 0:04:09.520 --> 0:04:11.520 but they're going to, you know, get upset because they 0:04:11.520 --> 0:04:13.520 want you to believe them. That was always kind of 0:04:13.520 --> 0:04:16.680 a red slade to me, like you're over doing this 0:04:16.839 --> 0:04:19.719 innocence thing, which is just making me think that you're 0:04:19.800 --> 0:04:21.719 more guilty. 0:04:21.920 --> 0:04:25.680 Candas also recalls Jason's work ethic from his twenties. 0:04:26.000 --> 0:04:27.760 My husband got him a job at the company that 0:04:27.800 --> 0:04:30.560 he worked at, and they would car pull together and 0:04:30.960 --> 0:04:34.560 he was constantly calling in sick or My husband was 0:04:34.600 --> 0:04:37.279 going next door and knocking on the door to essentially 0:04:37.279 --> 0:04:39.039 get him up in the morning to go to work. 0:04:39.040 --> 0:04:42.479 And I just felt like, Ashley, could you know, have 0:04:42.600 --> 0:04:46.039 somebody more self motivated in her life. 0:04:47.960 --> 0:04:49.040 We've all been there. 0:04:49.440 --> 0:04:52.440 We've heard our friends talk about relationships or their marriages 0:04:52.520 --> 0:04:56.000 and deep down you feel like they deserve better. Until 0:04:56.080 --> 0:04:58.160 they come to that realization themselves. 0:04:58.360 --> 0:05:01.800 There isn't much you can do, but I spoke with. 0:05:01.880 --> 0:05:04.359 Jessica Baum, who has been working with Ashley over the 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:06.960 past couple of months to help her learn more about herself. 0:05:07.680 --> 0:05:11.560 Jessica is the author of Anxiously Attached, Becoming More Secure 0:05:11.600 --> 0:05:12.400 in Life and Love. 0:05:13.160 --> 0:05:17.320 I'm a psychotherapist with a license in mental health counseling 0:05:18.040 --> 0:05:20.560 and I have a private practice. We work on family 0:05:20.640 --> 0:05:23.800 systems issues, trauma, addiction, and couples. 0:05:24.200 --> 0:05:28.680 Jessica also specializes in attachment styles what draws us towards 0:05:28.680 --> 0:05:31.560 and keeps us with another person, And like many of 0:05:31.600 --> 0:05:35.560 our traits, those tendencies are established in childhood. 0:05:35.960 --> 0:05:38.480 It appears that she has a lot of childhood trauma. 0:05:38.720 --> 0:05:41.520 Her dad was pretty overwhelmed and her mom was pretty sick, 0:05:41.920 --> 0:05:45.000 so she played different roles in her family system. She 0:05:45.080 --> 0:05:47.479 also was parentified and took care of her mom and 0:05:47.520 --> 0:05:50.080 took a caretaking role, and she also had a role 0:05:50.080 --> 0:05:52.120 of acting out to get her needs met. But none 0:05:52.160 --> 0:05:54.760 of them were like really truly attuning to her needs 0:05:55.200 --> 0:05:57.440 and seeing her in a healthy way. So I think 0:05:57.520 --> 0:05:59.640 as soon as she was able to escape into her 0:05:59.680 --> 0:06:03.000 first relationship, I'm sure that gave her a relief, and 0:06:03.080 --> 0:06:05.719 much of her childhood was kind of escaping some of 0:06:05.760 --> 0:06:08.000 what she wasn't ready to deal with or what was 0:06:08.040 --> 0:06:10.240 really going on for her. So she adapted in many 0:06:10.279 --> 0:06:13.599 different ways, and one of those ways was through relationships 0:06:13.640 --> 0:06:17.240 and finding some relief initially through her relationships, which then 0:06:17.320 --> 0:06:22.400 turned into really unhealthy patterns and strategies and a kind 0:06:22.440 --> 0:06:23.120 of a nightmare. 0:06:23.760 --> 0:06:26.640 Her first boyfriend, Matt, had been a kind of protector 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:29.479 when Ashley was at school. He made sure she had 0:06:29.480 --> 0:06:31.960 a good school lunch every day, and he was her 0:06:32.040 --> 0:06:36.200 happy place outside of home. Then he descended into addiction 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:39.599 and the relationship descended into chaos. 0:06:40.560 --> 0:06:43.279 But in the beginning, it does provide her a sanctuary 0:06:43.360 --> 0:06:47.320 or relief from her underlying core grief or wounds or 0:06:47.400 --> 0:06:48.120 unmet needs. 0:06:48.440 --> 0:06:52.080 And Jason was a person when Ashley had two small 0:06:52.160 --> 0:06:56.000 children and was on her own. Her family said as 0:06:56.080 --> 0:06:58.360 much when he first came into their lives. 0:06:58.960 --> 0:07:01.440 I love Jason. You could just see how nice and 0:07:01.560 --> 0:07:02.080 kind he. 0:07:02.120 --> 0:07:06.360 Was to her. I thought, Wow, she's found a good guy. 0:07:06.760 --> 0:07:08.920 It was like night chiming armor. I was like, here's 0:07:08.920 --> 0:07:11.200 this normal dude that wants to be with me. 0:07:11.760 --> 0:07:15.760 Ashley's husband had stolen prescription pills from her friend lied 0:07:15.800 --> 0:07:19.680 to his employer stayed alone in their bedroom for days 0:07:19.720 --> 0:07:23.600 on end. Sure all of these were red flags adjacent 0:07:23.640 --> 0:07:26.680 had problems, but they weren't deal breakers. 0:07:27.080 --> 0:07:27.800 They couldn't be. 0:07:28.200 --> 0:07:31.920 Even if our intuition or gut says this could be true, 0:07:32.000 --> 0:07:33.680 or there might be some truth to that, there's a 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:36.160 very strong part of us that doesn't want to believe 0:07:36.440 --> 0:07:39.800 something might be wrong for many reasons. And I can 0:07:39.800 --> 0:07:42.480 tell you, for Ashley, a lot of her own denial, 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:45.920 even if underneath it there was an undercurrent of maybe 0:07:45.960 --> 0:07:48.760 something's wrong. Is that if there is something wrong, her 0:07:48.800 --> 0:07:52.400 whole world would shatter. And so in this world that 0:07:52.440 --> 0:07:55.560 she created for her family and what she loved about 0:07:55.600 --> 0:07:58.800 her world was very contingent on who he was when 0:07:58.840 --> 0:08:01.440 he came into the relationship and what he did for 0:08:01.520 --> 0:08:03.720 her and the safety that he provided for her. 0:08:05.280 --> 0:08:07.680 Out of all the possibilities of what might. 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:11.360 Be going on with him, Jason viewing child pornography and 0:08:11.520 --> 0:08:16.120 videotaping their daughter never crossed her mind. It just doesn't 0:08:16.280 --> 0:08:18.480 enter the realm of possibility. 0:08:19.120 --> 0:08:24.880 Not effort. When I had effort ever even considered anything 0:08:24.960 --> 0:08:25.200 like this. 0:08:26.040 --> 0:08:29.120 Evea had an order of protection against him, so he 0:08:29.200 --> 0:08:32.080 went to live with a relative but that wasn't nearly 0:08:32.240 --> 0:08:38.600 enough to make her feel safe. 0:08:38.840 --> 0:08:40.320 So this is the Veya's room. 0:08:41.520 --> 0:08:43.440 I don't like coming in here, and I avoidited it 0:08:43.480 --> 0:08:46.240 for a long time because of how hard it was. 0:08:46.480 --> 0:08:50.040 Ashley's home has a great layout for teenagers. The lower 0:08:50.080 --> 0:08:53.160 floor has two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a den area, 0:08:53.280 --> 0:08:56.280 so the older kids feel like they have a little privacy. 0:08:57.520 --> 0:09:01.160 She showed me exactly how Jason violated. 0:09:00.640 --> 0:09:02.839 It, just for reference. 0:09:03.000 --> 0:09:06.040 Her bedrooms almost in the basement, so her bedroom is 0:09:06.040 --> 0:09:07.160 like an negress window. 0:09:08.240 --> 0:09:13.839 And he would stand outside of this window and film her. 0:09:14.880 --> 0:09:17.440 He told Ashley the reason he was going outdoors at 0:09:17.520 --> 0:09:20.520 night was because he discovered a new stargazing. 0:09:19.960 --> 0:09:23.520 App I just chalked it up as like another weird 0:09:24.200 --> 0:09:28.840 thing that he was in. But he was so believable, 0:09:29.679 --> 0:09:32.040 like he was dung ho about stars, and he was 0:09:32.080 --> 0:09:35.200 telling the kids about this solar system and this star 0:09:35.320 --> 0:09:41.000 pattern and showing them things like That's how manipulative he was. 0:09:41.760 --> 0:09:44.800 Seeing the layout of the house made the secret taping 0:09:45.200 --> 0:09:47.120 seem even more insidious. 0:09:47.559 --> 0:09:52.520 I don't understand. Our backyard is mud and backpool. I 0:09:52.559 --> 0:09:54.400 avoided it all costs the only time I was back 0:09:54.400 --> 0:09:56.480 there this year, was to spray off my air conditioner 0:09:56.920 --> 0:09:58.719 make sure no weeds were grown around her. 0:09:58.920 --> 0:10:01.760 Ashley tried to make the room feel more secure by 0:10:01.760 --> 0:10:04.280 installing a frosted window so you can't see through it. 0:10:05.120 --> 0:10:07.240 Then I'd have like a lock on it and everything, 0:10:07.400 --> 0:10:09.600 because I wanted her to feel safe. 0:10:09.920 --> 0:10:10.680 I wanted her. 0:10:10.520 --> 0:10:14.000 To know that nobody's going to get in here. But 0:10:16.440 --> 0:10:18.280 she still just couldn't deal with it. 0:10:20.040 --> 0:10:24.200 Ashley's sister Anna, I mean, I think she left pretty 0:10:24.200 --> 0:10:27.560 soon after we found out the extent of the videos. 0:10:29.440 --> 0:10:30.600 Is it hard being in here? 0:10:32.320 --> 0:10:37.480 Yeah, it is. It makes me cry because I miss 0:10:37.480 --> 0:10:40.520 her so much. I just miss her. 0:10:41.120 --> 0:10:44.520 I mentioned Ashley's first love, Matt. They were together all 0:10:44.559 --> 0:10:47.000 through high school until she was in her early twenties. 0:10:47.520 --> 0:10:50.360 She ultimately took their two kids and left him because 0:10:50.400 --> 0:10:53.920 of his drug addiction. Matt is clean now, and while 0:10:54.000 --> 0:10:57.040 they visits Ashley's house often, she moved it with Matt 0:10:57.040 --> 0:11:00.640 full time. They was afraid to sleep at ashe after 0:11:00.679 --> 0:11:02.760 she learned what Jason had done. 0:11:03.160 --> 0:11:10.200 He robbed them of stability, of structure of trust. I'm 0:11:10.280 --> 0:11:13.600 so mad at him for that, and I hope one 0:11:13.679 --> 0:11:16.000 day she could feel safe with my sister again. 0:11:19.880 --> 0:11:21.240 One of the moms, she's my friend. 0:11:21.960 --> 0:11:23.680 She reached out to me asking if any of their 0:11:23.760 --> 0:11:26.680 kids were a part of it, which really sucked because 0:11:26.679 --> 0:11:30.960 I still like super in shock. This particular person called 0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:35.040 and we met for coffee. I was so embarrassed and 0:11:35.080 --> 0:11:36.920 I couldn't go into the coffee shop, so we stayed 0:11:36.920 --> 0:11:38.120 in her car and top. 0:11:38.280 --> 0:11:40.880 The rumor mill was working over time. 0:11:41.200 --> 0:11:42.840 She's like the girls told me that there was a 0:11:42.920 --> 0:11:47.400 camera in the shower, because all Bea and her friends 0:11:47.400 --> 0:11:49.160 would come to our house and get ready and have 0:11:49.320 --> 0:11:53.160 fun and they'd shower, you know, And so I was like, no, 0:11:53.720 --> 0:11:57.880 there's not a camera. I asked the detective, and he 0:11:57.920 --> 0:12:01.120 said that if they would have had any inclination that 0:12:01.160 --> 0:12:05.640 those videos were recorded in any other fashion, they would 0:12:05.640 --> 0:12:08.679 have taken everything that can connect to the internet. 0:12:09.160 --> 0:12:12.320 But neighbors and other parents still didn't want to send 0:12:12.320 --> 0:12:15.040 their children to play or hang out at Ashley's house. 0:12:15.720 --> 0:12:16.760 It was humiliating. 0:12:18.360 --> 0:12:20.720 My house was the hangout house. 0:12:21.040 --> 0:12:24.559 I don't really have alcohol in my home, so I 0:12:24.600 --> 0:12:28.160 think everyone's family just felt comfortable with all their kids here, 0:12:29.040 --> 0:12:30.520 so they don't come here anymore. 0:12:30.880 --> 0:12:35.040 Her home wasn't a safe place anymore, and Ashley didn't 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:36.599 feel safe going out. 0:12:37.240 --> 0:12:39.320 I couldn't go in public, Like even going to the 0:12:39.320 --> 0:12:44.800 grocery store, the gas station anywhere is super super hard. 0:12:45.360 --> 0:12:47.440 I think it's because I don't want to see people 0:12:47.480 --> 0:12:48.679 that we knew together. 0:12:50.120 --> 0:12:53.800 Ashley didn't want to explain what happened. Did you know 0:12:53.840 --> 0:12:56.160 what he was doing? Are you getting divorced? 0:12:57.120 --> 0:13:00.320 She had not committed a sin against children, she had 0:13:00.360 --> 0:13:03.800 not broken the law, she had not destroyed their family. 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:06.240 But she felt like she wore a scarlet letter. 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:11.320 Anyway, when you have everything that makes you a human 0:13:11.760 --> 0:13:15.640 taken away from you, you are left with the real stuff. 0:13:17.200 --> 0:13:20.960 All of those different pieces were crumbling, and I just 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:23.800 was running around trying to pick them up, pick up 0:13:23.800 --> 0:13:26.800 the pieces of our life that we show to our families, 0:13:27.120 --> 0:13:29.760 or to our neighbors, or to our community, or to 0:13:29.800 --> 0:13:31.400 this And I just kept trying to pick them up, 0:13:31.440 --> 0:13:34.000 and I was trying to keep them together when it 0:13:34.120 --> 0:13:35.800 was completely broken. 0:13:37.720 --> 0:13:40.959 While everything was crumbling, Jason was sending the children letters 0:13:41.000 --> 0:13:44.719 in jail. Ashley protected the kids from reading them. She 0:13:44.800 --> 0:13:47.200 thought it would only compound the trauma at the time. 0:13:48.000 --> 0:13:50.800 Now that significant time has passed and she's talked with 0:13:50.840 --> 0:13:53.760 her kids, she feels it's important to share how much 0:13:53.880 --> 0:13:57.880 Jason disassociated his criminal behavior from his role as a parent. 0:13:58.960 --> 0:14:00.280 Here are a few exams. 0:14:02.640 --> 0:14:06.760 To his son, hay stud I hope everything is going 0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:12.080 good and you're kicking button football into a veya. I 0:14:12.120 --> 0:14:15.400 hope you're doing good and having an awesome day. I 0:14:15.400 --> 0:14:19.560 hope soccer is going well. Always stay my proud, confident, 0:14:19.600 --> 0:14:24.880 beautiful daughter. His words reeked of tone, deaf denial. He 0:14:24.960 --> 0:14:28.440 wrote as if he were on a business trip. Jason 0:14:28.440 --> 0:14:31.360 stopped writing to his two step children. He continues to 0:14:31.360 --> 0:14:35.240 write his biological daughter. After making sure the letters are appropriate, 0:14:35.680 --> 0:14:37.560 Ashley lets her daughter read them. 0:14:37.880 --> 0:14:40.240 Eventually, Jason's absence. 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:42.400 From the house set in and Ashley needed to move 0:14:42.440 --> 0:14:43.320 the family forward. 0:14:45.040 --> 0:14:48.000 Had them stay on for two weeks, and finally it 0:14:48.040 --> 0:14:51.640 was like, listen, guys, you can run away from this 0:14:51.800 --> 0:14:53.680 for the rest of our lives, or we can just 0:14:54.640 --> 0:14:58.640 confront it and just get these first few days over it, 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:01.440 and I'll go back to work. 0:15:02.120 --> 0:15:04.680 You guys go back to school. Abe can't do it. 0:15:05.440 --> 0:15:08.720 Jason was charged with ten counts of sexual exploitation of 0:15:08.760 --> 0:15:12.760 a minor, a second degree felony, for the thousand plus 0:15:12.920 --> 0:15:15.840 child sexual abuse images that he had in his possession. 0:15:16.560 --> 0:15:20.160 They included children as young as seven years old. He 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:23.840 was also charged with two counts of voyeurism for secretly 0:15:23.920 --> 0:15:28.560 recording Aveya. When Ashley reflected on it, she realized that 0:15:28.640 --> 0:15:31.440 Jason had treated Avea differently than her other children. 0:15:32.040 --> 0:15:35.280 He was always mean to her, Like I thought, maybe 0:15:35.320 --> 0:15:39.240 he was just being concerned or maybe even a stern parent, 0:15:40.240 --> 0:15:42.760 But looking back now, it was just mean. 0:15:43.720 --> 0:15:47.120 Ashley's father, John, recalled tension when he came to pick 0:15:47.200 --> 0:15:48.280 up the kids at the house. 0:15:49.240 --> 0:15:51.680 When I got to throw he was just screaming an 0:15:51.720 --> 0:15:53.880 avaya and I walked in. 0:15:53.960 --> 0:15:55.960 As soon as I walked in, he plushed right up. 0:15:56.640 --> 0:15:59.280 And we did talk about that one time, and I said, 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:02.240 yelling and screamers are going to get you anywhere. 0:16:03.120 --> 0:16:06.520 Thirty days after Jason was arrested, he was released. Yes, 0:16:06.560 --> 0:16:09.040 there would be rules and restrictions, but he would be 0:16:09.080 --> 0:16:12.560 out in the community and he would be free until 0:16:12.560 --> 0:16:18.920 his case went to trial. It would take more than 0:16:18.920 --> 0:16:21.560 a year before he was back in a courtroom to 0:16:21.640 --> 0:16:23.160 face justice. 0:16:23.720 --> 0:16:27.600 They just gave him some stipulations, like you can't have 0:16:27.640 --> 0:16:31.440 a smartphone, no computer, no internets, nothing. 0:16:32.400 --> 0:16:35.000 Ashley had so many questions she had never been able 0:16:35.040 --> 0:16:36.240 to ask Jason. 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:39.960 After he got out, he was saying with his grandpa, 0:16:40.040 --> 0:16:42.040 and I had went over there that morning to take 0:16:42.120 --> 0:16:44.400 him his clothes and things like that, and asked him 0:16:44.440 --> 0:16:49.640 all of those really yucky questions, like if you masturbate 0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:54.800 too our daughter, why did you save those photos? And 0:16:54.960 --> 0:16:56.640 he sweared it wasn't sexual. 0:16:58.760 --> 0:17:01.840 Ashley made sure he had in a non smartphone. She 0:17:01.920 --> 0:17:04.639 tried to help him find a job. It's hard to 0:17:04.720 --> 0:17:08.040 understand why she felt obligated to help him. If anyone 0:17:08.119 --> 0:17:10.760 tells you that leaving and grieving a toxic relationship is 0:17:10.760 --> 0:17:13.560 easy and straightforward, they'd probably never. 0:17:13.440 --> 0:17:14.800 Been in one. 0:17:15.080 --> 0:17:17.879 During one of Jessica and Ashley's therapy sessions, which they 0:17:17.920 --> 0:17:20.920 gave us permission to record and shair, jess was able 0:17:20.920 --> 0:17:23.560 to glean some insight into Ashley's mindset at the. 0:17:23.520 --> 0:17:29.480 Time when he went to gel I started trying to reconcile, 0:17:29.640 --> 0:17:33.240 like understand it, because at that point I knew he 0:17:33.280 --> 0:17:36.560 had recorded her, But what I thought was that he 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:40.560 had recorded her doing everything, you know, doing homework, getting 0:17:40.600 --> 0:17:44.880 ready whatever, trying to catch her like vaping or smoking 0:17:44.920 --> 0:17:48.320 pod or you know, being inappropriate boys or whatever, you know, 0:17:49.200 --> 0:17:51.680 And that's what I had assumed, and I still thought 0:17:51.720 --> 0:17:53.640 it was weird, but I thought it was like part 0:17:53.680 --> 0:17:55.679 of maybe his psychotic break or whatever. 0:17:56.320 --> 0:17:58.959 Well, I'm sure part of your psyche wanted to believe it, 0:17:59.000 --> 0:18:01.280 and there's a part of him that probably was in 0:18:01.400 --> 0:18:04.400 denial of the seriousness as well. I mean, it's hard 0:18:04.440 --> 0:18:07.399 to get paid on the head with something like that. 0:18:07.520 --> 0:18:10.200 You know, you want to assume the best, even though 0:18:10.200 --> 0:18:11.320 it's kind of glaring. 0:18:11.880 --> 0:18:15.760 Yeah, Like right when he got out of JEL. 0:18:15.920 --> 0:18:18.040 His behavior started to change for the better. 0:18:18.280 --> 0:18:21.119 Yeah, it was everything I wanted it to be. 0:18:22.680 --> 0:18:26.400 But the weight of everything, any indication that what her 0:18:26.480 --> 0:18:29.199 husband did was not so bad was a straw she 0:18:29.359 --> 0:18:30.760 grasped was. 0:18:30.760 --> 0:18:37.800 De number four and he had the discovery from his lawyer, 0:18:38.119 --> 0:18:39.960 and I was like, oh, I'd really like to read that, 0:18:40.240 --> 0:18:42.600 and he's like, oh, no, that's it, and I was like, no, 0:18:43.160 --> 0:18:45.600 I want to read this. So he got it out 0:18:46.160 --> 0:18:48.280 and I start reading through it, and then I realized 0:18:48.320 --> 0:18:50.240 that he's trying to get me to like rush over 0:18:50.560 --> 0:18:53.439 these couple of pages, and so I like ripped it 0:18:53.600 --> 0:18:56.080 out of his hand. And it was the pages that 0:18:56.280 --> 0:19:00.000 detailed his voyorism on a band. That's when I realized 0:19:00.320 --> 0:19:04.560 he had lied. I started reading in detail that each 0:19:04.760 --> 0:19:08.840 one of the times that he had filmed her was premeditated, 0:19:09.720 --> 0:19:11.879 so he would have to know when she was showering 0:19:12.520 --> 0:19:16.920 or changing, and then he would sneak outside while around 0:19:16.960 --> 0:19:19.520 the back and film her through her window. 0:19:21.760 --> 0:19:25.479 There was no denying the truth. This was evidence, an 0:19:25.480 --> 0:19:30.520 illegal document. It proved that the only reason forever filming 0:19:30.520 --> 0:19:33.119 a Veya was to catch her without clothes on. 0:19:34.680 --> 0:19:37.440 That's when it snapped, and I was like, this is it. 0:19:38.200 --> 0:19:41.640 I told Jason to quit calling me, and he quit 0:19:41.720 --> 0:19:44.440 telling me he loved me, and that I didn't want 0:19:44.440 --> 0:19:45.560 to see him anymore. 0:19:45.920 --> 0:19:47.800 There was this other part of you that just got 0:19:47.840 --> 0:19:50.199 woken up that you haven't really put a voice to. 0:19:50.320 --> 0:19:54.439 You haven't completely integrated the full picture yet with and 0:19:54.520 --> 0:19:58.159 I assume after that you got angry. Yeah, so there 0:19:58.240 --> 0:20:01.080 must have been a registering of the whole truth when 0:20:01.080 --> 0:20:05.119 your psyche was really able to kind of allow you 0:20:05.240 --> 0:20:07.480 to understand the gravity of his behavior. 0:20:07.680 --> 0:20:07.920 Yeah. 0:20:08.880 --> 0:20:12.359 Once Ashley crossed the bridge and saw Jason clearly, she 0:20:12.480 --> 0:20:16.199 accepted that his crimes were what they looked like, depraved 0:20:16.480 --> 0:20:20.960 personal and involved her beloved daughter, she. 0:20:20.840 --> 0:20:25.639 Would divorce him. Her only focus was healing and justice 0:20:25.720 --> 0:20:26.240 for a VEA. 0:20:38.280 --> 0:20:42.720 Just about one year after the Litton family was shattered, Ashley, Jason, 0:20:42.760 --> 0:20:46.520 and their respective families sat in a Salt Lake County courtroom. 0:20:46.760 --> 0:20:51.240 Okay, well, courts reviewed the pre sentenced report, the psychosexual exam, 0:20:51.280 --> 0:20:53.400 and there were many many letters that were submitted book 0:20:53.440 --> 0:20:56.639 on behalf of mister Littman on behalf of the biggest 0:20:56.640 --> 0:20:58.800 stim and other family members. So that I've read all 0:20:58.840 --> 0:21:01.960 of that, is anyone going to be addressing the court directly? 0:21:02.080 --> 0:21:02.720 Mister tell you? 0:21:03.119 --> 0:21:03.280 Yes? 0:21:03.280 --> 0:21:03.440 Sure? 0:21:03.480 --> 0:21:04.880 Are they the big tim least? 0:21:04.960 --> 0:21:05.240 Okay? 0:21:05.280 --> 0:21:06.399 Are they president in the court or? 0:21:07.920 --> 0:21:10.720 This was not a trial, It was a sentencing hearing. 0:21:11.800 --> 0:21:14.400 Jason had cut a plea deal with the District Attorney's 0:21:14.440 --> 0:21:18.040 office and was pleading guilty to a reduce charge of 0:21:18.119 --> 0:21:21.280 one count of sexual exploitation of a minor in two 0:21:21.400 --> 0:21:25.560 counts of voyeurism. A matter of guilt was settled. This 0:21:25.640 --> 0:21:30.280 hearing was about justice. Ashley watched nervously from the gallery. 0:21:30.840 --> 0:21:35.119 A vs at beside her prosecutor. Sam Sutton, the third 0:21:35.160 --> 0:21:38.639 prosecutor assigned to the case, addressed the judge from the. 0:21:38.680 --> 0:21:44.920 State's perspective, this is very personal concerning the practically, certainly, 0:21:44.960 --> 0:21:47.200 your honor has seen plenty of other cases involving sexual 0:21:47.240 --> 0:21:51.280 explication of a minor child, child sexual abuse material cases 0:21:51.320 --> 0:21:54.679 that usually in those cases we asked for some some 0:21:54.800 --> 0:21:58.240 midpoint of jailer twenty or need to pay something like that. 0:21:58.640 --> 0:22:01.560 In other words, in most these cases they asked for 0:22:01.680 --> 0:22:05.400 four to six months of jail time. That's pretty standard 0:22:05.520 --> 0:22:07.119 for someone engaging in this crime. 0:22:07.400 --> 0:22:10.520 This pudge one count therefore for many others in the charge, 0:22:10.560 --> 0:22:14.400 and a fair amount of child sexual u seriuscounting this posession. 0:22:15.720 --> 0:22:19.280 Couple that with the behavior to work his stepdaughter, and 0:22:19.359 --> 0:22:21.879 from the state's respective, that's about supposing Hanazon as the 0:22:21.960 --> 0:22:22.880 case skits. 0:22:22.560 --> 0:22:25.240