S2: E3 - Ruins

[0] I'm John Walsack, host of the new podcast, Missing in Arizona.

[1] And I'm Robert Fisher, one of the most wanted men in the world.

[2] We cloned his voice using AI.

[3] In 2001, police say I killed my family and rigged my house to explode.

[4] Before escaping into the wilderness.

[5] Police believe he is alive and hiding somewhere.

[6] Join me. I'm going down in the cave.

[7] As I track down clues.

[8] I'm going to call the police and have you removed.

[9] Hunting.

[10] One of the most dangerous fugitives in the world.

[11] Robert Fisher.

[12] Do you recognize my voice?

[13] Listen to missing in Arizona every Wednesday.

[14] on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows.

[15] The podium is back with fresh angles and deep dives into Olympic and Paralympic stories you know, and those you'll be hard -pressed to forget.

[16] I did something in 88 that hasn't been beaten.

[17] Oh, gosh, the U .S. Olympic trials is the hardest and most competitive meat in the world.

[18] We are athletes who are going out there, smashing into each other, full force.

[19] Listen to the podium on the IHeart app or your favorite podcast, weekly and every day during the Games to hear the Olympics like you've never quite heard them before.

[20] In 2020, in a small California mountain town, five women disappeared.

[21] I found out what happened to all of them, except one, a woman known as Dia, whose estate is worth millions of dollars.

[22] I'm Lucy Sheriff.

[23] Over the past four years, I've spoken with Dia's family and friends, and I've discovered that everyone has a different version of events.

[24] Hear the story on Where's Deer?

[25] Listen on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[26] Topics featured in this episode may be disturbing to some listeners.

[27] Please take care while listening.

[28] I want to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again.

[29] I'm grateful to all that have shown me love and compassion and show me that this isn't the end of my story, and this doesn't have to define me the rest of my life.

[30] I'm Andrea Gunning, and this is betrayal.

[31] Episode 3.

[32] Ruins.

[33] Reports of Jason Lytton's arrest were all over the local news and on Facebook pages.

[34] Avaya, Ashley's oldest daughter and a victim, found out when her friend's mother asked her if anyone else had been videotaped in the house.

[35] Ashley's 15 -year -old son was stoic and refused to discuss it.

[36] She tried to explain what happened to her youngest, but it was a lot for a nine -year -old to understand.

[37] The way that Ashley said was like, Daddy is in trouble.

[38] He's in jail for doing something he wasn't supposed to.

[39] And she just went off the rails, like asking all of these questions, like, am I going to see him again?

[40] What does that mean?

[41] Is he going to be gone forever?

[42] How do you explain this to a nine -year -old?

[43] Her dad was taken away.

[44] Her kids lost their dad and she lost her husband.

[45] It's like he died.

[46] He was like my security blanket.

[47] He didn't do much for me, but make me feel safe and make me feel just he was there.

[48] And I don't know.

[49] I just, I just really, really miss my life.

[50] In the aftermath, Ashley was just trying to hold on and leaned on her best friend Emmy for support.

[51] In an instant, he was gone.

[52] I still dream about it.

[53] I still hear her sobs.

[54] I still dream of holding her.

[55] But to have to sit there and listen to that and know there was absolutely nothing I could do to make her feel better to change things.

[56] There was nothing I could do.

[57] During their marriage, Ashley recognized that things weren't normal, but there's only so much you can do for a person.

[58] I had told myself that there was a mental illness going on and he wouldn't go see anybody for it.

[59] Clearly, Jason was dealing with something, but his poor behavior had existed for most of his adult life.

[60] Jason had made appalling choices at times, but Ashley always gave him the benefit of the doubt.

[61] Candice Holden and her husband, Jeff, were good friends with Ashley and Jason.

[62] She shares a very awkward encounter some years back.

[63] And Candice just had a baby girl that you might hear in the background.

[64] My husband was playing football for us in my pro football league and toward his ACL and partially towards NCL.

[65] He had surgery on it, and it was a couple weeks after his surgery.

[66] that we drove to Salt Lake and we were staying the night at Jason and Ashley's.

[67] They had us in the basement and Jeff had like a brand new bottle of pain pills with him.

[68] I want to say that he had pulled it out to take one when we were upstairs.

[69] So that's how I feel Jason knew that the bottle was with us.

[70] But we went downstairs with it and we went to bed.

[71] The next morning, half the bottle was gone.

[72] I went to Ashley and she was like, no, No, no, he wouldn't.

[73] We didn't need her to validate that.

[74] I just felt bad that she believed his side so strongly.

[75] Jeff was frustrated, so he went to Jason.

[76] He absolutely denied it.

[77] But it didn't change the fact that literally half the bottle was gone.

[78] In my opinion, when Jason would lie, especially about something big, he would get, like, overly emotional.

[79] You know, he's on the verge of crying.

[80] He's kind of like a little kid that gets in trouble and they start crying because you don't believe them and they know they're busted, but they're going to get upset because they want you to believe them.

[81] That was always kind of a red flag to me, like, you're over doing this innocence thing, which is just making me think that you're more guilty.

[82] Candace also recalls Jason's work ethic from his 20s.

[83] My husband got him a job at the company that he worked at, and they would carpool together, and he was constantly calling in sick, or my husband was going next door and knocking on the door to essentially get him up in the morning to go to work.

[84] And I just felt like Ashley could, you know, have somebody more self -motivated in her life.

[85] We've all been there.

[86] We've heard our friends talk about relationships or their marriages, and deep down, you feel like they deserve better.

[87] Until they come to that realization themselves, there isn't much you can do but listen.

[88] I spoke with Jessica Baum, who has been working with Ashley over the past couple of months to help her learn more about herself.

[89] Jessica is the author of Anxiously Attached, becoming more secure in life and love.

[90] I'm a psychotherapist with a license in mental health counseling, and I have a private practice.

[91] We work on family systems issues, trauma, addiction, and couples.

[92] Jessica also specializes in attachment styles, what draws us towards and keeps us with another person.

[93] And like many of our traits, those tendencies are established in child.

[94] It appears that she has a lot of childhood trauma.

[95] Her dad was pretty overwhelmed and her mom was pretty sick.

[96] So she played different roles in her family system.

[97] She also was parentified and took care of her mom and took a caretaking role.

[98] And she also had a role of acting out to get her needs met.

[99] But none of them were like really truly attuning to her needs and seeing her in a healthy way.

[100] So I think as soon as she was able to escape into her first relationship, I'm sure that gave her relief.

[101] And much of her childhood was kind of escaping.

[102] some of what she wasn't ready to deal with or what was really going on for her.

[103] So she adapted in many different ways.

[104] And one of those ways was through relationships and finding some relief initially through her relationships, which then turned into really unhealthy patterns and strategies and a kind of a nightmare.

[105] Her first boyfriend Matt had been a kind of protector when Ashley was at school.

[106] He made sure she had a good school lunch every day, and he was her happy place outside of home.

[107] But then he descended into addiction, and the relationship descended into chaos.

[108] But in the beginning, it does provide her a sanctuary or a relief from her underlying core grief or wounds or unmet needs.

[109] And Jason was that person when Ashley had two small children and was on her own.

[110] Her family said as much when he first came into their lives.

[111] I love Jason.

[112] You could just see how nice and kind he was to her.

[113] I thought, wow, she's found a good guy.

[114] It was like night shining armor.

[115] I was like, here's this normal dude that wants to be with me. Ashley's husband had stolen prescription pills from a friend, lied to his employer, stayed alone in their bedroom for days on end.

[116] Sure, all of these were red flags adjacent had problems, but they weren't deal breakers.

[117] They couldn't be.

[118] Even if our intuition or our gut says this could be true or there might be some truth to that, there's a very strong part of us that doesn't want to believe something might be wrong for many reasons.

[119] I can tell you for Ashley, a lot of her own denial, even if underneath it, there was an undercurrent of maybe something's wrong, is that if there is something wrong, her whole world would shatter.

[120] And so in this world that she created for her family and what she loved about her world was very contingent on who he was when he came into the relationship and what he did for her and the safety that he provided for her.

[121] Out of all the possibilities of what might be going on with him, Jason viewing child pornography and videotaping their daughter never crossed her mind.

[122] It just doesn't enter the realm of possibility.

[123] Not ever would I have ever even considered anything like this.

[124] Avea had an order of protection against him.

[125] So he went to live with a relative, but that wasn't nearly enough to make her feel safe.

[126] So this is the bedroom.

[127] I don't like coming in here, and I avoided it for a long time because of how hard it was.

[128] Ashley's home has a great layout for teenagers.

[129] The lower floor has two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a den area.

[130] So the older kids feel like they have a little privacy.

[131] She showed me exactly how Jason violated it.

[132] Just for reference, her bedroom is almost in the basement.

[133] so her bedroom has like an egress window.

[134] And he would stand outside of this window and film her.

[135] He told Ashley the reason he was going outdoors at night was because he discovered a new stargazing app.

[136] I just chalked it up as like another weird thing that he was in.

[137] But he was so believable.

[138] Like he was gung -ho about stars and he was telling the kids about this solar system and this, star pattern and showing them things.

[139] Like, that's how manipulative he was.

[140] Seeing the layout of the house made the secret taping seem even more insidious.

[141] I don't understand.

[142] Like, our backyard is mud and dog poo.

[143] I avoided it all costs.

[144] The only time I was back there this year was to spray off my air conditioner, make sure no weeds were grown around her.

[145] Ashley tried to make the room feel more secure by installing a frosted window so you can't see through it.

[146] And I'd have like a lock on it and everything because I wanted her to feel safe.

[147] I wanted her to know that nobody's going to get in here.

[148] But she still just couldn't deal with it.

[149] Ashley's sister, Anna.

[150] I mean, I think she left pretty soon after we found out the extent of the videos.

[151] Is it hard being in here?

[152] Yeah, it is.

[153] It makes me cry because I miss her so much.

[154] I just miss her.

[155] I mentioned Ashley's first love, Matt.

[156] They were together all through high school until she was in her early 20s.

[157] She ultimately took their two kids and left him because of his drug addiction.

[158] Matt is clean now, and while Aveya visits Ashley's house often, she moved in with Matt full time.

[159] Avaya was afraid to sleep at Ashley's after she learned what Jason had done.

[160] He robbed them of stability, of structure, of trust.

[161] I'm so mad at him for that.

[162] And I hope one day she can feel safe with my sister again.

[163] I'm John Walsack, host of the new podcast Missing in Arizona.

[164] And I'm Robert Fisher, one of the most wanted men in the world.

[165] We cloned his voice using AI.

[166] In 2001, police say I killed my family.

[167] First mom, then the kids.

[168] And rigged my house to explode.

[169] quiet suburb.

[170] This is the Beverly Hills of the Valley.

[171] Before escaping into the wilderness.

[172] There was sleet and hail and snow coming down.

[173] They found my wife's SUV.

[174] Right on the reservation boundary.

[175] And my dog flew.

[176] All I could think of is in the sniper me out of some tree.

[177] But not me. Police believe he is alive and hiding somewhere.

[178] For two years.

[179] They won't tell you anything.

[180] I've traveled the nation.

[181] I'm going down in the cave.

[182] Tracking down clues.

[183] They were thinking that I picked him up and took him somewhere.

[184] If you keep asking me this, I'm going to call the police and have your removal.

[185] Searching for Robert Fisher.

[186] One of the most dangerous fugitives in the world.

[187] Do you recognize my voice?

[188] Join an exploding house.

[189] The hunt.

[190] Family annihilation.

[191] Today.

[192] And a disappearing act.

[193] Listen to missing in Arizona every Wednesday on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows.

[194] The podium is back with fresh angles and deep dives into Olympic and Paralympic stories you know.

[195] And those you'll be hard pressed to forget.

[196] I did something in 88 that hasn't been beaten.

[197] Oh, gosh.

[198] The trials is the hardest and most competitive meat in the world.

[199] We are athletes for going out there, smashing into each other, full force.

[200] Listen to The Podium on the IHeart app or your favorite podcast platform weekly and every day during the games to hear the Olympics like you've never quite heard them before.

[201] In the summer of 2020, in the small mountain town of Idlewild, California, five women disappeared in the span of just a few months.

[202] Eventually, I found out what happened to the woman, all except one.

[203] A woman named Lydia Abrams, known as Dia.

[204] Her friends and family ran through endless theories.

[205] Was she hurt hiking?

[206] Did she run away?

[207] Had she been kidnapped?

[208] I'm Lucy Sherrith.

[209] I've been reporting this story for four years, and I've uncovered a tangled web of manipulation, estranged families and greed.

[210] Everyone, it seems, has a different version of events.

[211] Hear the story on Where's Dea, my new podcast from Pushkin Industries and IHeart Podcasts.

[212] Listen on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[213] One of the moms, she's my friend.

[214] She reached out to me asking if any of their kids were a part of it, which really sucked.

[215] Because I was still like super in shock.

[216] this particular person called and we met for coffee.

[217] I was so embarrassed and I couldn't go into the coffee shop so we stayed in her car and talked.

[218] The rumor mill was working over time.

[219] She's like, the girls told me that there was a camera in the shower because all of it and her friends would come to our house and get ready and have fun and they'd shower you know.

[220] And so I was like no, there's not a camera.

[221] I asked the detective and he said that if they would have had any inclination that those videos were recorded in any other fashion, they would have taken everything that can connect to the internet.

[222] But neighbors and other parents still didn't want to send their children to play or hang out at Ashley's house.

[223] It was humiliating.

[224] My house was the hangout house.

[225] I don't really have alcohol in my home, so I think everyone's family just felt comfortable with all their kids here.

[226] So they don't come here anymore.

[227] Her home wasn't a safe place anymore.

[228] And Ashley didn't feel safe going out.

[229] I couldn't go in public.

[230] Like even going to the grocery store, the gas station anywhere, is super, super hard.

[231] I think it's because, like, I don't want to see people that we knew together.

[232] Ashley didn't want to explain.

[233] What happened?

[234] Did you know what he was doing?

[235] Are you getting divorced?

[236] She had not committed a sin against her.

[237] children.

[238] She had not broken the law.

[239] She had not destroyed their family.

[240] But she felt like she wore a scarlet letter anyway.

[241] When you have everything that makes you a human taken away from you, you are left with the real stuff.

[242] All of those different pieces were crumbling.

[243] And I just was running around trying to pick them up, pick up the pieces of our life that we show to our families or to our neighbors or to our community or to this and I just kept trying to pick them up and I was trying to keep them together when it was completely broken.

[244] While everything was crumbling, Jason was sending the children letters from jail.

[245] Ashley protected the kids from reading them.

[246] She thought it would only compound their trauma at the time.

[247] Now that significant time has passed and she's talked with her kids, she feels it's important to share how much Jason disassociated his criminal behavior from his role as a parent.

[248] Here are a few examples.

[249] To his son, Hey, Stud, I hope everything is going good and you're kicking butt in football.

[250] And to Avea, I hope you're doing good and having an awesome day.

[251] I hope soccer is going well.

[252] Always stay my proud, confident, beautiful daughter.

[253] His words reeked of tone -deaf denial.

[254] He wrote as if he were on a business trip.

[255] Jason stopped writing to his two -step children, but he continues to write his biological daughter.

[256] After making sure the letters are appropriate, Ashley lets her daughter read them.

[257] Eventually, Jason's absence from the house set in, and Ashley needed to move the family forward.

[258] I didn't stay home for two weeks, and finally it was like, listen, guys, we can run away from this for the rest of our lives, or we can just confront it and just get these first.

[259] few days over with and I'll go back to work.

[260] You guys go back to school.

[261] I bet it couldn't do it.

[262] Jason was charged with 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second -degree felony for the thousand -plus child sexual abuse images that he had in his possession.

[263] They included children as young as seven years old.

[264] He was also charged with two counts of voyeurism for secretly recording Avea.

[265] When Ashley reflected on it, She realized that Jason had treated Avea differently than her other children.

[266] He was always mean to her.

[267] Like, I thought maybe he was just being concerned, or maybe even a stern parent.

[268] But looking back now, it was just mean.

[269] Ashley's father, John, recalled tension when he came to pick up the kids at the house.

[270] When I got to the door, he was just screaming in a van.

[271] And I walked in, and as soon as I walked in, he pushed right up.

[272] And we did talk about that one time.

[273] And I said, yelling and screamers, I'm going to get you anywhere, man. 30 days after Jason was arrested, he was released.

[274] Yes, there would be rules and restrictions, but he would be out in the community.

[275] And he would be free until his case went to trial.

[276] It would take more than a year before he was back in a courtroom to face justice.

[277] They just gave him some stipulations like, you can't have a smartphone, no, computer, no internet, nothing.

[278] Ashley had so many questions she had never been able to ask Jason.

[279] After he got out, he was staying with his grandpa, and I'd went over there that morning to take him his clothes and things like that, and asked him all of those really yucky questions, like, did you masturbate to our daughter?

[280] Why did you save those photos?

[281] And he swears it wasn't sexual.

[282] Ashley made sure he had clothes in a non -smartphone.

[283] She tried to help him find a job.

[284] It's hard to understand why she felt obligated to help him.

[285] If anyone tells you that leaving and grieving a toxic relationship is easy and straightforward, they'd probably never been in one.

[286] During one of Jessica and Ashley's therapy sessions, which they gave us permission to record and share, Jess was able to glean some insight into Ashley's mindset at the time.

[287] When you went to gel, I started trying to reconcile.

[288] like understand that.

[289] Because at that point, I knew he had recorded her, but what I thought was that he had recorded her doing everything, you know, doing homework, getting ready, whatever, trying to catch her like vaping or smoking pot or, you know, being inappropriate with boys or whatever, you know.

[290] And that's what I had assumed.

[291] And I still thought it was weird, but I thought it was like part of maybe his psychotic break or whatever.

[292] Well, I'm sure part of your psyche wanted to believe it And there's a part of him that probably was in denial of the seriousness as well.

[293] I mean, it's hard to get hit on the head with something like that.

[294] You know, you want to assume the best, even though it's kind of glaring.

[295] Yeah.

[296] Like, right when he got out of gel.

[297] His behavior started to change for the better.

[298] Yeah.

[299] It was everything I wanted it to be.

[300] With the weight of everything, any indication that what her husband did was not so bad was a straw she grasped.

[301] It was December 4th.

[302] And he had the discovery from his lawyer.

[303] And I was like, oh, I'd really like to read that.

[304] And he's like, oh, no, I did it.

[305] And I was like, no, I want to read this.

[306] So he got it out.

[307] And I started reading through it.

[308] And then I realized that he's trying to get me to like rush over these couple pages.

[309] And so I like ripped it out of like his hand.

[310] And it was the pages that detailed his voyeurism on That's when I realized he had lied.

[311] I started reading in detail that each one of the times that he had filmed her was premeditated.

[312] So he would have to know when she was showering or changing.

[313] And then he would sneak outside, go around the back, and film her through her window.

[314] There was no denying the truth.

[315] This was evidence in a legal document.

[316] It proved that the only reason for her, ever filming Avea was to catch her without clothes on.

[317] That's when it snapped and I was like, this is it.

[318] I told Jason to quit calling me and to quit telling me he loved me and that I didn't want to see him anymore.

[319] There was this other part of you that just got woken up that you haven't really put a voice to.

[320] You haven't completely integrated the full picture yet with.

[321] And I assume after that you got angry.

[322] Yeah.

[323] So there must have been a register.

[324] of the whole truth when your psyche was really able to kind of allow you to understand the gravity of his behavior.

[325] Yeah.

[326] Once Ashley crossed the bridge and saw Jason clearly, she accepted that his crimes were what they looked like, depraved, personal, and involved her beloved daughter.

[327] She would divorce him.

[328] Her only focus was healing and justice for Aveya.

[329] I'm John Walzac, host of the new podcast.

[330] missing in Arizona.

[331] And I'm Robert Fisher, one of the most wanted men in the world.

[332] We cloned his voice using AI.

[333] In 2001, police say I killed my family.

[334] First mom, then the kids.

[335] And rigged my house to explode.

[336] In a quiet suburb.

[337] This is the Beverly Hills of the valley.

[338] Before escaping into the wilderness.

[339] There was sleet and hill and snow coming down.

[340] They found my wife's SUV.

[341] Right on the reservation boundary.

[342] And my dog flew.

[343] All I could think of is in the sniper me out of some tree.

[344] But not me. Police believe he is alive and hiding somewhere for two years.

[345] They won't tell you anything.

[346] I've traveled the nation.

[347] I'm going down in the cave.

[348] Tracking down clues.

[349] They were thinking that I picked him up and took him somewhere.

[350] If you keep asking me this, I'm going to call the police and have you removed.

[351] Searching for Robert Fisher.

[352] One of the most dangerous fugitives in the world.

[353] Do you recognize my voice?

[354] Join an exploding house.

[355] The hunt.

[356] Family annihilation.

[357] Today.

[358] And a disappearing act.

[359] Listen to missing in Arizona every Wednesday on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows.

[360] The podium is back with fresh angles and deep dives into Olympic and Paralympic stories you know, and those you'll be hard -pressed to forget.

[361] I did something in 88 that hasn't been beaten.

[362] Oh, gosh.

[363] The U .S. Olympic trials is the hardest and most competitive meat in the world.

[364] We are athletes who are going out there, smashing into each other, full force.

[365] Listen to The Podium on the IHeart app or your favorite podcast platform weekly and every day during the games to hear the Olympics like you've never quite heard them before.

[366] In the summer of 2020, in the small mountain town of Idlewild, California, five women disappeared in the span of just a few months.

[367] Eventually, I found out what happened to the women, all except one.

[368] A woman named Lydia Abrams, known as Dia.

[369] Her friends and family ran through endless theories, where she hurt hiking, Did she run away?

[370] Had she been kidnapped?

[371] I'm Lucy Sherrith.

[372] I've been reporting this story for four years and I've uncovered a tangled web of manipulation, estranged families and greed.

[373] Everyone, it seems, has a different version of events.

[374] Hear the story on Where's Deer, my new podcast from Pushkin Industries and IHeart Podcasts.

[375] Listen on the IHeart Radio app Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[376] Just about one year after the Litton family was shattered, Ashley, Jason, and their respective families sat in a Salt Lake County courtroom.

[377] Okay, well, courts reviewed the pre -sentence report, the psychosexual exam, and there were many, many letters that were submitted both on behalf of Mr. Litton and on behalf of the victim and other family members, so I've read all of that.

[378] Is anyone going to be addressing the court directly, Mr. Sutton?

[379] Do you know?

[380] Yes, Your Honor.

[381] This was not a trial.

[382] It was a sentencing hearing.

[383] Jason had cut a plea deal with the district attorney's office and was pleading guilty to a reduced charge of one count of sexual exploitation of a minor and two counts of voyeurism.

[384] The matter of guilt was settled.

[385] This hearing was about justice.

[386] Ashley watched nervously from the gallery, Avaya Sapisider.

[387] Prosecutor Sam Sutton, the third prosecutor assigned to the case, addressed the judge.

[388] From the state's perspective, this is a very, of course, conserving drastic behavior.

[389] Certainly, Your Honor has seen plenty of other cases involving sexual expectation of a minor child, a child sexual abuse material cases, and usually in those cases we ask for some midpoint of jail, not 120 days, and murderating days, something like that.

[390] In other words, in most of these cases, they ask for four.

[391] four to six months of jail time.

[392] That's pretty standard for someone engaging in this crime.

[393] This would have been pledged of one count, but there, of course, where many others have been charged and a fair amount of child sexual abuse material in this possession.

[394] Couple that with the behavior to work as stepdaughter.

[395] And from the state's perspective, that's about as close to hands on as a case gets without actually being hands on.

[396] Even though they are, say, boyerisms.

[397] From the state's perspective, they are indicative of a pattern of behavior that is greater than the sum of, of the charges that we have.

[398] And for that reason, I'm very struggling to ask for a maximum jail term here.

[399] And I'd ask if Your Honor consider the input of the victim and for a maximum of Jason, he argued, should receive the maximum, a full year because of what he had done to Avea.

[400] You're about to hear from Avea for the first time.

[401] She decided to address the court at Jason's sentencing hearing.

[402] Both Ashley and Avea gave us consent to use her voice and her name.

[403] Her court -sponsored therapist also supported her decision to participate.

[404] So just tell me your names and what you want me to know.

[405] My name is Ashley Litton.

[406] I am Jason's Smovie's wife, and this is my daughter.

[407] This is a bit, and she's asked to be here and would like to address the court.

[408] I do want you to pay attention to what she's wearing today.

[409] She didn't wear a sweatshirt and sweatpants to be disrespectful, but rather because she didn't feel like she was safe to wear anything else.

[410] I don't want him looking at me. I don't want him seeing me. I don't want him nothing.

[411] He completely ruined my family and ruined our lives.

[412] He ruined me. I'm mentally not the same.

[413] Dropped out of soccer.

[414] Doing that in school.

[415] Not to mention.

[416] Not to also tell you.

[417] extreme anxiety now, extreme anxiety.

[418] Or if I am driving and I just somehow see him in his car, I call my mom because he's in the same area.

[419] He drives in those same roads at me every single day.

[420] I have depression.

[421] I have PTSD really bad.

[422] I can't sit in class because my anxiety is so bad.

[423] So all I'm asking from you today is to give him.

[424] I would want him to be in prison.

[425] I never wanted to look at another child.

[426] And the way before even before I even knew about this, he was rude to me. He was, he neglected me, treated me so poorly.

[427] Me and my mother say things to me like I'm a terrible kid and take my phone and go through it and go through my privacy, like my room.

[428] It was unfair.

[429] and it's rude, and I don't want any other child to ever have to go through that ever.

[430] I'm asking for you to send him to prison.

[431] Avea's plea to the court was devastating.

[432] All of the stress, sadness, and anger over what he had done poured out of her.

[433] Even Judge Metler seemed moved.

[434] I'm sorry this happened.

[435] I wish I could make it better.

[436] I can't.

[437] But, me too.

[438] Avaya, you in particular should feel really proud of yourself.

[439] it's a very brave thing to report these kinds of things, to stay committed to the criminal justice system process, to show up in court and to speak to the judge.

[440] You're very brave.

[441] Thank you.

[442] Thank you.

[443] Jason's public defender made an impassioned plea for his freedom.

[444] I would argue, Judge, first and foremost, that Mr. Lytton is absolutely abjectly sorrowful, remorseful for his conduct.

[445] I think he's demonstrated that by taking full accountability, full acceptance of responsibility for his misconduct.

[446] Judge, I understand the name victims, I mean, for lack of apparent words, crushing sorrow, crushing anger about this misconduct that Mr. Litton engaged in.

[447] My client, fully understands where they are coming from and why they would never want to see him again ever in society.

[448] He was suffering from a severe depression.

[449] Yes, he did receive Adderall and some Prozac and perhaps that wasn't the best indicated medication for his condition.

[450] He has engaged in community -based and community -supported counseling groups to help address that.

[451] He has a long way to go with regard to the specialized psychosexual treatment, but Dr. Ryrie and the APNPPSR writer reached the same conclusion that he is appropriate and suitable for community -based treatment.

[452] The takeaway is that the psychologist who had evaluated Jason, the agency that writes the recommended treatment plan, advised court -ordered intensive treatment for Jason but not incarceration.

[453] After his public defense, Spender spoke, Jason addressed the judge.

[454] I'm so sorry for the pain and hurt I've caused my family.

[455] A lot of day goes by, I don't think about the hurt I've caused them.

[456] My heart aches, wishing there was something I could say or do to fix this.

[457] I want to say sorry to Ovea for destroying her safe place in her life.

[458] I filled her as a father and abused her love and trust she had to me. What I did to her was despicable.

[459] and shameful.

[460] I want to say sorry to Ashley for the pain and suffering I've caused her.

[461] I flipped her whole world around and destroyed our family in the process.

[462] I fell her as a husband.

[463] I've taken away the trust she had in others.

[464] I also want to apologize to the kids and the pictures I looked at.

[465] I know that they have suffered a huge amount of abuse.

[466] And pain.

[467] They have lived a life of fear and suffering.

[468] And I played a part in that with my actions.

[469] To all of you, I'm so sorry.

[470] I've heard so many friends and family with my actions.

[471] This whole situation is my fault and my fall alone.

[472] My recovery is also very important to me. I look forward to the programs and all other help I will be fortunate to have.

[473] I want to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again.

[474] Jason also touted the support groups he had joined and his renewed dedication to the church.

[475] Judge Metler took everything into consideration and rendered her decision.

[476] Okay, well, thank you, everyone, for your input.

[477] I've been thinking about this for a while.

[478] This is a tough one.

[479] And the court makes decisions concerning sentencing.

[480] The court really is balancing ways in which the victim can be made whole, which frankly, is pretty unusual when the victim can truly be able.

[481] Rehabilitating the defendant is an important factor, and then, of course, Would Ivea and Ashley get justice?

[482] Would Jason be put behind bars?

[483] That's next time on betrayal.

[484] For the crime of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second -degree felony.

[485] I also visit Vea and Ashley at home to find out what has happened since that day.

[486] I'd be laying in bed some nights, and I'd just sit there thinking, like, someone's looking, someone's creeping.

[487] You get that feeling.

[488] And later, on this season of betrayal.

[489] I saw FBI on their vest, and he's like, Mandy, I'm not going to sugarcoat anything.

[490] We'll meet more women confronted with shocking revelations about the men they married.

[491] My dad was like, let's think about this, because if he goes to jail, you're going to lose all of your benefits.

[492] Like I give a fuck.

[493] If you would like to reach out to the betrayal team, email us at Betrayalpod at gmail .com.

[494] That's Betrayal P -O -D.

[495] at gmail .com.

[496] To report a case of child sexual exploitation, call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's Cyber Tip Line.

[497] At 1 -800, The Lost.

[498] If you or someone you know is worried about their sexual thoughts and feelings towards children, reach out to stopitnow .org .org.

[499] In the United Kingdom, go to stopitnow .org .org.

[500] These organizations can help.

[501] We're grateful for your support.

[502] And one way to show support is by subscribing to our show on Apple Podcasts.

[503] And don't forget to rate and review Betrayal.

[504] Five -star reviews go a long way.

[505] A big thank you to all of our listeners.

[506] Betrayal is a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group and partnership with IHart Podcasts.

[507] The show was executive produced by Nancy Glass and Jennifer Fasin.

[508] Hosted and produced by me, Andrea Gunning, written and produced by Carrie Hartman, also produced by Ben Federman, Associate producer, Kristen Mulcuri.

[509] Our IHart team is Allie Perry and Jessica Crinecheck.

[510] Special thanks to our talent Ashley Litton, psychotherapist Jessica Baum, and production assistant test shields, audio editing and mixing by Matt Dalvecchio, a Trails theme composed by Oliver Baines, music library provided by Mide Music.

[511] And for more podcasts from IHeart, visit the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[512] I'm John Walzac, host of the new podcast, Missing in Arizona.

[513] And I'm Robert Fisher, one of the most wanted men in the world.

[514] We cloned his voice using AI.

[515] In 2001, police say I killed my family and rigged my house to explode before escaping into the wilderness.

[516] Police believe he is alive and hiding somewhere.

[517] Join me. I'm going down in the cave.

[518] As I track down clues.

[519] I'm going to call the police and have you removed.

[520] Hunting.

[521] One of the most dangerous fugitives in the world.

[522] Robert Fisher.

[523] Do you recognize my voice?

[524] Listen to missing in Arizona every Wednesday on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows.

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[527] I did something in 88 that hasn't been beaten.

[528] Oh, gosh, the U .S. Olympic trials is the hardest and most competitive meat in the world.

[529] We are athletes who are going out there, smashing into each other, full force.

[530] Listen to The Podium on the IHeart app or your favorite podcast platform weekly and every day during the games to hear the Olympics like you've never quite heard them before.

[531] In 2020, in a small California mountain town, Five women disappeared.

[532] I found out what happened to all of them, except one.

[533] A woman known as Dia, whose estate is worth millions of dollars.

[534] I'm Lucy Sheriff.

[535] Over the past four years, I've spoken with Dia's family and friends, and I've discovered that everyone has a different version of events.

[536] Hear the story on Where's Deer?

[537] Listen on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.