There's somebody else who's doing it.". How is this possible? I never in a million years thought this guy was stupid enough to show his face [around me]. So that I get to be the doctor. How was that? Other revelations, though, come thick and fast. Ive been doing, Hello, doctor with a couple of my friends for about 20 years. I about passed out. BRIGHAM CITY - Robert Ersol Berchtold, age 69, died Frida, November 11, 2005, in Bunkerville, Nevada. Your family was so close to the Berchtolds for years. Was that after the documentary came out? Robert Berchtold, a close friend of the Broberg family who has turned serial child abductor, kidnaps Jan Broberg, age twelve, in 1974. Jan Broberg went on to be the subject of her mothers retelling of her story, Stolen Innocence: The Jan Broberg Story and was part of the 2019 Netflix true-crime documentary Abducted in Plain Sight, detailing the twisted affair. Privacy Policy. But, as Welsh described, they were duped in a terrible, terrible way. The man Berchtold saw was not a licensed psychologist his license had been revoked. He is survived by his wife,. Posted: 21 August 2021. They were on their feet clapping when the police came in and said, Okay, were going to get you out of this room and away from this window. I found my mother's cold reaction to be just what I expected from her. Between 1972 and 1976, he eventually kidnapped and wed her. What was it like seeing the scenes between Jake Lacy and your character during the kidnapping? Without spoiling the most shocking ones, they involve multiple confessions of extramarital sexual relationships, as well as an elaborate plot involving aliens that Berchtold used to prey on Jan. Berchtold was arrested for kidnapping, but the Brobergs, under duress, withdrew their most serious charges. The first time Berchtold kidnapped Broberg, he took her to Mexico and married her. Pete Welsh, the lead FBI agent investigating Jans disappearance, had to drill that into our minds, Mary Ann explains in an interview. He found me at college. Bagby's childhood friend, director Kurt Kunnee began shooting Dear Zachary after Bagby's murder. That forever changed my DNA. In the doc, Brobergs recount the emotional & sexual manipulation, insidious schemes & depraved actions that allowed church-going Idaho family to fall under the spell of a sociopathic neighbor, who would stop at nothing to be with their daughter. It was only five or six years ago, when I found Jan Broberg's book about her ordeal and contacted her, that I found out he had only served a year in prison after being found guilty of the rape of a child. Her dad owned Atkin Florist, while her mother was a homemaker. Berchtold then fled with Jan to Mexico, where he married her and asked her parents permission to return to the United States and be legally wed under U.S. law. Born May 17, 1930, in Beaver Falls, he was the son of the late . I never go anywhere [for a speaking engagement] where it didnt happen to somebody in that room or to somebody close to them in that room. The hope for Abducted in Plain Sight, Borgman and Jan Broberg Felt have both said, is that it helps end the culture of silence around sexual abuse and assault. 2 . Jan was one of three daughters born to Bob Broberg, a florist, and Mary Ann. . After picking Jan up from piano lessons and drugging her, Berchtold dragged the unconscious child into his motorhome, bound her wrists and ankles to his bed with straps, and set up a small device to play a recording. She traveled to meet him, and he begged her to leave her husband and live with him. In his February 11 special, the comedian reflects on the loss of his partner, Lynn Shelton, while also tackling hot-button issues like abortion and fascism. But this time you were seeing an actor bring your abuser to life, witnessing two actors portray you during this traumatic period, and seeing actors portray your family. He would mention it every once in a whilethat I was specialbut he never mentioned that I needed to have a child to save some race or anything like that. The older sister reached out and found my mother when they saw my book with pictures of him in it. I immediately started to sob and then [had] this elation feeling. I don't believe she had a relationship with Bob but I think she really liked him and was hoping for more. "I was this special person that was going to have this special child that was going to save the world," Broberg explained. Robert Berchtold began taking the Broberg kids to school every day and took Jan on activities including horseriding and family vacations. Now I do. I didn't know the abuse was wrong until I was 12 or 13. After earning the Broberg family's trust with his charismatic personality, Berchtold began grooming daughter Jan (Mckenna Grace and Hendrix Yancey in different time periods) in 1972, and. My mom was divorced, lonely and didn't want to be alone anymore. So that's why Im stepping into advocacy with the Jan Broberg Foundation. I guess it doesn't matter at this point, but since the doc is out and everything.looks like any kin he had will never speak of him Scan this QR code to download the app now. Wish he had gotten help somehow if he indeed suffered terrible abuses himself. I wasnt prepared for people to blame my parents. Photo: Courtesy Jan Broberg. When Berchtold asked if he could share a bed with 12-year-old Jan as 'therapy' for overcoming his own childhood abuse, her parents were so brainwashed that they bizarrely let him. He drugged her and transported her to Mexico in his RV. As we have discussed above Gail was the ex-wife of Robert Berchtold, who abducted his neighbour, Jan Broberg Felt. A friend sent it to them. Its too painful for them to realize that they allowed that to happen to her.. While on the road to Mexico he . He said, I wanted to tell you, this is what happened and he killed himself. It was so strange. Some viewers hit the roof, wondering how any parent could let their kid be taken by the same person twice. Im not in contact with them. After all, as profiled in both Netflix's 'Abducted in Plain Sight' as well as Peacock's 'A . Robert Berchtold and Jan Broberg. You have a cameo in the final episode. Berchtold managed to keep her captive with an elaborate ruseclaiming they had been abducted by aliens, and that Jan needed to cooperate with the aliens (i.e. The documentary only slightly went into "B's" past. Watching Jake Lacy become Berchtold was seamless. The day after the series premiered, Broberg says she feels huge relief that a more complete version of the story is available. For years, actress Jan Broberg kept the story of childhood sex abuse she endured at the hands of a family friend mostly private. Listen and subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Spotify, Stitcher or the ABC News app. In actuality, though, Jan explained that Berchtold had just been careful. What will I risk to get it? His brother Joe had even visited while Jan was there, and he noted that Robert, looked happier than hed ever been.. Jill and I were very close, we were like sisters. I said, Did you do some deep dive on my dad that I dont even know about? Hes like, No. If Jan wasnt pregnant and Susan refused to take Jans place, she was going to shoot Susan and then herself. Jannow Jan Broberg Felt, an actor whos appeared in Criminal Minds and Everwoodhas subsequently defended her mother and father. The "alien" voice, which Bob pretended was coming from the car itself, said that I should be listening to Bob and doing as he told me. But now this man she didn't really know could let himself in at any time. A Friend of the Family, created by Nick Antosca, is based on the real-life case featured in the 2017 documentary Abducted in Plain Sight . Its something that happened to them or someone close to themthey had been groomed or conned or manipulated, and could relate. My dad did that with every boy I ever went on a date with. And I could hang it up. I made statements and, because I was a minor, I didn't have to testify in court. Netflix first recounted the harrowing story in the 2019 documentary Abducted in . I get to be the examiner. Robert Berchtold sexually abused Jan Broberg for several years and manipulated her and her family. Jan Broberg: I was very involved. Jake Lacy is a well-known American actor who has appeared on The Office, Girls, The White Lotus, Better with You, and I'm Dying Up Here. Joe alerted the FBI, and they traced Berchtold to a hotel in Mazatln where he was arrested and transported back to the United States. She divorced him and took her kids and moved., Gail was not featured in the documentary. He said he would abuse his daughter, Jill, if I didn't comply. That friend, Robert Berchtold, calls Jans mother, Mary Ann, and falsely tells her that Jan is prostituting herself and selling drugs. Mary Ann was involved in an eight-month affair with B post kidnapping while she was still married to Bob, even though she knew he was her daughters abductor. All but 45 days of his prison sentence were suspended, and B ended up only serving 10 days in prison, according to the documentary. Monday on "The View," Broberg discussed her childhood and the steps taken by family friend Robert Berchtold, who went by the nickname B, to manipulate the family and kidnap Broberg twice. Who would know? Born in 23 Oct 1924 and died in 7 Dec 1980 Erie, Pennsylvania Robert F Berchtold The Broberg family met the Berchtold family through their church in a small town in Idaho in 1972, according to the documentary "Abducted in Plain Sight." Hes so funny and kind and warm. And this 10% experience, you cant let it ruin the rest of your life. In October 1974, Berchtold offered to pick Jan up from her piano lesson and take her horseback riding. He hoped to give Zachary a glimpse of his father. The Corpsewood Manor Murders: A Story Of Satanism, Sex Parties, And Slaughter, Denver Man Convicted Of Gunning A Woman Down With An AK-47 Because Her Dog Pooped Outside His Home, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. The twisted tale began in the early 70s in the small town of Pocatello, Idaho. When they showed up at the front door, my dad would stick his hand out and go, Hello, doctor. And then they would come in and he would give them the corsage that he had made for me, to give to them, so they could give it to me for free. The film tells the story of Jan Broberg, who, as a child in the 1970s, was kidnapped twice and sexually abused by, Still, not everything that happened to Broberg and her family made it into the documentary. Robert Berchtold passed away at age 69 years old on November 11, 2005. So Broberg was thrilled to help reframe her and her parents story in Peacocks new limited series A Friend of the Family, which was created by Nick Antosca (The Act and Candy) and invited Broberg and her mother, Mary Ann, to act as producers. Do.. Firstly Bob and Mary Ann let Berchtold share a bed with their daughter multiple times, knowing that he was being counselled for being attracted to children. My dad isnt dead. Although he ruined Jan's childhood, Berchtold never fully paid for his vile crimes against Jan Broberg in prison. You have to have this baby by your 16th birthday. All of that brainwashingI knew that wasnt real when I [later interacted with boys] and had that moment of going, Okay, I havent been vaporized. The 1967 film Guess Whos Coming to Dinner starred Sidney Poitier and Katharine Houghton as a ne, As the open-hearted matriarch Hattie Mae in Tyler Perrys 2022 film A Jazzmans Blues, Amirah Vann demonstrates a great tenderness and fierce love to b, This story includes spoilers for Saint Omer. Berchtold killed himself in 2005, before being sentenced for simple assault, criminal trespassing, and disorderly conductcharges stemming from that conference where he showed up with the gun. If she did, he said, her dad would be killed, her sister Karen made blind, and Susan taken in her stead. A few people in the movie vaguely assert that it was the 1970s, and no one really understood what pedophiles were, or that intimate friends and family members could also present a real danger to children. I was sick to my stomach and felt like throwing up. The Disturbing Story Of Robert Berchtold, The Pedophile Who Kidnapped And Assaulted His Neighbors Daughter Twice. I was sitting on the couch, in my pajamas, flicking through Netflix and trying to find something to watch, when I came across the documentary Abducted in Plain Sight and the face of Robert Berchtold: the man who destroyed my childhood. The fascination with potential alien life intersecting with life on Earth was popular in the early 1970s. Thats not in the documentary, Broberg said. After becoming fast friends with a new family called the Berchtolds, the Brobergs noticed that the charismatic fun dad Robert Berchtold (known as B) seemed overly interested in Jan. He was like a second father to me, Jan explains, before detailing her memories of how he drugged and molested her. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. I keep telling Nick we have to do a series number two. But I could see Bob playing the tape, so I didn't believe him. I remember the first time I really understood what love was or at least what a nine-year-old could understand as romantic love. I just thought it was what you did. She and her family went on to be manipulated by him for years, even after she was returned home from the kidnapping. In 1974, he abducted the then 12-year-old, and once again two years later. Im certain its because each of those relationships helped me on my path to healing, but they werent permanent. If you can [watch] and go, That would never happen to me. Faith leaders knew. The affidavits that they signed, they retracted four days later. Thats like looking at my brainwashed self again. Does anyone else know anything about his childhood? But he kept pushing it until I finally explained to him that I couldn't swallow it, so he crushed it up and mixed it in some sugar and gave it to me. Warning: Contains SPOILERS for A Friend of the Family. It was like he was talking about an ex-girlfriend. I wanted this for a long timeto tell the story in a way that would affect the most change and the most understanding so that people could avoid this happening in their own life or help any traumatized young person get to a healthy, happy place. After the war, he returned to Utah, got married, had children, and settled in the small town of Pocatello, Idaho, where he ran a furniture store. I didn't know it was wrong right away. [My sister] Karen isnt blind. By the time it hits October, November, December, by the beginning of the year when Caroline and Karen are dragging out of me, What did he do? I knew that that [the alien] part wasnt real. [Id get] phone calls and other scares. It's hard to say what impact the abuse had on my life. Berchtold was a friend of the Broberg family. Kidnap victim Jan Broberg, the subject of Netflix documentary Abducted in Plain Sight, said she was groomed by her kidnapper to believe UFOs and extra-terrestrial life were a plausible possibility. Related: Dahmer Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story Sparked An Important True Crime Debate. Robert Berchtold is an abuser who groomed the Broberg family in order to become close to their 12-year-old daughter Jan. March 21, 2004 -- Actress Jan Broberg Felt says her childhood abductor returned when she decided to share her strange and frightening story with the world. Ive met her and talked to her. Her sons were quite a bit older than methe youngest was seven or eight years older than meand I don't remember them being in the house much. On Oct. 17, 1974, Robert Berchtold picked up his young neighbor Jan Broberg from her piano lessons in Pocatello, Idaho, so he could, he claimed, take her horseback riding. When Bob was 3 yrs old his father passed away and in 1939 his mother married Joseph Ersol Berchtold who raised Bob and . He was raised with half siblings, one of which looked very much like Jan, the "little girl" he said he took care of when his Mother left home when she was sick. Robert Berchtold had an obsession with his 12-year-old neighbor Jan Broberg, even sleeping in the same bed as her four nights a week. More than 50 years ago, Jan was kidnapped and abused by a family friend, Berchtold, who had affairs with both her parents in order to cover up his actions. After Robert befriended Bob Broberg and his wife, Mary Ann Broberg, he quickly infiltrated their family unit and cozied up to their young daughter, Jan Broberg. Without the Brobergs as witnesses, the court had no way of proving Berchtold was guilty of anything. [There] was the brainwashing that was groomed into me before I was kidnapped[like being led to believe] that there were aliens. Find out more about how we use your information in our privacy policy and cookie policy. I was hurt and angry that, after all of that, nothing had really happened to him. She loves movie villains (specifically Loki), Bojack Horseman, Harry Styles and writing creative fiction and poetry in her spare time. According to an online obituary, she tied the knot with former Marine James Leslie Wadman in 1988. He frequently called Mary Ann, confessing his love to her and asking her to meet him in Utah to talk about everything. He also ensnared her parents (Anna Paquin and Colin Hanks), seducing them too into relationships that would blur their vision and later be sources for blackmail. Truth is, you don't really want to know what happens to Robert Berchtold after the events of the series. I remember there was another girl that he was "seeing" at the time. The result is a documentary that exposes them for public scrutiny without pausing to really interrogate their actions. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. I was making great strides in my life and my career and my familyall the things that I am so grateful for. When Broberg was 12, Robert Berchtold kidnapped her and played a recording that told that she was half-alien, and that she had to have a baby with Berchtold by the time she was 16 to save the. Jamie Lee Curtis Is Both Weepy and Giddy About Her First Oscar Nomination. Who is Robert Berchtold's Family? As Jans 16th birthday approached, Berchtolds contact became less frequent. Average Age & Life Expectancy Robert E Berchtold lived 5 years shorter than the average Berchtold family member when he died at the age of 69. This kidnapping lasted for approximately four months, until she was rescued again by the FBI. What was it like to film that? In time, the Broberg children took to calling Robert Berchtold B, and Jan had started to think of him as a second father. I finally told my mother about the abuse. Everybody gets hurt. All rights reserved. [It was] something that my dad did to every boy I ever dated. That was heartbreaking. But at the time, she said, they didnt suspect she had been kidnapped they thought she and Berchtold might have been in a car accident. He continued to try to terrorize me in the weirdest ways. In January 1974, Robert Berchtold was rebuked by the LDS Church for a relationship with a young girl. Jan had two younger. The film tells the story of Jan Broberg, who, as a child in the 1970s, was kidnapped twice and sexually abused by Robert "B." Berchtold, a family friend who grew close with her parents. I feel that he cheated death, as he was never really held accountable for what he did. Her 16th birthday came and went, and when she woke up the next morning to see that everything was fine, she knew the aliens werent real. Having not wanted to spend an extended period of time in prison, Robert Berchtold died by suicide during November of that year. Pausing to really interrogate their actions her and her family that exposes them for scrutiny... 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