FBI: Ex-Subway Spokesman Jared Fogle Had Sex With Two Minors, Collected Child Porn
According to documents released today by the U.S. Attorney’s office, Subway Jared is going to jail for a while: he’s pleaded guilty to charges that he had sex with two minors and collected homemade child pornography from the president of his charitable foundation.
The allegations go well beyond the initial reports that the long-time Subway spokesperson merely possessed child porn on his computers: according to the new documents, Jared Fogle regularly trolled the internet for underage escorts, ultimately paying for sex with at least two minors in rooms at “upscale New York hotels” like the Plaza and the Ritz Carlton.
Fogle reportedly told one victim via text message that he would “accept a 16-year-old girl,” but specified “the younger the girl the better.”
According to the documents, Fogle would have sex with the underage escorts to “insure they were not undercover police officers,” before asking them to connect him to other “minors as young as 14 and 15.”
Fogle was also allegedly in possession of child pornography featuring both boys and girls—some of it homemade by the president of his charity, the Jared Foundation:
Part of the case involves images Fogle received from Russell Taylor, the head of Fogle’s foundation. According to the complaint, Taylor sent Fogle photos of and videos from hidden cameras in Taylor’s house, featuring children as young as 6.
The AP reports Fogle has agreed to a plea deal that would pay $1.4 million in restitution to his victims ($100,000 each) and force him to register as a sex offender and undergo treatment for a sexual disorder.
The deal specifies he’ll serve somewhere between five and 12.5 years in prison. In exchange, he’s reportedly pleading guilty to one count of travel to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor and one count of distribution and receipt of child pornography.
CORRECTION 11:53 am: According to his plea deal, Fogle had sex with two minors, not 14 as originally stated. The other 12 victims were secretly filmed engaging in “sexually explicit conduct” by Taylor, the president of Fogle’s charity. Fogle was found to be in possession of those videos, and will pay restitution to those victims as part of his plea deal.
