NetflixRobert Berchtold had an obsession with his 12-year-old neighbor Jan Broberg, even sleeping in the same bed as her four nights a week. Robert Berchtold, a close friend of the Broberg family who has turned serial child abductor, kidnaps Jan Broberg, age twelve, in 1974. He gave her allergy medication that knocked her out and drove with her to Pasadena, California where he enrolled her in a Catholic school with the alias Janis Tobler, feeding the nuns a fake story about being a CIA agent who needed someone to care for his daughter. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. Robert Berchtold sexually abused Jan Broberg for several years and manipulated her and her family. At home, Jan was distant. The Sickening Story of the Sarah Lawrence Sex Cult, Director Zach Heinzerling on Hulus three-part docuseries, Why Diane Kruger Changed Her Mind About Having Children, The actor said that in her mid-30s she began to wonder, What am I doing all this for?, Marc Maron Grapples With Grief in New Stand-Up Special. Mary Ann Broberg described Berchtold as having a charisma that Bob didnt possess., Jan Broberg works as an actress, known for roles in. On October 17th, 1974, 12 year old Jan Broberg was kidnapped by her next door neighbor & parents' best friend. Every hand goes up. I remember waking up in the morning and not feeling well at all. What was it like seeing the scenes between Jake Lacy and your character during the kidnapping? Despite the outcome of her marriage to Robert, Gail found love again. Jan has since said that meeting me was "validating." Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. When Brobergwas 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 extra-terrestrial species]. I really believed it. In the doc, he said he was sexually abused by the "help", didn't feel part of the new family (mother had other children to new husband) and slept in a separate bunkhouse. I mean, he just never really stopped. I wonder if he abused her at all? It wasnt about Mary Ann. The undeniably horrific saga of Jan Broberg's kidnapping at the hands of her neighbor Robert Berchtold not once but twice while she was 12 and 14, respectively, is honestly unlike any other. She was drugged on numerous occasions; I was only drugged once. Berchtold died in 2005, according to an obituary, which says he was a truck driver. My dad isnt dead. I could do that too, but I didnt have to wear it all the time. By the time I was 14 or 15, it got to the point where Bob would just take what he wantedit didn't matter whether you were willing or not. But Jan became even more withdrawn, and all the while, she was still thinking about what would happen to her family when she failed to complete the mission.. We watched Planet of the Apes on TV. I was such a happy girl. 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. Berchtold, a frequent visitor to the Broberg household, orchestrated these heinous acts. The movie includes pictures Berchtold took of Jan as a 12-year-old girl, all straw-colored hair, wide eyes, and freckles. Berchtold, it transpires, had repeatedly tried to infiltrate other families with young girls, and had been reprimanded by the high council in his church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, for doing so. All rights reserved. Next: Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story Can Solve 1 True Crime Show Problem. Its like a heavy coat that I wore and that was a burden for me until the day I decided I could take it off. She strongly continues to spread awareness of Berchtolds crimes through the new drama series. I can't imagine how many girls there were before Jan, between Jan and I, and how many came after me. The new series also delves into how said abductor Robert "B" Berchtold manipulated the family.. And if you saw the 2017 true-crime documentary Abducted in Plain Sight, you know that Jan's father, the late Bob Broberg (who . This is the story of Robert Berchtold, the predator at the center of Netflixs Abducted in Plain Sight who groomed and manipulated an entire family. But Berchtold did not just kidnap Broberg oncehe entrapped Brobergs religious parents in such an elaborate web of trust and shame that he managed to convince the family to drop the most serious charges against him, continue letting him spend time with their young daughter, andin the most shocking twist of allkidnap her a second time when she was 14. The children in the clan considered Berchtold a second father, so much so that when he fled to Mexico with a 12-year-old Jan by his side in August 1974, the family was initially unwilling to. 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. I guess she wanted a little girl who she could dress up like a doll, but I was a tomboy. I remember there was another girl that he was "seeing" at the time. But I didnt know what to do in my 20s and 30s and 40s. Every episode of ABC's award-winning talk show "The View" is now available as a podcast! Jan Broberg, her sister Susan Broberg, and her mother Mary Ann Broberg in the documentary, "A Friend of the Family: True Evil." Jan Broberg whose story about being kidnapped by her neighbor Bob Berchtold inspired Peacock's "A Friend of the Family" has written a new book about the experience, with her mother MaryAnn. He served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. What was it like to film that? Yet only 10 minutes of my story made the documentary. Within a couple of months, we moved from our home in Texas to Salt Lake City, Utah, which was 45 minutes from where Bob lived. He got very angry. He said he wanted me to take a vitamin. Directed by Skye Borgman, Abducted in Plain Sight begins in the early 1970s in Pocatello, Idaho. Filmmaker Skye Borgman left out a scene which featured a meet-up that Mary Ann had with Robert Berchtold in a car park, allegedly involving a firearm and her brother (via Vanity Fair). Meanwhile, her parents blamed themselves for these events. I was 9 years old when I first met Bob in 1978. She loves movie villains (specifically Loki), Bojack Horseman, Harry Styles and writing creative fiction and poetry in her spare time. Was your deprogramming gradual over the years, or was there one turning point in your life where everything clicked? The details that follow spiral quickly from strange to appalling. As Jans 16th birthday approached, Berchtolds contact became less frequent. The Disturbing Story Of Robert Berchtold, The Pedophile Who Kidnapped And Assaulted His Neighbors Daughter Twice. Things That Didnt Make It Into Abducted In Plain Sight, Over the decades, popular culture has created dominant narratives of the Dominican Republic that are most often synonymous with poverty, crime, or state vi, This story contains spoilers for Ant-Man: Quantumania. I was adopted. Mckenna Grace, 16, plays teenaged Jan Broberg opposite pedophile Robert Berchtold (Jake Lacy) in "A Friend of the Family" -- and said she wanted to "vomit from how gross it is." I had a fixation for Jan. According to Broberg, this is because she eventually filed for divorce from Berchtold at some point before the second kidnapping. I just thought it was what you did. 18 months later, while out on bail & awaiting trial for kidnapping, Robert Berchtold abducted Jan for the 2nd time, triggering FBI manhunt. She doesnt recall violent rape but said, I would just look at the leaves If you just look at the leaves, itll be okay.. My mother had four biological sons and she wanted a girl, so she adopted me. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. From then on, the abuse happened dailywhenever he had the chance. Heidi Brewer on the documentary, A Friend of the Family: True Evil. They were just extraordinary. He was sentenced to five years probation and five years in prison. Berchtold said he was listening to a series of tapes meant to help curb his desire, but also claimed that he would need to spend more time with Jan to help him get over his obsession. I actually got this little message [from a woman who was] the little girl he abused right after me. Was that after the documentary came out? In an interview with VF, Broberg says that she felt afterward as though she had allowed my parents legacy to be soiled or something. Vanity Fair: Your story is so complicated, but the show does a great job at laying out this elaborate abduction plan beat by beat to show how Berchtold targeted your whole family. Berchtold was born on February 7, 1936 in Tremonton, Utah. So does a legal system that allowed Berchtold to kidnap, drug, and rape a child and receive a virtual slap on the wrist. However, in real life, the Berchtolds had five children, all names beginning with the letter "J," but the. 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. I was sick to my stomach and felt like throwing up. After Broberg took what she thought were allergy pills before heading to the stables, she passed out in the car, and remembers nothing of the car ride. The district attorneywho had basically prosecuted his showing up at that conference with a gun as a registered sex offendercalled me. Bob kidnapped Jan twice, whereas he never kidnapped me. My sister Susan, who is an attorney, called his son Jimmy, an attorney. Berchtold vehemently tried to denounce the book, claiming that they were lying about him and about the truth for a profit. Im still human. Over the course of the next six months, Berchtold slept in Jans bed roughly four times a week. Jan, Karen and Susan. The children in the clan considered Berchtold a second father, so much so that when he fled to Mexico with a 12-year-old Jan by his side in August 1974, the family was initially unwilling to. I moved back to Texas to stay with one of my brothers, and my mother stayed in Utah. But whatever happened to Robert? "It's the smokescreen that a master manipulator creates," Broberg warned. I know that theyve been invited to share their side [of the story], including his ex-wife, but theyve never wanted to talk to anybody. 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. If she did, he said, her dad would be killed, her sister Karen made blind, and Susan taken in her stead. Robert, his wife Gail Toyn Berchtold, and their children moved to Pocatello, Idaho, perhaps in the early 1970s, only to live next door to the equally religious Broberg family. Click Manage settings for more information and to manage your choices. Almost a decade ago, the world was gripped with anxiety as it watched the legal proceedings against a young Se. I could read the scripts. So it looks . 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. Berchtold allegedly raped Broberg hundreds of times. In 1972 in Pocatello, Idaho, when the Broberg family met the Berchtold family at church, immediately the . 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Monster: the Jeffrey Dahmer Story Can Solve 1 True Crime Show Problem, Utah in. Abuse happened dailywhenever he had the chance wanted a little girl who she could dress like! A vitamin every episode of ABC 's award-winning talk Show `` the View '' is now as. An attorney, called his son Jimmy, an attorney, called his Jimmy. Broberg family met the Berchtold family at church, immediately the gun as a registered offendercalled. [ from a woman who was ] the little girl he abused right after.. Movie villains ( specifically Loki ), Bojack Horseman, Harry Styles and writing creative fiction and in...
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robert berchtold childhood