In 2005, Stacie Love's life was turned upside down by a knock on the door. Twenty years later, she discovers the truth about her marriage to her former teacher and a culture of complicity that protected predators for decades. Not Just A Terrible Story is one woman's search for answers.

Reach out to our team at [email protected].

Fifteen year-old Stacie Love was just a sophomore when she met the young, charismatic English teacher, Brett Fischer. He was the "cool" teacher, and she wanted to be his favorite student. Twenty years later, Stacie sees the dynamic differently—and wonders if what felt like happenstance was something far more calculated.

Reach out to our team at [email protected].

For more exclusive content head to terriblestory.substack.com. Get free access to archival photos, resources, and bonus stories that didn't make the cut. Plus — get early, ad-free episodes as a paid subscriber.

If you or anyone you know is experiencing sexual violence and needs help, please visit rainn.org or call the national hotline at 800-656-HOPE (4673) or text HOPE to 64673.

You can anonymously report school employee boundary crossing and grooming and educator sexual misconduct to Safe Oregon. You can call or text 844-472-3367 or email [email protected].

If you’d like to learn more about educator sexual misconduct and get involved, there are many great organizations doing research, education and advocacy work, including:

Stacie and Brett's relationship wasn't a secret—their community watched it unfold. Some saw it as a fairy tale. Others felt a quiet unease. In this episode you hear what happens when a community looks the other way, and how close Stacie came to walking away before it was too late.

Reach out to our team at [email protected].

For more exclusive content head to terriblestory.substack.com. Get free access to archival photos, resources, and bonus stories that didn't make the cut. Plus — get early, ad-free episodes as a paid subscriber.

If you or anyone you know is experiencing sexual violence and needs help, please visit rainn.org or call the national hotline at 800-656-HOPE (4673) or text HOPE to 64673.

You can anonymously report school employee boundary crossing and grooming and educator sexual misconduct to Safe Oregon. You can call or text 844-472-3367 or email [email protected].

If you’d like to learn more about educator sexual misconduct and get involved, there are many great organizations doing research, education and advocacy work, including:

In 2005, a knock at Stacie and Brett’'s door changed everything. It would take Stacie nearly 20 years to uncover the truth. It was hidden in a long forgotten investigation file. Now, Stacie is asking the questions she was never allowed to.

Reach out to our team at [email protected].

For more exclusive content head to terriblestory.substack.com. Get free access to archival photos, resources, and bonus stories that didn't make the cut. Plus — get early, ad-free episodes as a paid subscriber.

If you or anyone you know is experiencing sexual violence and needs help, please visit rainn.org or call the national hotline at 800-656-HOPE (4673) or text HOPE to 64673.

You can anonymously report school employee boundary crossing and grooming and educator sexual misconduct to Safe Oregon. You can call or text 844-472-3367 or email [email protected].

If you’d like to learn more about educator sexual misconduct and get involved, there are many great organizations doing research, education and advocacy work, including:

In Episode 3, we spoke with Christy Keating about what grooming is. But we still had a few more questions for her, like: What should parents look out for? How can parents protect their kids? And when should parents start talking to their kids about grooming?

Christy shares her eight safety rules that every kid should know and gives us language to talk to our kids about physical, personal and relational boundaries.

You can find a ton of resources and check outChristy’s work at https://theheartfulparent.com/

Reach out to our team at [email protected].

If you or anyone you know is experiencing sexual violence and needs help, please visit rainn.org or call the national hotline at 800-656-HOPE (4673) or text HOPE to 64673.

You can anonymously report school employee boundary crossing and grooming and educator sexual misconduct to Safe Oregon. You can call or text 844-472-3367 or email [email protected].

If you’d like to learn more about educator sexual misconduct and get involved, there are many great organizations doing research, education and advocacy work, including:

Stacie's story wasn't an anomaly. It happened in the choir program. In the band program. And people allege it happened on the basketball team. We dug into decades of archives, court records, and archival news coverage. Piece by piece, a pattern emerged—spanning forty years, multiple teachers, and countless survivors who were failed by the very people meant to protect them.

Ezra Holmlund is now a comedian, follow his work here.

Check out the Oregonian article here.

To find more of the reporting we reference through out the episode check out the Oregonian News Archives.

Reach out to our team at [email protected].

For more exclusive content head to terriblestory.substack.com. Get free access to archival photos, resources, and bonus stories that didn't make the cut. Plus — get early, ad-free episodes as a paid subscriber.

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If you or anyone you know is experiencing sexual violence and needs help, please visit rainn.org or call the national hotline at 800-656-HOPE (4673) or text HOPE to 64673.

You can anonymously report school employee boundary crossing and grooming and educator sexual misconduct to Safe Oregon. You can call or text 844-472-3367 or email [email protected].

If you’d like to learn more about educator sexual misconduct and get involved, there are many great organizations doing research, education and advocacy work, including:

Cover art photo sourced from the Centennial High School Yearbook (1966) via Internet Archive.

There’s only one publicly available document after TSPC revokes an educator’s teaching license. But what does it really say? How are the orders created? And can there be more to the story than what you find in the two page PDF on the internet? These are some of the many questions we asked TSPC that didn’t make it into the podcast.

Reach out to our team at [email protected].

For more exclusive content head to terriblestory.substack.com. Get free access to archival photos, resources, and bonus stories that didn't make the cut. Plus — get early, ad-free episodes as a paid subscriber.

If you or anyone you know is experiencing sexual violence and needs help, please visit rainn.org or call the national hotline at 800-656-HOPE (4673) or text HOPE to 64673.

You can anonymously report school employee boundary crossing and grooming and educator sexual misconduct to Safe Oregon. You can call or text 844-472-3367 or email [email protected].

If you’d like to learn more about educator sexual misconduct and get involved, there are many great organizations doing research, education and advocacy work, including:

After Brett lost his teaching license, life was never the same. The rumor mill in Gresham was in full force. They needed an escape. But can Stacie truly escape if she doesn’t know what she’s running from?

Check out Jim Cole's new podcast, Unlikely Allies: https://ourrescue.org/unlikelyallies

Learn more about Josh Findley's work: https://www.onemi-global.com/

Reach out to our team at [email protected].

For more exclusive content head to terriblestory.substack.com. Get free access to archival photos, resources, and bonus stories that didn't make the cut. Plus — get early, ad-free episodes as a paid subscriber.

If you or anyone you know is experiencing sexual violence and needs help, please visit rainn.org or call the national hotline at 800-656-HOPE (4673) or text HOPE to 64673.

You can anonymously report school employee boundary crossing and grooming and educator sexual misconduct to Safe Oregon. You can call or text 844-472-3367 or email [email protected].

If you’d like to learn more about educator sexual misconduct and get involved, there are many great organizations doing research, education and advocacy work, including:

In episode 5, we finally get answers to the biggest remaining questions in this case—straight from the federal agents who knocked on Stacie's door over 20 years ago. Now we're talking with Jim Cole and Josh Findley about the other cases they've worked and the hard-won lessons from their careers protecting children and victims.

Check out Jim Cole's new podcast, Unlikely Allies: https://ourrescue.org/unlikelyallies

Learn more about Josh Findley's work: https://www.onemi-global.com/

Reach out to our team at [email protected].

Learn more about the cases in this episode:

William A Knudsen, a case from 2007: https://www.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2007/06/excounselor_at_troutdale_eleme.html

For more exclusive content head to terriblestory.substack.com. Get free access to archival photos, resources, and bonus stories that didn't make the cut. Plus — get early, ad-free episodes as a paid subscriber.

If you or anyone you know is experiencing sexual violence and needs help, please visit rainn.org or call the national hotline at 800-656-HOPE (4673) or text HOPE to 64673.

You can anonymously report school employee boundary crossing and grooming and educator sexual misconduct to Safe Oregon. You can call or text 844-472-3367 or email [email protected].

If you’d like to learn more about educator sexual misconduct and get involved, there are many great organizations doing research, education and advocacy work, including:

The path to healing is not a straight line. It’s a jumbled, messy process, filled with baby steps, dark humor and hard won victories. Stacie’s rebuilding her life, reworking her inner monologue and trying to change the system to help others.

If you or anyone you know is experiencing sexual violence and needs help, please visit rainn.org or call the national hotline at 800-656-HOPE (4673) or text HOPE to 64673.

You can anonymously report school employee boundary crossing and grooming and educator sexual misconduct to Safe Oregon. You can call or text 844-472-3367 or email [email protected].

If you’d like to learn more about educator sexual misconduct and get involved, there are many great organizations doing research, education and advocacy work, including:

Image source: Centennial yearbook (1966) via the Internet Archive.