I will start this post off by saying that Jared is a garbage human and deserves every terrible thing that shall come his way.
But, the main character that I think needs to be talked about is Rochelle. I have seen a few people on social media pick up on what I also saw, but it is not nearly widespread enough. I was so disgusted by this character but I’ll try and keep the points concise and brief here. (Can’t touch on everything that rubbed me the wrong way.)
First off, and the biggest point that I think must be said, is that her relationship with Jared was extremely bizarre and way beyond any excuse that she was “doing it for childrens’ protection.” She talked to him for YEARS to try and “gather evidence” against him. At some point she should have realized that she would gather what she could have and moved on. Talking to that monster each day in itself shows a bit of complicity on her part. The thing that I simply cannot get past however is how nasty some of the things she was saying were. The dialogue of her and Jared was often pretty equally disgusting between the two of them. There was a level of enjoyment she gathered from doing her “sleuthing.” The time, effort, relationships ruined, and dialogue that we heard allow me to say that point confidently. The fact that she also did not seem to bat an eye when her own children were brought into the discussion also makes me sick. She can say all she wants about how it terrified her and she was doing it “because she had to” but she could have easily said that her kids were off limits to talk about. And she didn’t. I am nearly 100% confident that she engaged in at least some sort of a sexual relationship with Jared at some point. It does not make sense otherwise why he would continually call her every day and be willing to open up so much about his “interests.”
I have many other things to say about why she grossed me out, but I’ll finish this off with some theories I have about her and the events that took place in the documentary. (I feel pretty confident that these are correct or are nearly a correct interpretation.)
Theory #1 - Rochelle did not hear Jared initially say anything about children as she claimed he did at the school when they first met. It simply does not make sense to me that NOBODY else had any inclination that Jared was a pedophile or the fact that he had never said any other sort of incriminating statement in public like the one Rochelle “heard.” To me, this felt like a lie that Rochelle concocted to explain why she started talking to/investigating Jared in the first place.
Theory #2 - Rochelle is the reason the birthday party sting operation did not happen. She wanted to keep her “sleuthing” and relationship talking to Jared going on longer. The film talked about all the nasty convos Jared and Rochelle had about this upcoming party. Jared seemed to insinuate that he would not miss a party like the one that was planned. But then suddenly… his schedule changes? There really was not an explanation given to how his schedule changes. All we know is that this operation can no longer happen and the FBI draws back on the case. Personally, I immediately read this situation as Rochelle panicking that her fun little “sleuthing” could all be over after this party so she panicked and cancelled it all.
Theory #3 - This is the heaviest theory and possibly the one that sticks with me the most after watching this film. Rochelle enabled Jared and likely caused his downfall and actually hurt his victims in the process. It seemed like everyone was blindsided by Jared’s fall from grace and the revelation that he was a pedophile. I truly think that his LONG relationship he had with Rochelle where she allowed and even encouraged discussing pedophilia lead Jared to believe that this “fantasy” was not that bad of a thing. While Rochelle was enjoying talking to Jared with their nasty convos, THAT is where the monster was brewing in Jared. Rochelle could’ve said immediately how disgusting he is and how terrible pedophilia is. But instead she sat back for YEARS and allowed Jared to become comfortable with those thoughts and carry out actual crimes against children.
Theory #4 - My final thought on this is that Rochelle’s kids know that something was sinister/off about their moms’ involvement in all of this but either don’t want to say it or just can’t fully process it and put the pieces together. Her son moved across the world and never sees her. Her daughter also cut her off. This does not just happen without a serious reason. Truly hoping her kids are ok and have the proper help/support system after this whole mess.
