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. With Mckenna, I see all of the emotional intelligence of someone understanding how do you, at age 15, 16, how do you even portray someone thats brainwashed? 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. If you can [watch] and go, That would never happen to me. He brainwashed her with false narratives in order to sexually abuse her. I finally told my mother about the abuse. He'd told me that he had slept with her, that he had kidnapped her a couple of times, and that he loved her very much. Berchtold was sentenced to five years in prison anyway but served only 10 days. They are curious about where the real Robert Berchtold is now. For viewers watching at home, though, judging the Brobergs is easier, even if its hard to ever feel fully informed, or to believe that the family knew what they were getting into by airing everything so publicly. I said, Did you do some deep dive on my dad that I dont even know about? Hes like, No. I remember the first time I really understood what love was or at least what a nine-year-old could understand as romantic love. But I didnt know what was missing in the conversation. The reality, though, is that the extraordinary nature of the revelations in the film, and their insufficient excavation, end up overshadowing the much more urgent subject at hand. In August 1976, Berchtold convinced Jan to leave her home and come with him, creating the second kidnapping. They consulted with me constantly. He brainwashed the little girl to believe that she was half alien and half human, and that her mission in life was to have a child with him. Not trying to sympathize with him, but just curious about his childhood. 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. All he ever got was a slap on the wrist, and then he was able to continue as before. Obviously, you still are affected [every day]. In actuality, though, Jan explained that Berchtold had just been careful. There was definitely relief: Okay. Her saga was admittedly complicated: When she was 12 and living in Idaho in the 1970s, a close family friend and neighbor who was decades older, Bob Berchtold, drove off with her one day, having told Brobergs parents he was taking the child horseback riding. I could look at the coat. It was released on October 2022 on Peacock and had its finale on November 10, where Jan Broberg appeared as Dr. Carr, the real therapist the Berborg worked with. 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." Robert Berchtold passed away at age 69 years old on November 11, 2005. Wish he had gotten help somehow if he indeed suffered terrible abuses himself. I mean, its pretty tough, I feel bad for all of them, she said. He is survived by his wife,. Ad Choices, Broberg, who first shared the true story of her kidnapping in the documentary, Jimmy Kimmel Roasts Fragile Snowflake Donald Trump for Allegedly Trying to Censor Him. After returning to her family, Berchtold kidnapped . The fascination with potential alien life intersecting with life on Earth was popular in the early 1970s. In 1976, he spent 10 days in jail after accepting a plea deal based on the first kidnapping, then was sentenced to a mental facility for 6 months. Ive been doing, Hello, doctor with a couple of my friends for about 20 years. I about passed out. Let me inform you that Read More Robert Berchtold Wiki, Wife, Age, Family, Brother . That companion was B, and the mission was to have a child with him before Broberg turned 16 years old. The following two years, B kept in contact with Broberg, who said she felt she loved him. It is a lifelong process. 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. Robert Ersol Berchtold, 69, of Logandale, died Nov. 11, 2005. 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! After getting Jan back, Mary Ann took her to see a physician who reported that they couldnt see any signs of sexual trauma. To the Brobergs, this meant their daughter had not been raped by Berchtold. I really did find a way to hang up that very heavy coat of abuse and have it be outside of me. As a result of his death, many feel that Robert Berchtold never fully faced justice for kidnapping Jan. Later episodes of A Friend of the Family (whose cast includes Colin Hanks) will cover one of the most astonishing facts about this case which is that Jan Broberg was kidnapped twice by Robert Berchtold within a two-year period. Thats why Im so grateful to have this series. I was making great strides in my life and my career and my familyall the things that I am so grateful for. She also reveals how she managed to shake Bs grooming, what happened to B in later years, and whether her family has heard from any of the other Berchtolds since. Abducted in Plain Sight viewers learned B kidnapped Broberg a second time from her parents home in Idaho in 1976 when she was 14. I could read the scripts. Jan Broberg's abuser convinced her she was the last chance for an alien species. Both parents claimed in the documentary that if they didnt do this, B would expose a sex act that Bob and B engaged in prior to the kidnapping. Mary Ann Broberg described Berchtold as having a charisma that Bob didnt possess., Jan Broberg works as an actress, known for roles in. As it turned out, Berchtold had helped Jan escape out of her bedroom window that night. 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. Jan, now 56,. They didnt have to do that, but they did. 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. He found my apartment and called my apartment. Brewer feels she did not get a chance to properly tell her story. Robert E Berchtold of Logandale, Clark County, Nevada was born on February 7, 1936. He got very angry. 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. I'd been led up to that moment," Broberg said. I think I realized from the friends that I had at the timeyou could just tell that their relationship with their father figureswas different to mine. She was kidnapped and sexually assaulted by her neighbor and family friend Robert "B." Berchtold when she was 12 and again when she was 14. While on the road to Mexico he . Was your deprogramming gradual over the years, or was there one turning point in your life where everything clicked? I mean, Ive been married and divorced a number of times. But . He said he wanted me to take a vitamin. It was so shockingly hard for me. As far as the other scenes, I think I really have been able to [separate myself]. I would hang out with her, and her four siblings, most weekends. Watching Jake Lacy become Berchtold was seamless. No word and many, many years have gone by and, you know, can you imagine how awful it would be to discover that this was your dad? After being rebuked, he met with a counselor and a clinical psychologist to, he said, help overcome his obsession with Jan. So does a legal system that allowed Berchtold to kidnap, drug, and rape a child and receive a virtual slap on the wrist. Hes so funny and kind and warm. Jans family waited several days before notifying the FBI, and even after doing so were reluctant to accept that Robert Berchtold had actually done anything wrong. I looked further and found that his real Dad died when he was 1, and his mother remarried to his Dad's elder brother (common to Mormon faith). She never expressed any remorse for what happened, never apologized. And the Broberg family, confessional to a fault, are primed more for honesty than for self-inspection. His mother was still alive during the whole ordeal, she would have been 60 years old or so when he abducted Jan, Must have been hard for her witnessing this of her son. Shes the one who identified [her mother] in the audience, who she hadnt seen for seven years and wouldnt call mother. Shes like, Shes here, so he must be nearby.. 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). The film implies that the Broberg parents were both brainwashed and manipulated by Berchtold, which accounts for some of their actions, but not nearly all. It tells the story of how the Brobergs' close family friend and neighbor, Robert Berchtold, developed a fascination with then 12-year-old Jan Broberg. I felt she had dismissed me. All but 45 days of his prison sentence were suspended, and B ended up only serving 10 days in prison, according to the documentary. Bagby's childhood friend, director Kurt Kunnee began shooting Dear Zachary after Bagby's murder. I keep telling Nick we have to do a series number two. We watched Planet of the Apes on TV. She traveled to meet him, and he begged her to leave her husband and live with him. "Everybody loved him.". 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. 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. Having not wanted to spend an extended period of time in prison, Robert Berchtold died by suicide during November of that year. Kerry Washington Goes for LaughsAnd TruthIn Hulu Comedy. Despite the outcome of her marriage to Robert, Gail found love again. The [A Friend of the Family team] were sensitiveThey wanted it to be told in an honest, complete, and realistic way. I wanted to crawl into the backseat and find the tape recorder and Bob got upset with me. October 5, 2022. Directed by Skye Borgman, Abducted in Plain Sight begins in the early 1970s in Pocatello, Idaho. In October 1974, Berchtold. She was drugged on numerous occasions; I was only drugged once. They got confirmation on Nov. 11, 1976 102 days after Jan left her home. My mother had four biological sons and she wanted a girl, so she adopted me. In spite of the fact that Robert (or B) was born on February 7, 1936 close to Tremonton, Utah, he spent the majority of his childhood in the Mountain West region with his mother, several of his siblings, his stepfather, and his stepfather's biological father. Hows your family?. Robert Berchtold. He abducts her again in 1976, after she has . He first kidnapped Jan when she was 12-years-old. This info was at 17 min left in the doc. Berchtold, a frequent visitor to the Broberg household, orchestrated these heinous acts. Born May 17, 1930, in Beaver Falls, he was the son of the late . It did. The Disturbing Story Of Robert Berchtold, The Pedophile Who Kidnapped And Assaulted His Neighbors Daughter Twice. I was adopted. Robert Berchtold's childhood The documentary only slightly went into "B's" past. 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. Much of the outrage targets Jans parents, who participated fully in the documentary, and whose behavior in response to Berchtolds prolonged abuse of their daughter strikes many viewers as shockingly inadequate at best. Theres a lot more to the story. After Brobergs first kidnapping, B blackmailed her parents, Bob and Mary Ann, into signing affidavits claiming he had consent to bring their daughter to Mexico. It was really when I was 30 years old that I had that aha moment. 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. Up until her kidnapping at the age of 12, Broberg describes her childhood in Pocatello as wonderful and idyllic. Congratulations on the seriesI definitely understand so much more about your experience. Jan and her mother, Mary-Ann Broberg, went on to do a tour for the book Stolen Innocence. He is survived by his wife, Deanna; sons, Jerry, James, Joseph, "That's a story I heard at Christmas time.". I had never taken a vitamin before and honestly, I just couldn't swallow pills. I was such a happy girl. Some viewers hit the roof, wondering how any parent could let their kid be taken by the same person twice. He told the Brobergs he needed to sleep in Jans bed. I wanted to play in the dirt and toss a football. After the first kidnapping, her parents were completely unaware of the sexual abuse. The new Peacock drama miniseries, A Friend Of The Family, tells the true story of how kidnapper Robert Berchtold ruined Jan Brobergs childhood. I kept it all to myself and kept going. There must have been a lot of girls. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Robert Berchtold. Listen and subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Spotify, Stitcher or the ABC News app. He was a salesman and my mother had contacted him about purchasing a traveling franchise. That was a really crazy little period of time. When I went to the premiere with my sisters and mother, they all got to meet Colin Hanks and spent some time with him, a little more than just a hello. He was born February 7, 1936, in Tremonton, Utah to Leonard N. and Lucille Grover Berchtold. I did what I was supposed to do. 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. According to an online obituary, she tied the knot with former Marine James Leslie Wadman in 1988. I just thought it was what you did. How is this possible? I never in a million years thought this guy was stupid enough to show his face [around me]. I was working on myself. That friend, Robert Berchtold, calls Jans mother, Mary Ann, and falsely tells her that Jan is prostituting herself and selling drugs. I was invited into the writers room to give very detailed suggestions that made it just that much more real. My mother worked two jobs, so there was a lot of time for that. Its something that happened to them or someone close to themthey had been groomed or conned or manipulated, and could relate. At home, Jan was distant. As we have discussed above Gail was the ex-wife of Robert Berchtold, who abducted his neighbour, Jan Broberg Felt. We couldnt get over that feeling that it was like he has the same kind of heart. It was a terrifying thought, Jan said. It wasnt about Mary Ann. Did. Idaho, who quickly become close pals with their new neighbor, Robert Berchtold, and his wife and kids. Because maybe if I had known what I know now, what Im trying to tell the whole world now [with the series]that these predators dont stop [on their own]maybe the girls [Berchtold abused] after me wouldnt have [been abused]. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. He never brought her home. Then, on Christmas Eve, Gail Berchtold stopped by the Brobergs house and asked them to drop any charges against her husband, presenting them with affidavits to sign. Robert Berchtold sexually abused Jan Broberg for several years and manipulated her and her family. In one, her underwear is clearly visible. Although Bob and Mary Ann Broberg refused, Berchtold returned home with Jan and things somehow went back to normal without any charges pressed. Berchtold made them believe his therapist had advised him to work through his pedophilia by sharing a bed with Jan. In addition, B would consistently show Broberg's parents, Mary Ann and Bob, newspaper clippings of alleged UFO sightings around the country. Robert Berchtold Wikipedia Bio. I really believed it. That was terrifying and surreal because I was finishing a speech for a thousand women and their daughters. He explained to Bob that he had a traumatic childhood, including having sex with an aunt when he was four. Watch the exclusive trailer for the sharp upcoming series, starring Washington as a single mom whose father (Delroy Lindo) comes to live with her after being released from prison. Robert Berchtold was the Broberg's neighbor. If they didnt, she said, then everyone would know about Bob and Roberts sexual exchange. The new Netflix documentary Abducted in Plain Sight is a bewildering account of one girls kidnapping by a family friend. 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