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The women's mother and stepfather were jailed for secretly recording them nude in their home, after distributing the footage to the former Subway spokesman and others.
Christian Showalter and sister Hannah Parrett are just two of the many victims of former Subway spokesman Jared Fogle, who is currently serving 15 years in prison for sex crimes involving minors. The pair -- who first met Fogle when they were just 13 and 11, respectively -- are now speaking out publicly in a new ID docuseries, "Jared From Subway: Catching a Monster" and in new interviews ahead of its premiere.
The sisters' mother Angela Baldwin and stepfather Russell Taylor were both convicted for placing hidden cameras around their home, to secretly record the two girls and their friends "fully nude and/or engaging in sexual activity," after distributing the footage to Fogle and others. Their mother -- who they say they no longer have contact with -- was given 33 years behind bars, while Taylor was sentenced to 27 years in prison.
Speaking with People, Showalter said, "[Fogle's] a monster. He's just a predator" -- before she and her sister opened up about the text messages they saw about themselves and their friends between Fogle and their stepfather.
"I think it was the first time that Jared had ever mentioned anything sexual, Russell had sent a photo of a friend of mine and [me] to Jared," claimed Parrett. "And of course, Jared was asking who she was and how I knew her and things like that. And then, he started to make sexual comments about her body and what she looked like. Russell showed these to me and wanted me to express those things to her."
Parrett said Fogle would "rate us on a scale of who he would want to have sex with more," as Showalter noted "some of them [had] not even hit puberty yet." They said he began grooming them, would "want to talk to us about masturbation and sex with our partners at the time" and "would very much so want us to watch porn."
Showalter told Yahoo! the pair decided to participate in the upcoming documentary to "not only have a voice, but maybe be the voice for other people who don't yet have that. And to remind them that, you do have it."
Noting that the two are "survivors," she said the pair "owed it" to their "inner victims" to speak out in the doc about "what happened to them" when they were younger.
Parrett said her connection to the case always "brought out a lot of negative feelings" for her, especially when others would talk about it in school or public or when she saw reports in the news. Now, she says, headlines only serve as a reminder "of how far I've come from that." Parrett said she loves her life today and acknowledged that sharing her story with others not only helps them, but herself. "I hate that these things happened, but I love what I'm doing about it," she added, "And that's what means the most to me."
"They're all equally responsible: Jared, Russell and Angela, but when I look at the reasons they're responsible, it's for all different reasons," Showalter told Yahoo. "Jared, I think, is responsible for initiating it and for wanting the pornography and wanting to prey on, not only me and my sister, but our friends and other young girls and young boys."
ID's three-part series aims to tell the "previously untold story of the investigation that exposed the monster insidiously lurking behind Fogle's charming persona and how his true nature as a child sex predator was finally revealed."
The series will chart Fogle's rise to fame after losing 245 pounds by eating at Subway and his fall from grace. In addition to interviews with Hannah and Christian, the doc will also include interviews with Rochelle Herman, a journalist who worked with the FBI to investigate Fogle.
"Jared from Subway: Catching a Monster" premieres Monday, March 6 on ID and Discovery+.
The National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline -- 800.656.HOPE (4673) -- provides free, 24/7 support for those in need.
