Trigger warning: This article contains details of child abuse. If you came of age in the aughts, you most likely know his face. A fast-food spokesperson-turned-pop culture icon, he became the focus of an FBI investigation that would reveal him to be a pedophile and serial child abuser. There are two people responsible for how Jared from Subway was caught: A determined journalist whose mission it was to bring him down and, disturbingly, the director of his childhood obesity charity.
Born Jared Scott Fogle in August 1977, he lost 245lb between 1998 and 1999 having factored Subway sandwiches into his diet plan. He was subsequently hired by the chain to advertise its health merits and appeared in over 300 commercials during his time as the face of Subway restaurants. Using a pair of old jeans to show how much weight he’d lost, Fogle became somewhat of a pop culture icon and was interviewed in Men’s Health magazine among others. In 2004, he even established the Jared Foundation, a nonprofit aimed at raising awareness about childhood obesity through educational programs and tools presented to parents, schools and community organizations. But at one health-related event in 2007, journalist and radio host Rochelle Herman-Walrond told police he’d made lewd comments to her about middle school-age girls.
How was Jared from Subway caught?
How was Jared from Subway caught? During a raid of Russell Taylor’s home in 2015—the director of the Jared Foundation—authorities discovered Fogle and Taylor had exchanged sexually explicit videos and photographs featuring children. “What we found in Russell Taylor’s home and on his computers led us to Jared Fogle,” Tim Horty, spokesman for the US Attorney, told People at the time. Taylor’s ex-wife, Angela Baldwin (nee Taylor) was also found to have conspired with Fogle to sexually exploit children.
Jared Fogle. Image: Joey Foley / Stringer / Getty Images
But Fogle’s behavior raised red flags years before. Journalist Rochelle Herman met Fogle in 2006 and, during a recording of her local Florida radio show, he mentioned how attractive he found middle school-age girls. While they were off-air, “he had leaned over to me and, above a whisper, he leaned over and he said how hot he thought middle school girls were,” Herman recalled to the New York Post. “I knew what he said was exactly how he felt. I knew that there was something very sinister about this man… Behind the smile and the friendly presentation that he puts off that that was truly a mask.”
As a mother of two, she decided to befriend him and record their conversations so that she might reveal his deviant inclinations to the FBI. Children “have such nice, pure bodies,” he once said to her. “Will you let me see your kids naked?” he asked Herman, in another taped exchange. But because the recordings were taken without his permission, the FBI told Herman they would be inadmissible in court. Thus, she became an informant. Herman’s chilling recordings can be heard in a three-part documentary, Jared from Subway: Catching a Monster, which premiered on March 6, 2023, on Discovery+. Audio reveals Fogel also talking about a sexual encounter he had with a “little boy” in Thailand. “It was amazing . . . Oh, it was so hot, baby. It was so, so f—king hot,” Fogle recalled. He then asked Herman, “Would you rather have a little boy or a little girl pleasure you?”
For the next four years, Herman would surreptitiously record conversations between herself and Fogle. Meanwhile, Indiana police received a tip that Taylor had sent pictures depicting bestiality and thus, an investigation into his behavior commenced. In 2015, police obtained a search warrant for his home. Authorities discovered Taylor had hidden cameras throughout the home and in the bedrooms of his stepdaughters, Christian Showalter and Hannah Parrett, who were interviewed as part of the Investigation Discovery documentary. Cameras captured the girls during vulnerable moments, like when they were undressing, as well as their friends. Authorities found more than 500 explicit images.
Taylor was arrested in April 2015 on charges of child exploitation, possession of child pornography and voyeurism. Taylor pleaded guilty to child sex crimes but his conviction was vacated in 2020 when a judge found he had received ineffective legal representation originally. Taylor again pleaded guilty to 30 federal charges in November 2021 and was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison while Baldwin was sentenced to 33 years behind bars. According to court documents, between 2011 and 2015, Taylor and Baldwin worked together and with other individuals, including Fogle, to produce, possess, and distribute child sexual abuse material.
Jared Fogle. Photo by David Lodge/FilmMagic
“The Taylors have finally been held accountable for their years of heinous sexual exploitation of children,” said U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Myers in a press release from May 2022. “Child sexual abusers must be held accountable for the lifelong impact of these crimes on survivors and their families. The prosecutors, investigators, and analysts of Indiana’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force will not relent in our mission to protect children from these offenders. I commend all of the dedicated professionals who fought to take these child predators out of our community and help to bring justice to their victims.” “This case demonstrates the never-ending commitment of the FBI and our law enforcement partners to seek justice for the victims of child sexual abuse,” said FBI Indianapolis Special Agent in Charge Herbert J. Stapleton.
“Russell Taylor and Angela Baldwin not only abused children by producing child sexual abuse material in their home but also re-victimized children over and over again by contributing to the distribution of these images. Sentences like this one send a clear message that adults who participate in this type of despicable abuse will be held responsible for their actions.” “The collaborative work performed by the Indiana State Police, Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and our federal law enforcement partners helped to bring to justice those who sought to perpetuate the victimization of children”, said Indiana State Police Superintendent Douglas G. Carter. “And for that, I am so proud and grateful for their tireless efforts.”
In July 2015, the FBI and Indiana State Police raided Fogle’s home in Zionsville, Indiana, and arrested him on distribution and receipt of child porn charges. The same day, Subway announced they dropped Fogle as a spokesperson. Federal court documents, obtained by the New York Post, that year revealed he’d paid a 17-year-old for sex at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan in 2012 and said she’d receive a bonus for finding him other young victims; “I’ll pay you big for a 14- or 15-year-old .. ’cause it’s what I crave!” he wrote in a text message. “Younger the better LOL.”
Fogle, a married father of two, pleaded guilty to possession or distribution of child pornography and traveling across state lines to have commercial sex with a minor. The former face of Subway was sentenced to 15 years and eight months in a Colorado prison and agreed to pay each of his victims $14,000 in restitution. His projected release date is March 24, 2029, according to Federal Bureau of Prisons online records.
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