The Nightmare Upstairs: What Happened to Ty and Bryn? (2026) s01e01 Episode Script

1
[Ty] Me and Brynlee
have had nightmares about you.
[Brent] Ty, I love you.
[Ty] You just don't want to be caught
by the judge
And if you think that
my mom told me to do this, no.
[Brent] Have you prayed about any of this?
[Ty] Yes, I pray every night.
[Brent] I love you, Brynlee,
and I love you, Ty.
[Ty] I don't think so.
[Race] My concerns are,
why she would be telling me
that the only reason she hurts down there
is because of things you do to her.
- She said that?
- [Race] Yes.
[Brent] I mean, I, legitimately, a hundred
percent, was just caring for my daughter.
I didn't do anything
that would be considered inappropriate.
Hey, guys, I got a story I need
to tell you guys about my life.
I'm now almost 16 and I've been through
this court case for almost five years.
Well, me and my little sister
have been refusing to go to visits
with my biological father,
and now I'm having to be barricaded
in my room,
my own choice, for me to stay safe.
[child crying]
[Brynlee] The hardest thing about it
is just people not believing you
and then thinking
you're just going insane.
[Jolleen] And all these accusations
against my son.
He never abused them.
- It's okay. Come on. I need you for--
- Am I… Hang on.
[Ty] This is the real reason I am
terrified for my life, if they take me.
My own word does not matter,
and they don't believe my truth.
[Brent] It's 'cause there's nothing there
that's ever happened.
[Zahrt] I will fight forever.
It's the same policeman as before, okay?
Because I don't know what parent wouldn't.
[Ty] We are horrified to go to school.
We are horrified to leave the house.
We are horrified to even leave this room.
- [lock rattles]
- [knocks on door]
[Ty] Hello?
- [lock rattles]
- [knocks on door]
[Zahrt] When I met Brent, I was very young
and I married him
at a drive-through in Las Vegas.
At that time,
we knew each other less than two months.
He actually dared me to marry him.
So, not the smartest decision I've ever
made, but you live and you learn.
When my son BJ met Jessica,
he was just on cloud nine.
He had met this cute little bubbly girl
and everything had changed,
and he decided to go get married.
They came home from that little trip.
BJ came to our house,
Jessica went to her grandparents' house,
and we didn't find out for about two weeks
that they'd actually gotten married.
I mean,
we had concerns because it was so quick,
but we knew that BJ could step it up.
[Zahrt] In the beginning,
he came off as charismatic.
He came off as successful.
He came off as fun.
You know, Jessica was fun.
I mean,
she's really smart and really likable.
You know, BJ was happy,
and that made us happy.
Brent's family was quite religious.
They were direct descendants from
one of the founders of the LDS Church.
His family and all of his relatives,
they lived in big houses, which…
Like, it was just a life
that I had never lived.
[Jolleen] Her background,
to say the least, was really rough.
At that time, she was not having contact
with her mother. I mean, her…
She'd had different fathers
and had gone through a lot
in her childhood.
We're riding in the wind. Whoo!
I acknowledge I had
a pretty messed-up childhood.
I was a victim of, um, child abuse.
[Jolleen] BJ was the kind of person that…
He really thought that he could help her,
and give her some stability
with our family,
and help her to have a better life
than what she had had.
[person] So, Jess, how's it going?
I was in a very dark place and that is
when Brent came into the picture,
and I was never even honest
with Brent about that.
[Zahrt] Yes, ma'am.
I really needed to be allowed
to be a child myself,
but instead, I found myself married.
So, I just put on a happy face
for everybody,
because I hated myself so deeply.
[Jolleen] Jessica wanted children
really quickly,
and she had had a couple of miscarriages,
and those really affected her drastically,
and things got, um…
Well, then she ended up having Ty.
It wasn't until I held that little boy
that I felt anything again.
[Jolleen] Ty was our first grandson,
and we were all so thrilled.
[Zahrt] When Ty was born,
I can only describe it as heaven.
But at the time, I felt very unequipped.
I struggled with postpartum anxiety.
She was really struggling
taking care of him,
and so the family all rallied around Ty,
'cause BJ was working two jobs
and trying to provide for his family.
- [Zahrt] Can you say, "Hi, Daddy"?
- Hi, Daddy.
- "Love you."
- I love you, Daddy.
[Zahrt] Ty was just, like,
born with this protector spirit.
He has his opinions.
He's a debater,
and he likes evidence and facts.
That is Ty.
[Jolleen] I'll tell you, Ty has so many
of the characteristics of his father.
He doesn't know it, but we recognize it.
[Zahrt] The problem is that the Brent
that I came to know…
was very controlling, very angry.
He would tell me
how I needed to wear my hair,
what makeup I should wear.
He was controlling over finances.
He was controlling
over my time with anybody else.
If I went out, let's say,
for a girls' night,
he would constantly call or text to
the point it would ruin the girls' night.
I am very much a free spirit,
and to have somebody
who wants to be in control all the time,
it terrified me.
I didn't know how to handle that.
[notification chimes]
It was February of 2010, and then I
found out I was pregnant with Brynlee.
Rub the tummy.
When Brynlee came along,
she was truly my second miracle.
- Brother loves you.
- [Ty] I love you.
[Zahrt] Unfortunately, Brent and I,
we weren't in a good place.
[Jolleen sighs] You know,
being married 47 years,
I never think divorce is the right answer,
but at the same time,
it was so dysfunctional,
and I saw BJ trying so hard
to make it work,
and I just didn't know
how it was going to continue, you know?
And I really loved her.
I mean, I still do.
But I… You know.
I don't like what happened.
I was just trying to make the best of it,
for the sake of Ty and Brynlee.
[Ty vocalizing]
[Zahrt] Because of the financial issues
and fighting,
life got a little bit more complicated.
[Ty continues vocalizing]
[Zahrt] In 2012,
our divorce was finalized.
I left my ex and moved into an apartment.
[Brynlee babbles]
[Zahrt] I mean,
co-parenting with my ex was difficult.
It was never easy.
[Jolleen] BJ was struggling.
He had really, you know,
had a really difficult time,
and sometimes, he went to alcohol
or other things
to numb the pain that he had,
but he decided
that he was going to trust in God,
and he went and had a tattoo put
on his back, and it's in beautiful font,
and it says, "A shepherd I will be
for thee, my Lord, for thee."
He wanted to shepherd his children.
[voice breaks] It was important to him.
[Zahrt] Despite not having money,
we just found ways
to make the best of our situation.
We would go to the mall,
we would just ride the escalators
up and down, and Ty loved it.
It was one of his favorite things to do.
With Brynlee,
she would actually find a way to laugh.
Like, she will find humor, she will find
beauty, she will find joy anywhere.
Okay, Bryn,
what exactly are we looking at?
- Butt cheek strawberry.
- [Zahrt] A butt cheek strawberry?
Ty and Brynlee always had this bond.
They wanted to spend time together.
They truly are the best thing that ever
could have come out of that relationship,
and so I will never regret that.
[all] Happy birthday to you ♪
Happy birthday, dear Brynlee ♪
Happy birthday to you ♪
[Zahrt] Make a wish.
- Get it.
- [Zahrt] Yay.
[all cheer]
[Jolleen] When the divorce was finalized,
Jessica decided to get a job.
So for about two and a half years,
my husband and I watched Ty and Brynlee
Monday through Thursday from, like,
7:00 in the morning until 6:00 at night.
Like, even on Sundays, I'd go get them
and take them to church with me.
- [Jolleen] Has everybody had turns?
- [Ty] Guys, I'm gonna be rolling…
[Jolleen] I mean, in our house, they had…
I mean, we did a garden, they grew stuff,
they made stuff, they played like kids.
[Ty] Wanna see me standing, Grandma?
[Jolleen] Hold on. Oh! I see you rolling.
[laughs]
The kids were happy.
The kids were really happy.
- [Brent] Say hi.
- Hi.
[Ty] Hi.
[fireworks popping]
- Love you.
- Love you. Love you.
- Have a good day.
- You too.
[director] Who was that?
That is my husband, Aaron. [chuckles]
Right around
when my divorce was finalized,
was when I met Aaron.
[chuckling] Kiss me.
We were married in 2013
and in 2018, our son, Jagger, was born,
and our family was complete.
Yay.
[Zahrt] I'm not saying it's been easy,
but he shows up.
He's just a great father.
And a great husband.
In the meantime, um,
BJ was very busy, you know,
jumped into work.
But every minute that he had,
he spent with his kids.
But it was lonely.
Eventually, he met this lady, Sandy.
She was a single woman
that was living in an apartment,
sharing it with somebody else.
She had two little girls.
And here she was,
another one that needed help,
and they just hit it off.
[Zahrt] When I heard
that Brent got remarried,
I had so much hope
because I just wanted him happy again.
[Sandy] Wait, I want to get in there.
- Can we do a funny face after?
- [Jolleen] Don't move, kids.
- Okay, here. Ready?
- Okay.
[Jolleen] He adored Sandy,
and Sandy was everything
that he wanted her to be.
And he adored those kids,
and those kids adored him.
[director] What changed?
False allegations.
[ominous music playing]
Bryn?
Brynlee was home from school
and she was in the bathroom taking a bath.
At that time, she was seven years old.
When she was done, she came down the hall
and dropped her towel and started
putting lotion on inappropriately.
It was to her private areas.
I asked her, "What are you doing?"
And she said
that's how her dad made her put lotion on.
Brynlee was very graphic
in her disclosures.
I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
Even though I believed my child,
I still, to this day,
don't want to believe it's true.
I don't want to believe
that the father to my children
would hurt them.
I didn't want to destroy somebody's life
over something
that could be a misunderstanding.
But at the end of the day,
my child's safety trumps everything.
I called the Department
of Child and Family Services
at the suggestion of my attorney,
and they advised me
to get a protective order in place.
[Jolleen] I was on my way down
to pick up the kids that day
and I got a phone call from BJ.
And he says,
"Mom, I don't know what happened.
I just got a text message from Jessica."
Bye, Mommy.
- I love you.
- Love you.
- Have a wonderful day today.
- You too.
- Be safe.
- Okay.
The accusation was that BJ had put cream
on Brynlee's privates.
[Zahrt] Brynlee ended up telling me
that her dad put lotion on
because she had a hot butt.
And that he put his finger in her butt.
Brynlee was interviewed by DCFS,
and after several weeks,
they came back and said
that they were supporting the finding
for, uh, s-sexual abuse.
[Jolleen] When the charges first came,
he thought he could explain it.
And he went to the police,
and Sandy went along with him,
and they found Detective Race.
Yeah, so as far as this case,
I can't speak specifically about the case,
but I can go in general terms, so…
Unfortunately, law enforcement sees
a very different side of society.
You know, we see people
at their worst moments,
and so we're aware that child sexual abuse
and child physical abuse
are possibilities in the world.
[Race] So, why don't you tell me
a little bit about yourself?
Um, I typically go by BJ.
It's the name that's always stuck
with me since I've been a kid. [chuckles]
- Okay.
- Um…
[Race] First part of my interview
when sitting down with an alleged suspect
is just hearing what they have to say
and seeing what their responses are.
Words, movements.
A lot of the times, you know, it's more so
that interaction with the detective
where you catch those cues
of what a person is telling you
is either truthful or not.
Reading that protective order
so you learn more
about the allegations and stuff.
What are your thoughts on those?
Well, um…
looking at what Jessica said,
um, having been married to her
for a long time…
she…
I don't know if you picked up on it,
but she very much so doesn't make
an accusation and redirects blame.
She herself has said
that I'm such a great dad
and I've always been there for 'em.
This is why, when I mentioned to her,
if she would have talked to me,
this could have been cleared up
very easily.
Um, some of her concerns,
it's a small truth
wrapped up in misunderstanding, I guess,
or in my opinion, a lie.
Our opinion doesn't matter. The facts do.
A very common term we use
as detectives is neutral fact finders.
My daughter frequently doesn't get bathed
at her mom's house,
and I know exactly what's wrong.
It's just a hygiene issue.
So, there's never been lotion.
The only cream
that she's ever had in her life,
I think it's from
when she was a little girl,
and I have only purchased
one thing of it in my life.
It's actually one I had
from when my son was little, is this.
It's Desitin cream.
I believe, um, in my heart of hearts,
my ex-wife really, really dislikes me.
She tries to take me to court
at least once a year.
I get obliterated when I go up there.
It's a man versus a woman.
My ex-wife puts on this face like,
"I'm this prissy little thing." You know?
Just like… And she plays the victim.
'Kay, well, that's not…
I'm not getting
into the divorce situation, 'kay?
But that's… You have to understand,
that's where it goes.
Anytime I've made a comment,
we go straight to court.
No, I'm a detective in this, though, 'kay?
And I understand custody
- 'cause that's 90% of what I see in this.
- Yeah.
The fact of the matter is that I have
a small child that I interviewed
who has nothing to do with this custody…
- Mm-hmm.
- …telling me things.
After I've heard their side of the story
and what they want to explain to me,
that's when we start presenting,
in some detail,
what the child had disclosed.
My concerns are,
why someone at her age would be telling me
that the only reason she hurts down there
is because of things you do to her?
- She said that?
- Yes.
What have I done? Did she elaborate?
Yes, she elaborated.
I have not done anything down there.
I've never touched her
in a way like that ever. Never.
[Race] You know, there's always
the possibility, with certain age,
children not being truthful.
You know, "I don't wanna live with Mom,
so, I'm going to say this
so I can stay with Dad."
But, unfortunately, with most children
that we see, when we interview them,
there's no reason, there's no reward
other than just to say, "Hey,
this was wrong and it happened to me."
She goes on to tell me that she only gets
hot butt when she's at Daddy's house.
She goes down to Dad,
tells him that she has hot butt,
and Daddy gets the cream for her.
As much as we want to find justice for…
if there's an alleged victim, if there's
someone being wrongfully accused,
we also need to look at it from that.
So, it's just important to speak
to each one of the people in the home
to just make sure
we're not missing anything.
So, Sandy, how long have you guys been
together? You and Brent.
We've been married
for about three-and-a-half years.
Are you aware of the allegations?
- I'm aware, yes.
- Okay.
I mean, just completely blindsided
and shocked and…
So, have you personally seen something
that has ever just kind of been like,
"Hey, maybe you and I should sit down,
Brent, and talk about some things"?
There's not been anything like, I…
Like, I have left him alone with my kids.
I trust him.
Like, I've never had any kind
of concern, like this type of stuff, ever.
You know, these are pretty serious
allegations that we have to look at.
If anything catches your eye,
if you're talking to your daughters,
or maybe they'll say things that…
You never know, but hopefully not,
- but you just never know.
- I certainly hope not, but…
And it's not anything I would ever expect.
Most important thing is,
"Do I have enough to prosecute this case,
to present it
to the district attorney's office?"
So, I don't want to put
an innocent person behind bars
if they didn't do something.
[Jolleen] BJ called me.
[stammers] He was in tears, and he said,
"Detective Race doesn't believe
what I said.
She doesn't believe me at all."
And he thought she was a man-hater.
[Sandy] Well, after we talked,
something you said at the end kind of,
like, shook me a little bit.
First of all, I wanna say,
when we were interviewed,
my husband coached me
on some things to say.
He wanted me to say
that I was with him anytime
she needed cream, that I was standing…
"Well, you were standing right there."
He was trying to convince me
that I was always there.
And then he also told me to tell you
that I completely trust him,
and that I, um, have no concern whatsoever
leaving my children alone with him.
[Race] That's his words
he told you to say?
That was his words he told me to say.
Now that I'm getting more clarity
of our relationship,
he's been very, very manipulative
and controlling, extremely controlling.
Like, our household is completely
under his thumb.
Like, none of us dare do anything
without his approval
'cause it's not worth a fight
or getting his anger towards us.
And at the time, I didn't ever question
the sexual stuff, you know?
But, in the back of my mind,
I knew I'm not fully comfortable with,
like, his anger,
and that kind of stuff does worry me.
BJ was adamant
about proving his innocence,
so right off the bat,
he went and took a polygraph test.
And it came back at 99%
that he did not abuse Brynlee.
It came back that strong.
But in the meantime,
we were feeling so suspicious of Sandy.
I mean, she wouldn't respond to BJ.
Sandy just went totally off the grid.
BJ had put a camera in his house
and he was alerted on his phone
that Sandy was there with a friend
going through stuff.
We all went out to his house
to see what was going on.
- Guys, I don't want a confrontation.
- Okay. Let's grab the stuff and go.
- BJ, for real…
- I am… Hang on.
- Can I get my things and leave?
- What are the things you would like?
- I already have things picked out.
- She has them.
- It's very little. It's a couple toys--
- Okay, and I need…
I need to know what's happening.
Are we filing for divorce?
I will communicate with you,
but not right here, not like this.
Cassandra reached out to me.
"I just want to let you know I left Brent.
If you're ever open to meet up one time,
I would love to talk."
And so we met up at a park,
and I've never felt more heartbroken
yet validated in my life.
And it wasn't like she gave me details.
It was just, "I want you to know
Brynlee's telling the truth."
That point, this mama bear side of me
just came out.
I filed a petition
to terminate Brent's parental rights.
[Jolleen] BJ would never harm a child,
never harm a child.
He would never hurt a child,
you know, let alone have…
you know, do sexual things with them.
We knew our son,
and we knew who we were dealing with.
Well, the next day, I said,
"Take off work. I'll meet you tomorrow.
Let's go find an attorney."
Mother's Day is on a Sunday,
and on that day, I was served with…
his petition to modify for full custody
based on parental alienation.
We didn't know
the term "parental alienation."
We were totally foreign to it, you know,
our attorney, she put it in there.
We knew that Jessica was doing this,
that she was taking the kids,
alienating them from him,
but we really hadn't heard much
about parental alienation.
[Zahrt] Brent was saying that
the allegations were fabricated
and my fault because I had brainwashed
Brynlee into saying she was abused.
Um, I really didn't understand
what that meant,
so I reached out to my attorney.
On the heels of Jessica
reporting the abuse,
Brent leveled the allegation
against Jessica
that all of these claims
were manufactured by her.
When we talk about parental alienation
in the context of custody battles,
it's often the case
that allegations of parental alienation
are leveled in response
to allegations of abuse.
That's how the litigation game is played.
I was paralyzed.
I just didn't even know what to do.
And at that point,
I had no idea how bad it would get,
but it only got worse.
This time with Ty.
[Brent grunts]
[Brynlee] Dad, watch this.
- Dad, watch this.
- [Brent] Got it. Hang on.
[Zahrt] The court ordered
supervised visitation with Brent.
[Brent grunts]
Okay, dude, here you go.
[Jolleen] And of course,
it went really well,
like they always do with BJ there.
The kids were having fun and…
and really enjoying themselves.
[Brent] What are you doing?
One of the very next things I was tasked
with was finding therapists for the kids,
and that is when
I was introduced to JP Lilly,
who came highly recommended.
I've been in the work of, you know,
being a child therapist now for…
Gosh, since 1989,
and I want children to, you know…
to know that there's hope,
and, you know…
and maybe from very unlikely sources.
[Zahrt] JP was also the founder of BACA,
which was Bikers Against Child Abuse.
He was somebody
who put off a tough persona,
but was actually a big, soft teddy bear.
We were like, "Who is this guy?"
We had no idea.
Ty's always kind of had this issue
of self-confidence
and feeling like he was enough.
JP really brought him out of that shell.
In Ty's eyes, JP was a superhero.
In November,
Ty left therapy with JP Lilly,
and told me something
just completely horrifying.
Ty was 11 years old at the time.
He told me that his dad used a water
pistol to penetrate him in the shower.
And he told me that his dad
had been coming into his bedroom
to touch him at night.
And so the Department of Children
and Family Services was called again.
After Ty disclosed abuse,
he refused to go to the visits.
Bryn had been going to all of the visits.
- [Brent] Brynlee!
- [Jolleen] You sit right here.
[Brent] Hi, Bryn. Hi, Bryn.
[Jolleen] At that point, BJ brought
a camera into the visit, a GoPro,
and he started recording the visits.
[Brent] Oh, I love him. Or is it a her?
- It's got pink.
- [Brynlee] It is Marie!
[Jolleen] We had so many instances
that we were accused of things
that did not happen
and so we really felt like
we had to record it.
I missed when you were being nice to me,
but now you're a little mean.
[Brent] Mmm.
'Cause most people
get mean a little times,
'cause that's how they learn
from their mistakes.
[Brent] That's right. That's right.
And everybody makes mistakes, Bryn.
So, for several months, Brynlee did
cooperate a little bit more again.
She tries to make the best of everything.
- Bye.
- [Brent] Bye.
Bryn, will you tell Ty I love him too,
please, and I miss him?
- Okay, I love you. See ya!
- [Brynlee] Yep.
[Zahrt] But it was taking a toll
on everybody, particularly on Brynlee.
She would come home
and just break down and cry.
- Just wanting visits to stop.
- [Brynlee crying]
[Zahrt] Ty was shielded from a lot of it,
but a lot of it he inevitably saw,
particularly because
Bryn and him were so close.
[Brynlee sobs, sniffles]
In April of 2019,
Ty decided to go to a visit.
And at this visit,
he decided to confront his dad.
I think a big driving force of that
was to stand up for Brynlee.
[visitation supervisor] Chance is
that they're now all ready, so…
- [Brent] Okay.
- [visitation supervisor] Yes.
[Brent] Knock, knock. Well, hello.
How are you guys?
Hello. Hi, Ty, how are you?
Terrible as always.
[Brent] Why are you terrible?
- [Ty] 'Cause…
- [Brent] Because?
…of stuff.
[Zahrt] Ty confronted his dad
at a pretty explosive level.
Well, me and Brynlee have
had nightmares about you.
Ty, I love you.
I've never touched your privates.
- You have.
- I have not.
- You know this.
- I know that I haven't.
Have you prayed about any of this?
Yes, I pray every night.
You just don't want
to be caught by the judge.
- Ty, I'm not worried--
- I don't… I don't give a crap.
I'm not scared of you anymore.
[Brent] There's other things at work
here that I think are causing issues.
[Ty] No, there's nothing else.
- [sobbing] I've had nightmares about you.
- [Brent] Okay.
I hate you. [sobbing]
And if you think that my mom
told me to do this, no.
I don't want to be at this visit anymore.
[Brent] Okay, I'll leave.
I want you guys to know
that no matter what, I love you,
that you guys can always call me.
When this is all over,
you can call me, talk to me.
Yeah, we just want to be at home.
[Brent] Okay, we'll see you
in a little bit, okay?
Yeah, so I guess, um, just call their mom
and see if they want to come over
- and pick them up.
- [visitation supervisor] Okay.
Seemed like they were very prepared.
You okay?
[Brent] Yeah, they're very prepared
for what they were saying. I don't know…
I feel so bad for him. He's…
He's fed full of all sorts
of misinformation.
[visitation supervisor] Yeah.
[Jolleen] I mean,
we all recognized what was going on.
Ty became very close to JP Lilly,
and JP Lilly brainwashed Ty.
You can create memories
in these children, you know?
You can make any child believe anything.
[guardian] This case has been very,
very difficult for these children.
Brynlee has gone in.
She wants to see her dad.
She wants to continue these visitations.
The problem we have with Ty,
he's coming in very belligerent
and saying
that he doesn't have to participate.
His therapist says
he doesn't have to participate,
but this situation is not good for him,
and it's very damaging.
So, I'm asking that he now see
a neutral third-party therapist,
and I think the communication
with the therapist,
with the mother, needs to be limited.
In January of 2020,
the court took JP off of our case
and said we should find a new therapist.
Ty was absolutely crushed.
Do you wanna just say hi to him?
Just so he can hear your voice, he said.
- I'm here, buddy.
- [Zahrt chuckles]
Remember, I'm not going anywhere.
And that I'm not alone.
Like I told you, I'm not alone.
[Zahrt] JP was gone,
but that was only the beginning.
We had no idea how all of this
would spiral out of control.
[Brynlee] Yes!
[all] Happy birthday to you ♪
[Brynlee] Cha, cha, cha ♪
[all cheering]
[Zahrt] Thirteen.
And then COVID hit and there was
actually somewhat of a break.
Did you see that, Dad?
[Brent] Yeah, that was a good one.
And then, suddenly,
everything just kind of picked up again.
At that point, Brent had faced multiple
criminal investigations over the years.
But the DA just didn't feel
like there was a great chance
at succeeding at prosecution.
I was devastated.
When we went back to court,
I chose to drop my petition
to terminate Brent's parental rights.
If Jessica truly believed
that the kids were at risk,
she would not have dropped the charges.
Was I comfortable with it? No.
I will never say I was comfortable
dropping it.
That being said, did I want Ty and
Bryn to have to testify against Brent? No.
The facts are the facts.
She had no evidence for a trial.
There was nothing there.
The court ordered that the kids
participate in reunification therapy,
and that reunification therapist
was Michelle Jones,
who's well known for taking
parental alienation cases.
My name's Michelle Jones.
I'm a licensed clinical social worker,
and I've been in practice
for about 25 years.
[Zahrt] After supervised visits
with Brent and his family,
they would meet with Michelle,
and she would report back to the court
how that's going.
So, I know you can't specifically talk
about any case,
but what can you tell us
about parental alienation?
Okay, so there's different
definitions of parental alienation,
but basically,
it's an unwarranted rejection.
If a child has been trained
to see the world in black and white,
they will always try to think,
"Who's the bad guy? Who's the good guy?
Who should I align with?"
Then I know that they're being coached
or they're being pressured
to align with one reality.
Sweetheart, we gotta go.
[Zahrt] Supervised visitation
just started to go off the rails.
The problem was, they were not interested.
They were feeling forced
against their will.
And the process of being forced to reunify
was far more traumatic and caused
more damage than anything else.
- [Jolleen] You ready?
- [Ty] Nope.
- [Jolleen] Ready or not.
- [Ty] I do not feel comfortable going.
[Jolleen] I'm sorry, we'll figure it out.
At the last visit with them,
he was wonderful when we left.
Soon as we got to the
Orem Police Department, he was defiant.
At the last visit you had with us,
you were happy.
You played, you were having fun,
- and then you go back to your mom's…
- Well, then you don't know me.
And you don't know anything about me.
I… I've got videos.
I've got all kinds of stuff and--
[woman] This is his real feelings.
Don't force him to go.
[Jolleen] This woman was standing there
and we thought,
well, maybe she helps children when
they're going through trials or whatever.
Maybe it was something
that the police did. I don't know.
- [Jolleen] Can I talk to you for a minute?
- [woman] No, I don't want to talk to you.
[Jolleen] Because you're only
hearing one side.
[woman] No, I-I don't need
to hear another side. I believe Ty.
[Jolleen] Yeah, I tried to talk to her.
I mean, she just refused,
and you know, I didn't know who she was,
but come to find out she was actually
a friend of JP Lilly, Ty's therapist.
Oftentimes, the alienator wants
other people to be the bad guy
so that they look innocent.
[police] You just want to help your mom
out by-by following the law and then--
Yeah, I followed the law and got here.
We're here. I do not feel comfortable.
[Jolleen] It was really frustrating
because the pattern was so consistent.
We'd get the kids, the kids would let
their guard down, they would enjoy it,
and then they had to have some big
blowup and it would stop the visits.
So, I wanna be clear that the
older sibling who's doing this is not bad.
In fact, they're doing brave things
and they're standing up to people
and yelling and, um…
But they would not do that absent
the alienating behaviors of the parent.
In my opinion,
I was not alienating my children.
I don't know how to ever…
convince anybody of that.
Jessica's probably trying
to protect her children,
but the problem is… [chuckles]
…is she's created it.
Oftentimes, the parental alienation
behaviors are intergenerational.
And in my own family,
I know of one of the worst cases
that I've ever seen in my life.
Of "alienation."
Like I said before,
she had a really rough childhood.
There's a lot of cutoff, you know,
"You're toxic. You're dead to me."
Everyone knows competitive,
angry, bitter parents…
that do things like this.
Oftentimes, a protective parent,
as a child, was abused,
and nobody helped them.
But for anybody to think I would ever
put Ty and Brynlee through that…
is one of the most insulting things
that I can ever…
fathom.
The whole thing kind of
breaks my heart because…
I don't want to see any kid suffer
or to be responsible for adult issues.
If you have a parent
that is acting this way
and manipulating their children like this,
they need to be removed from the situation
for the children's sake.
[Zahrt] I mean, I never in a million years
could have ever imagined
the trouble we were actually in.
So, the court desperately wanted
to force Ty and Brynlee
to have a relationship with Brent.
[Jones] What I would like to do is have
you go and get things to the next level,
and you have lots of support, and I will
tell them what you're worried about.
- And you could even have somebody…
- [Ty] Too much.
…in the room with you if you want.
[Ty] No, this is just… thi-this is too…
This is insane.
This is, like, I'm having
to go live with my abuser.
[Jones] You know he's never
been-been convicted of that.
[Ty] That was our accusation against him.
All the stuff that he's done
to me and Brynlee.
These therapy/reunification
sessions went on for years.
[Ty] But shouldn't this all be about kids?
That should be what the court is about.
[Jones] It is…
[Ty] Then why aren't we being…
Why aren't-aren't our feelings
being taken into consideration?
The whole goal of reunification
is to mend a relationship,
and I saw the complete opposite.
[attorney] Do you believe, based on your
experience in this case,
that that would be beneficial
for these children?
[Jones] Yes, the family has
to get unstuck,
you know. We've-We've given you all
a chance to do it voluntarily
and now for the protection
of the children, it has to be done.
[Zahrt] So, Michelle Jones made
a recommendation to send Ty and Bryn
to an intensive reunification camp
with their father.
During that 90 days,
there was to be no contact with me,
no contact with anybody in my family.
In all the cases
I've worked in over 14 years, I've only…
experienced cases where that
was recommended about three or four times.
I learned about these
reunification camps on TikTok.
The real reason
I am terrified for my life…
- [child screaming]
- …if they take me,
because this is how
they're gonna try to take me.
I know what happens.
They make you have to, like, feel feelings
for the person
you do not want to feel for.
[director] When do we listen to kids?
We always listen to kids.
They're just not in charge.
Otherwise, they wouldn't go to school,
they wouldn't brush their teeth.
They'd stay up till 3:00 in the morning.
Because they're not developmentally
ready to make those kind of decisions.
They can't tell
what's gonna be good for them.
It didn't matter how the kids felt.
It didn't matter how healthy it was.
Jessica could not handle
the kids reuniting with their father.
Parental alienation is real,
and it is a horrible form
of psychological abuse
that hurts the child's development and
will affect them the rest of their life.
The court orders that the police
can come into our house and…
use reasonable force to take Bryn and Ty.
If BJ was around them
for a short period of time,
- you know, even a week…
- [all] Happy birthday… ♪
…the kids would recognize
that they've been persuaded,
coached, manipulated,
whatever you want to call it,
by JP Lilly and their mother.
Like, the night before, I was, like,
we need to do something about this.
[Ty] Brynlee, this is up to you.
This is completely up to you.
I'm the type of person to go down
fighting, but you're your own person.
[Brynlee sobbing] But I have a chance
to be taken away from Mom
- and my friends and no contact…
- [Ty] Brynlee.
Brynlee do you trust me?
Do you actually trust me?
- [Brynlee crying] Yes.
- [Ty] I would never let that happen.
I am now almost 17.
I've been going through
this court case for six years.
So, at this point, I need to alert people,
at least make a final message
that I'm calling out for help.
Hey, guys. I got a story
I need to tell you guys about my life.
So, we grabbed our stuff.
Then we booked it upstairs.
[footsteps thumping]
We locked ourselves up.
They barricaded two doors because
there was a bathroom and a bedroom.
We didn't know how long
we were gonna be in there.
And…
That is the start of
the craziest journey of our life.
[Ty] Police just arrived.
[ominous music playing]
[Jolleen] Are you ready to do this, BJ?