In the first episode of Out of the Blue, I take you on a deeply personal journey through one of the most devastating experiences of my life: being wrongfully accused of sexual misconduct. It all began in 2017 at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, where I served as the entertainment director. A volunteer photographer accused me of a violent crime—a crime I didn’t commit. What followed was a nightmare that completely upended my life.
When the accusation surfaced, I was blindsided. Months later, I was arrested and charged, setting off a chain reaction that shattered my world. My name and mugshot were plastered across the media, with reporters amplifying the accusations without question. It didn’t matter that there was no evidence; the damage was immediate and profound. Even though I was acquitted in 2022, the scars remain, and my life will never be the same.
This episode is my attempt to unpack that journey. It felt like I was fighting a war on three fronts—against the legal system, the media, and my mind. The suffocating anxiety, the public humiliation, and even moments of suicidal ideation were all part of this relentless battle. I felt isolated and powerless, watching as a single accusation consumed everything I had built.
But this isn’t just a story about one accusation. It’s also about how my past intersected with my present. I share for the first time a traumatic experience from my childhood: being sexually abused at summer camp. The adults who should have protected me turned their backs, much like the system did when I was accused years later. Revisiting that pain was one of the hardest parts of telling my story, but it felt necessary to show how these systems of failure repeat themselves.
As I reflect on what happened, I can’t help but question the role of the media in all of this. My name was dragged through the mud while my accuser remained anonymous. No outlet issued a retraction or follow-up, even after my acquittal. The media is a powerful force, and the consequences can be devastating when it gets things wrong.
Through this podcast, I want to shed light on what it’s like to be wrongfully accused. I’m not here to diminish the reality of sexual violence or the pain of its survivors—I understand that pain intimately. But I also know how destructive a false accusation can be. It’s a story we rarely discuss, but it’s one we must confront.
In this first episode, I open the door to my experience and invite you to walk through it with me. This is my story—raw, unfiltered, and deeply personal. I hope it challenges how you think about justice, the media, and the people caught in the crossfire. This is Out of the Blue.
NOTE* This episode is out of sequence. Consider this a standalone introduction.
