Episode 4, Adults in the Room: 'Jonathan'

This episode includes descriptions of abuse and discussion of suicide.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741-741. Please take care while listening.

This is a transcript for Episode 4. Earlier episodes can be found here.

On February 6th, 2000, the Sunday after Garfield High School science teacher Tom Hudson died, the Seattle Times published two stories about him.

If you opened the paper that morning, you would have read that this celebrated educator, the leader of the school’s renowned outdoors club, was suspended after a parent complained about his conduct… that the school district dragged out a months-long investigation into his alleged abuse of boys …

And that Mr. Hudson –

who dedicated his whole world to young people –

was in agony being isolated from his students…

So he took his own life.

[BEAT]

One of the stories was a fawning portrait, written by a news columnist…

…who clearly believed Mr. Hudson had been wronged.

The columnist referenced Ancient Greece … when a famed philosopher was put on trial for his unorthodox teachings.

“Like Socrates,” she wrote, “Hudson walked a line with rule makers.”

[BEAT]

But it was the last sentence of the column that made me go cold. I ran to my dad, holding the newspaper.

He scanned the piece, his eyes growing wide. He read the final paragraph aloud… slowly… in disbelief.

"It may never be known if the allegations were true. Only that they likely played a part in killing a teacher best known for showing his students how to survive."

[PAUSE]

What those Seattle Times’ stories didn’t say…. is that the original complaint made against Mr. Hudson came from me…

That I urged my mom to call the authorities after Ella Hushagen, my best friend, told me Mr. Hudson had pressured boys to look at porn… and shower with him….

Ella and I had done what we thought was right…

But now one of the city’s major daily newspapers had taken angry whispers… printed them …

…and in so doing, put a target on both of our backs.

(Music starts)

Soon after Mr. Hudson died, the district superintendent ended the investigation…. saying it wouldn’t be fair to continue because Mr. Hudson couldn’t defend himself.

So for the past year and a half, I’ve been trying to complete the investigation that was cut short…

It’s been like having a 1,000-piece puzzle dumped on the table, but with some pieces missing, and no box cover as a guide.

I’d collected records and talked with some former classmates… But to answer the questions I’ve carried with me for so long, I had to go into Mr. Hudson’s inner circle.

I reached out to the former president of Post 84.

That’s when I discovered how little I really knew about those seminal events from my past.

He told me how, at age 17, he was forced into the role of Mr. Hudson’s confidant in the final months of his life.

…how he fought to keep Mr. Hudson alive …

And how… like Ella and me… he’s carried the weight of those tragic days well into adulthood.

All this time, our former classmate hadn’t thought of us as responsible for Mr. Hudson’ death…

because he’s blamed himself.

From KUOW Public Radio in Seattle…

This is Adults in the Room. Episode 4: Jonathan.

I’m Isolde Raftery.

Act 1

Tom Hudson’s memorial service took place in downtown Seattle…

…in an old church turned performance space.

Today, it’s typically reserved for famous authors passing through the city on book tours.

Picture a domed ceiling; stained glass windows, and a sea of long, curving, oak pews.

A thousand people packed in, shoulder-to-shoulder to honor Mr. Hudson.

Kids from Post 84 sat on the floor at the front of this grand space, criss-cross-applesauce, wearing fern crowns.

But this wasn’t the only service the Post 84 students attended for their leader.

They had gathered the weekend before, in a forest outside Seattle, for their own private remembrance…

Under the evergreens, dripping with lichen, a campfire crackled as the teens – many in wool pants bought for cheap at the military surplus store downtown – shared memories of their beloved instructor.

TAPE: “He trusted us to take care of each other, to teach each other, to give us the skills, to be able to, to deal.”

My friend Maria sent me a VHS tape from this woodsy tribute.

The video runs for half an hour.

Students reminisced about Mr. Hudson cajoling them to belay off a rock face…

delivering Snickers bars to hungry campers after a night alone in the soggy woods …

And handing out a chainsaw like it was no big deal.

TAPE: “This guy just gave me a chainsaw. I'm gonna kill myself. [laugh] I'm going to go home. My parents would be really mad. [laugh]”

After watching the eulogies, I noticed a common thread. Many of these kids were nervous – shy, even.

There’s a recurring pattern of Mr. Hudson pulling introverted students out of their shells and into some new, ridiculous scenario they’d never been in before.

But he didn’t ask kids to do these things. He made them.

TAPE: “That totally freaked me out. And I looked at Tom as all of you guys know, you know, when you look at Tom, he tells you to do something. I mean, there's nothing you can really do about it. [laughter]”

JONATHAN HILL: [layering] He “voluntold” me to do the programs, a mixture of volunteering me, but also telling me I was going to do it.

During our senior year, Jonathan Hill was the president of Post 84.

Mr. Hudson had recruited him as a freshman… when Jonathan was just a quiet band nerd.

JONATHAN: “When there was a trip coming up, he didn’t approach me and say, ‘Jonathan, are you interested in doing this?’ It was, ‘Jonathan, I signed you up, I can’t wait for you to join.’ And me, as pretty timid, small guy at the time, and Tom being a very authoritative teacher. But you know, charismatic, and all that, it was hard for me to say no.”

Jonathan said being ‘voluntold’ was uncomfortable at first.

But with each trip, he could feel his confidence – and his bond with Mr. Hudson – grow.

ISOLDE: “Are you glad that he did that?”

JONATHAN: “Yes, yes.”

ISOLDE: “There are two ways to look at it, right? One is like, it's too forceful. Or, he saw in you like, I've gotta push this kid harder.”

JONATHAN: “I think it was both of those things.

"Tom took the post and our programs very, very, very seriously, and he recognized that for the program to be successful, like he needed talent, And I do think he saw that in me. I certainly did not see it in myself.”

[BEAT]

“ I do think another reason he pressured me into joining the post was like, he wanted to be around me more.”

By the time Jonathan was a sophomore, he devoted almost all of his free time to Post 84.

Which meant he was around Mr. Hudson… a lot.

So it wasn’t surprising when Mr. Hudson invited Jonathan to play racquetball one day after school.

You’ve heard a story like this one a few times already.

JONATHAN: “We played racquetball and it was fine. It was kind of fun. But then in the locker room, after racquetball, needing to change back into clothes, there was a shower, and he was like, ‘Okay, we're going to shower.’

“Again, it wasn't, ‘Hey Jonathan, do you want to take a shower after?’ It's, ‘We're going to take a shower now.’

“I brought out my swimsuit. And he said to me, ‘Jonathan, we don't wear swimsuits in the shower.’ And that made me so uncomfortable.

“And I put on my swimsuit anyway. … He went into the shower area naked, and I picked the farthest shower away.

“I went against him, which I'm proud of myself for.”

Jonathan can’t recall if he’d known beforehand that Mr. Hudson would likely pressure him into the shower.

Jonathan told me he was risk-averse in general…

…the kind of kid who would bring swim trunks along to a gym, just in case he might need them.

Regardless, that shower changed how Jonathan saw his teacher.

He still admired Mr. Hudson as a mentor…

And he still loved Post 84…

But after that day, Jonathan decided he didn’t want to spend time with Mr. Hudson alone.

JONATHAN: ”He still helped me grow into a confident person. He just was transformationally good for me before and after that racquetball experience. but I … you know, age 16, 17, I was like, ‘Okay, Jonathan, here's the plan: you're going to have a business relationship with Tom.’

“And I thought that at the time, that's how I'm going to be safe.”

(Music starts)

By his junior year, Jonathan had seen Mr. Hudson coax other boys into showering with him naked after Post 84 scuba trainings.

And he’d heard from friends in the club that Mr. Hudson had slapped boys’ butts in the shower.

These stories made Jonathan uncomfortable… but instead of blaming Mr. Hudson for that feeling … he believed something was wrong with him.

He was an anxious kid, and Mr. Hudson was so confident, and all-knowing.

Maybe he was the weird one for not being chill enough to take off his swim trunks in the shower.

None of the other guys seemed to think Mr. Hudson’s behavior was a big deal.

So Jonathan kept to himself... but felt like he was walking a tightrope as he balanced the risks and rewards of working closely with Mr. Hudson.

JONATHAN: “In hindsight, I think I pulled that off pretty well until senior year.”

[BEAT]

Just ahead of senior year, Mr. Hudson told Jonathan that he’d be the new president of Post 84.

In that moment, neither could have foreseen that Mr. Hudson would soon be placed on leave… that a formal investigation into his behavior would be launched, complicating their relationship even more.

...and that in the thick of it all, Jonathan would be drawn deeper into Mr. Hudson’s orbit…

…with a force that would take him decades to overcome.

Act 2

At the start of our senior year at Garfield High School, Post 84 drew more students than ever before.

But Jonathan noticed that something was off about Mr. Hudson.

The daring rescue on Mount Olympus, which I described in Episode One, happened almost exactly one year before.

Jonathan had avoided that trip, so he wasn’t there to help his friends save Mr. Hudson’s life after he fell into a deep crack in the ice.

Publicly, Mr. Hudson said the rescue was a success… he touted the survival skills of the students he trained.

But behind the scenes, Mr. Hudson seemed deeply shaken by the accident.

JONATHAN: “That event really messed with Tom, messed with his mind and his sense of self.

“I think he had an invincibility complex where he thought he could get away with things…

“He told me that, you know, he wasn't going to see his doctor, even though his knee was messed up from the fall. He was telling me he takes 20 ibuprofens a day and just like, okay, that's not healthy. Why are you telling me that?”

(Music starts)

JONATHAN: “And he became more volatile.”

Jonathan heard that Mr. Hudson had kicked another club member in anger…

…and saw that Mr. Hudson was now using his personal boat for Post 84 activities…

…which made Jonathan nervous.

Kids would be alone with him, isolated on the open water.

Jonathan remembers feeling overwhelmed by these changes in Mr. Hudson’s behavior….

…and whether it would hurt Post 84.

JONATHAN: “I was more just worried about what would happen, either to Tom or the program or to the students or whatever. And I was just like, I don't like this. I don't like things being elevated. I don't like things coming to light.”

Jonathan didn’t share his concerns with anyone.

JONATHAN: “I feel bad saying it, but even at the beginning of senior year, I was like, ‘Okay, I've, I've eight more months of Tom. I can get through this.’ I was still very appreciative of him. But already I was looking forward to not being around Tom anymore.”

PAUSE / MUSIC

Right before Thanksgiving break, Jonathan learned the school district was poised to investigate Mr. Hudson…

He doesn’t remember who told him about this… or why…

…but he and fellow post 84-member Rosie Bancroft went to Mr. Hudson’s classroom.

JONATHAN: “I felt that I needed to tell Tom. It was my responsibility to tell him if I have information that affects him or our program.”

“I was 17. I was a few months away from my 18th birthday.

“I walked into Tom's office. I was like, Tom, I have something to tell you. And he seemed like he was already having a bad day, like he was just low energy and lethargic. And, we sat down and I said, ‘Tom I've learned that the school district is starting an investigation …

“And I think they're going to look into how you've been interacting with us students.

“He looked at me, and some of the color went out of his face, and he slowly closed his eyes, and then he slowly said, ‘I want to keep these eyes closed, and never open them again.’”

Sifting through school records from that time, I found a letter from the district to Mr. Hudson dated just before Thanksgiving. It broke the same news that Jonathan felt compelled to share with him.

Mr. Hudson already knew he was in trouble.

MUSIC

After Thanksgiving, Mr. Hudson didn’t return to school.

Jonathan kept thinking about how defeated his teacher seemed when they’d talked about the investigation a week earlier.

So he and a friend from Post 84 went to check on him, at the marina in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood… where Mr. Hudson moored his boat.

They saw his truck in the parking lot and headed for the dock.

As they climbed on board, they noticed three empty beer cans on a table next to Mr. Hudson… He had another beer open.

Mr. Hudson was married -- but it was evident to Jonathan that he’d been living alone on the boat.

JONATHAN: “Without hesitation, he started talking about his previous 24 hours and he said, last night, he was feeling so lost that he was going to kill himself. And now I'm gonna speak in the first person as he was saying to us.

“I wanted to make a plan for how to do it, and I just thought, you know, I'm gonna take my boat out on Puget Sound put the gas pedal up to top notch, and then put on, a weight belt, a scuba diving weight belt and drink more alcohol and then just fall off the boat and let the boat go, keep going until it ends, until it sinks, until it hits something. And then I would drown. And that would be that.”

“And he said to us, ‘While I was ready to end it, I thought about you, I thought about the other students, I thought about other people in my life, and that you all want me to stay alive. So here I am because of you.’”

(Pause)

Jonathan went to Mr. Hudson’s boat planning to maintain their quote-unquote business relationship.

But during the visit, he felt a shift…

JONATHAN: “I felt like I was someone and my friend was someone he was comfortable talking to. And he needed to talk to people. And he wanted to share this and we were there for him. He had been there for us for many years. And this was an opportunity for me to be there for him.”

After that encounter, Jonathan and the other Post 84 kids closed ranks around Mr. Hudson.

They stopped talking to Eddie Hill Sr…. the former cop the district hired to investigate their teacher.

And they tried to get others to join their campaign.

A former Post 84 leader called from college to persuade Rosie to stay quiet.

And Jonathan even phoned me one night asking me to stop talking about Mr. Hudson.

[BEAT]

Mr. Hudson wasn’t allowed to speak with students while he was under investigation…

But Jonathan went to the marina twice.

He has a clear memory of the second visit… about two weeks after Mr. Hudson first told him his suicide plan.

JONATHAN: “It was at night, you know, maybe 7 p.m., 8 p.m. This time, whereas before there's like a six pack of beer, now there is like a 24 pack of beer. And he told me that he can't eat food. He's not hungry, but even when he tries to eat, it won't stay down. The only thing he can consume is beer.”

Jonathan recalls a bleak scene… and more raw honesty from his teacher.

Mr. Hudson let down his guard … revealing that in the past… he’d wondered if he was gay.

JONATHAN: “He shared with me that when he was young, he was having confusing feelings towards other boys and men.

“He didn't tell me he was gay, but he told me that he questioned back when he was younger and that he tried different things, including joining the Army. But those feelings didn't go away.”

(Music starts)

JONATHAN: “It was the only time I'd ever seen him vulnerable and allowing himself to share his doubts, his insecurities, his hurt.”

ISOLDE: “What was going through your head as he was telling you all this?”

JONATHAN: “I was basically just listening, but I remember feeling connected? I could tell that he felt that he was being heard without judgment, that he was able to do this safely and say things and tell somebody things that he wanted to say out loud for a long time.”

ISOLDE: “Jonathan, why does this get you? Like this one memory.”

JONATHAN: “I think it's because it was the first and probably the only time he was ever his true self around me.

“Also I'm feeling a little emotional now because I was able to make him feel okay for just at least a little while. I don't know how long I was there, maybe 30 minutes, maybe an hour, maybe longer. I don't know. At a certain point, I was like, okay, I gotta go home.

“And he just said… Okay. He said, ‘Thank you for coming.’

“And then we had a spontaneous hug. I don't know if he put his arms out first. I don't know if I put my arms out, but we just had a hug and it was…. despite everything… how uncomfortable he made me feel in the past, um it was so authentic and safe and real.

“I said bye, and he said bye. And that ended up being the last time I ever saw him.”

But that wasn’t the last time Jonathan and Mr. Hudson would talk…

Or the last time Mr. Hudson would lean on Jonathan for support.

(Music fades out)

Act 3

A couple of hours after Jonathan got home from visiting Mr. Hudson on his boat, the phone rang. It was Mr. Hudson calling.

Their earlier conversation on the boat had felt raw and vulnerable... but this was different.

JONATHAN: “He was just a shell of himself. There wasn't inflection in his voice. It was just kind of like a dead man walking kind of thing. He said, Jonathan, I'm calling you so you can say bye to me. Unlike before where he was just like, here's my plan to commit suicide, he was using a euphemism, I'm going sout I'm, I'm heading south.

“I inferred that he was going to kill himself and that he wanted to give me an opportunity to say bye to him. And he wanted me to tell these other people who cared about him that he wanted to say bye, but couldn't.”

Jonathan was a lifeguard … trained in emergency search and rescue … he kept a pager by his bed when he slept. He was oriented toward keeping people alive.

It felt like Jonathan was digging into his soul … to keep Mr. Hudson from heading south.

JONATHAN: “My reaction to that was, no, I'm not going to say bye to you. No, I'm not going to say bye to other people for you, because you're going to call me tomorrow. Because you're not going to do this. And you're going to commit to me that you're going to call me tomorrow.”

But Mr. Hudson pushed back.

JONATHAN: “He went into, like, talking about how worthless he was, how he doesn't deserve to have me in his life.

“My kind of assertiveness wasn't working anymore. So I went from my brain to, to my heart. I got emotional. I was like, no, Tom, you mean so much to me. You mean so much to everyone else. You are a good person. You do matter. And at that point, I think I kind of wore him out, and he said, ‘Okay. Okay, Jonathan. Okay. I'll call you tomorrow. Okay. Bye.’”

When they hung up, Jonathan hyperventilated. It was a panic attack. He’d never had one before.

He didn’t want Mr. Hudson to die. And now, he felt like he was the only one who could keep that from happening.

Jonathan fell asleep that night not knowing if he’d talk to his teacher ever again.

[BEAT]

Mr. Hudson didn’t call the next day.

But at school, Jonathan heard that someone had spoken to him… so Jonathan’s gambit on the phone had worked. Mr. Hudson was still alive.

A week or two later, he called Jonathan.

JONATHAN: “It was basically the same talk, except this time, he was much more stubborn and just, you know, Jonathan, now is the time to say bye to me.

“You're not gonna see me again. And, I did my same tactics and it just didn't work. And you know… the way I describe it is like…

“This might sound weird, but my life energy, I tried to transfer into him through my words and sentiment and energy to try to resuscitate his soul.

“Because that's what it seemed like. It wasn't his mind or even his, his brain. He, he, he had lost just like the grace to live.

“But he wouldn't give up. He wouldn't give up. And I was just getting physically weaker, on this call. And I just, my mind clicked on and was like, Jonathan, now's your time to say goodbye.

“So, I said, thank you, Tom, for everything. I'm so sad that you're doing this. I'm gonna really, really miss you. And he said, ‘Okay, bye.’ And I said bye.

“I subsequently learned he did not kill himself that night. And then I heard that he didn't even remember calling me, because he was so drunk.

And… How could that be? Like, how could destroying me not even be a memory for him?”

Mr. Hudson cast Jonathan… a 17-year-old high school student… into the role of counselor, therapist, and crisis responder.

At Garfield, the lines between teachers and students — adults and children — had always been blurry...

But for Jonathan, they’d now disappeared completely.

Jonathan had two of these heavy phone conversations with Mr. Hudson.

He told me he lived with a constant fear that the phone would ring again… or that, worse, Mr. Hudson would find him in person.

Jonathan, already an apprehensive teen, was wound so tight during this time that he’d erupt in anger over small things.

One day, after an argument with his brother, Jonathan jumped in his car and just kept driving.

JONATHAN: “I just like balled in my car for like 20 minutes. I remember I was overlooking Lake Washington on a hill and I was just like, I can't. I can't do this anymore.

“I didn't seek out help. I did talk to a few of my friends, my peers, um, that was helpful, but you know, they were 17 year olds, too.”

ISOLDE: “Also children.”

JONATHAN: “Yep.”

ROSIE BANCROFT: “Jonathan would call me in a state of like, ‘I don't know what to do with this.’

Rosie Bancroft was one of Jonathan’s good friends. She remembers how distraught he was.

Jonathan was drained. He couldn’t take it anymore. He had to stop talking to Mr. Hudson, regardless of the outcome.

JONATHAN: “I decided I needed to tell Tom not to contact me again. So I called him one day in the afternoon. He was sober, or at least he sure sounded, he sounded pretty normal. And, I just said, Tom, I can't be there for you like you want me to be there for you. I can't have you call me anymore.

“He sounded so sad to hear that. And abandoned. But understanding. And, and he said, okay, okay, Jonathan. I won't call you anymore.”

Mr. Hudson kept his word. He stopped calling.

PAUSE

After a few weeks, Jonathan felt better.

Another teacher and some parents stepped in to help manage Post 84 while Mr. Hudson was suspended.

And Jonathan had an epiphany.

Maybe Mr. Hudson was a danger to his students, he thought…

…and the investigation was the right thing to do…

[BEAT]

But soon after, during a Post 84 meeting, a parent who attended said nobody had seen or heard from Mr. Hudson for a few days.

Well aware of Mr. Hudson’s suicidal thoughts…

Jonathan wondered if he’d followed through.

He felt a flicker of emotion, and then returned to his autopilot state of avoidance. Don’t think about Tom.

Keep the Post afloat.

Graduate.

A day or two later, Garfield Principal Cheryl Chow called the Post 84 leaders to her office. She told them Mr. Hudson had died by suicide in a motel room north of Seattle.

JONATHAN: “I don't really remember what the principal said after that… But less than a minute later, the principal says, ‘So, I need your help. I need your help now.’

“She looked at me, maybe it was all of us, and was like, ‘I need to know which students need to be gathered up, to be told.’

“I had 30 seconds to process this before this adult needed me to step up and get back into management mode.”

Jonathan and the other core Post 84 members walked around the school, telling about 20 students from the program to meet in Garfield's career center, a big room with clunky computers.

Jonathan had been instructed to wait for a counselor or the principal to join them.

The adults would break the news to everyone.

They waited.

And waited some more.

JONATHAN: “The clock was ticking by, no one was there. There were no adults in the room. And I was like, this is not right. Most of the people in here had not been told formally.”

PAUSE

JONATHAN: “So I was like, quote unquote an adult now.”

“So I then said, ‘Everybody, I think some of you already know, but Tom committed suicide, um, and, and he's gone.’”

PAUSE

After Jonathan shared the news, he watched his classmates deflate. Some kids went quiet and still. Others started crying.

Eventually, a few adults did show up.

JONATHAN: “I told myself, ‘Be strong. Hold it together. You can feel your feelings when you get home, but be strong for your friends. Be strong for your classmates.”

PAUSE

“I did for a little while, but then I think the principal offered to let me call my parents to let them know. And I was like yeah, I should… So I called my mom and I told her what happened and then I broke down.”

[BEAT]

Mr. Hudson’s death changed everything at Garfield.

It ended the district investigation into his behavior with students...

And it let loose a flood of vocal support from parents, students, and the outdoor community that revered him.

Tom Hudson, the 58-year-old man facing allegations of sexual abuse, had died... but Tom Hudson, the legendary teacher, mentor, and leader, was re-born.

And Jonathan promoted that narrative.

Under Jonathan’s leadership, Post 84 celebrated Mr. Hudson’s legacy.

Jonathan wrote an obituary for Mr. Hudson in the Messenger.

And at the huge public memorial…

At the Hudson family’s request…

he delivered a eulogy for the man who changed his life.

Jonathan didn’t mention what he now calls the “suicide talks”…

…conversations that have made him feel guilty for a lot of his adult life.

JONATHAN: “All the pain, the confusion, the shame, the hurt, the harm, the trauma that Tom caused in me, I put that into a box deep inside me. Then in my college years and in my twenties, my priority was to keep all that in that box.

“So while I say all of these emotions. feelings and confusion were down in the box, I did have a narrative in my mind and it was a very brief concise narrative.

“And it was, Tom told me he wanted to kill himself and he was going to kill himself. He did not kill himself because I was there for him.

“I told him I couldn't be there for him. He killed himself.”

MUSIC

A couple of weeks ago, Jonathan called me.

He’d just listened to episode 2 of this podcast.

He heard our former classmate, Christina Mitchell, tell the story of how Garfield’s principal at the time, Al Jones, took advantage of her.

And it made him reconsider our earlier conversations.

Jonathan said that when we first talked, he didn’t tell me the whole story about the shower with Mr. Hudson.

He’d been too ashamed to give me all the details.

The truth was, he said… Mr. Hudson was fully erect.

And staring at him.

PAUSE

Jonathan said that was the first time he’d seen a man turned on.

He was 15 years old.

An alarm sounded in his brain at that moment… telling him he wasn’t safe.

It’s the real reason why Jonathan kept his distance from Mr. Hudson after that.

… why he intentionally missed the Mount Olympus trip…

…And steered clear of Mr. Hudson’s boat.

But for all the space he put between them, Mr. Hudson still managed to dig deep into the psyche of this sweet boy, burdening him with the gut-wrenching responsibility of believing he was the only one who could prevent his teacher from killing himself.

Today, Jonathan says he feels kinship with Christina. He wants others is healing … and thriving.

Jonathan wants other survivors of abuse to hear this experience … that life can get better.

JONATHAN: “ Through therapy, through friends, through family, and work, work, and more work, I've been able to understand a lot more about what happened, and that it was a really, really hard situation that I did my best in and that I actually have a lot to be proud of.

“And that it was not my fault.”

MUSIC

Jonathan never told anyone about the shower with Mr. Hudson.

But his story confirmed part of what my best friend Ella and I had heard at the start of the investigation… back in 1999.

That Mr. Hudson sometimes got aroused in the shower with his teenage students.

Ella and I believed then … and now … that Mr. Hudson had been a serial abuser. A predator, hiding in plain sight.

He hurt Jonathan …

How many others were there?

And did any adults try to stop him?

That’s on the next episode of Adults In The Room.

Episode 3 drops on March 10, 2026, just after midnight.

If you’d like to reach Isolde Raftery, email her at iraftery@kuow.org. She is slow to respond at the moment because of the volume of emails, but will do her best.

CREDITS

Adults in the Room is part of FOCUS, a dedicated documentary channel from KUOW Public Radio in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

This podcast was written by me, Isolde Raftery, Jeannie Yandel, Will James, and Alec Cowan. Original reporting for this project was done by me, Ella Hushagen, Jeannie Yandel, and Will James.

Our producers are Will James and Alec Cowan.

Our editor is Jeannie Yandel.

Our sound designer and mixer is Alec Cowan.

Music by BC Campbell. Additional music by Alec Cowan.

Voice acting by Adrian Raftery.

Extra special thank you to Ella Hushagen, without whom this podcast would not be possible.