FBI Informant Describes How She Brought Jared Fogle Down: 'He's A Monster'

By Emma G. Gallegos in News on Aug 21, 2015 6:05PM

A former journalist who met Jared Fogle a decade ago while she was interviewing him in Florida described how creepy comments about underage girls led to her becoming an FBI informant. Her role in the investigation would eventually help to bring the Subway spokesman down.

Rochelle Herman-Walrond, then a journalist in Florida, met Fogle while he was doing promotional events in the area, she told a local ABC affiliate. He used to visit schools during his trips and he told her on more than one occasion: "Middle school girls are hot."

Herman-Walrond realized his comments weren't a joke, so she decided to blow the whistle on him and report him to the FBI. It turned out to be a long journey to actually charging him in court of paying for sex with minors and child pornography. She wore a wire and had her phone tapped, and she kept in touch with him to aid the investigation.

She gave an on-camera interview with ABC, and described how it felt actually seeing him plead guilty to charges, saying, "I'm numbed, I'm shocked, I'm relieved most of all, I'm very pleased with the outcome."

It's clear from the interview that the investigation was a harrowing experience for Herman-Walrond, who listened in intimate detail to many of the terrible crimes Fogle is accused of doing and wanting to do with minors. She didn't realize how long the case would take and she worried that there would be new victims as the investigation dragged on.

Herman-Walrond said she was shocked at his candor when describing his sex crimes against minors, but she wasn't the only one whom Fogle opened up to. Authorities say they have recordings starting in 2007 from witnesses in Georgia and Washington State as well who "repeatedly discussed with them his interest in engaging in commercial sex acts with minors or stated that he has done so in the past."

She says that though authorities determined there were 14 underage victims as a part of this case, she suspects there were many more from his travels as a Subway spokesman and during trips to Thailand. Though she was happy to see him brought to justice, she does question whether the 5 and 12.5 years in prison that Fogle is expected to receive, plus $1.4 million in restitution, are enough.

The interviewer asked her what she thought of him and she immediately responded: "He is a monster."

You can watch the interview here: