Familiar Evil

In the summer of 1993, Scott Rogers, charismatic principal of the Academy of Dance and Performing Arts, smiled as he walked out of a London courtroom, a free man. A hung jury had failed to convict Rogers on charges of sexual assault of a young student, allowing him to slip quietly out of the country and disappear. Ethan, a classmate of Rogers' young victim, knew the jury got it all wrong. And he knew one day, he would expose the secrets buried behind the Academy walls in the English town of Bury St. Edmunds. Ethan knew Rogers was a danger to children, a certainty that haunted him when he closed his eyes to sleep. Over time, Ethan built a successful career. As his business and family grew, he searched for Rogers for 13 years. Then Ethan discovered a letter published in a Louisiana newspaper mentioning Rogers, who had escaped to the U.S., reinvented himself as a popular television personality and infiltrated the foster children network, creating the image of a model citizen. Ethan decided to risk everything and reach out to the woman who wrote the letter, Rannah Gray, an advertising consultant in Baton Rouge, a city built on the bluffs of the Mississippi River, a college town wedged into one of the largest petrochemical corridors in the U.S. Rogers lived in the small, nearby community of St. Gabriel, with its history of harboring secrets. For over 100 years, St. Gabriel housed a hospital for lepers and is still home to the state's death row prison for women. Here Rogers found the perfect place to keep both his true identity and intentions well hidden. When Ethan reached out to Rannah, he had no idea he was contacting one of the state's most respected media consultants. Politics Magazine named her one of Louisiana's top influencers as she produced winning ads for some of the state's hardest fought political battles - campaigns that left the politicians she helped defeat still licking their wounds. She was working on a local project when her path intersected with Rogers, who provided video services for her client. After he made false statements about her to the local newspaper, Rannah wrote a letter to set the record straight - a letter that ultimately exposed Rogers' lies and sealed his fate. Ethan's message to Rannah identified Rogers as a dangerous and violent child predator, a chameleon skilled at drawing law enforcement and community leaders into his web of deceit. From her belief in Ethan, the two formed an unlikely, but powerful bond. She would help him find someone who could stop Rogers from abusing children. Rannah first turned to her friend Nathan, a colorful criminal defense attorney with an eye for justice. But they had no luck finding someone who would take on Ethan's case against Rogers. Nathan finally told Rannah fellow lawyers advised him to convince her to drop her interest in Scott Rogers. The typically calm Rannah felt her face flush as she asked Nathan whether he believed the little boy Rogers had adopted was in danger. When Nathan answered yes, Rannah replied, "Then we have to do something." Convinced she would not give up, Nathan brought in Mary Jane, a plucky paralegal and experienced researcher, and the two women presented the facts to an Assistant U.S. Attorney. Soon, Ethan and Rannah were brought in as confidential informants in an international criminal investigation, working with authorities in the U.S. and the U.K. to help build a case against Rogers by exposing the extent of the evil he had committed. After exactly 365 days, a U.S. federal grand jury was convened to hear evidence in the case against Rogers. At the very moment the testimony was scheduled to begin, Rogers pulled off his most deadly act. As British news outlets broadcast the shocking details, revealing the twisted path his crimes had taken from London to Louisiana, Ethan knew his victims would no longer live in fear. They would finally be free.