The world knew him as "The Subway Guy," an overweight student at Indiana University who shed over 200 pounds and slimmed down after dieting on Subway sandwiches. Jared Fogle became the face of Subway after the chain locked onto his story. Recently, the 37-year-old spokesman's face popped up with a more serious media attention after allegedly paying a 16-year-old girl $100 for sex.
According to CNN, on Wednesday July 7th, Indiana's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force raided Fogle's home, where he lived with his wife and two children, and confiscated all electronic devices. They brought in a dog specially trained to sniff out small memory chips and SD cards which could hold incriminating evidence. It was two months after the executive of Fogle's Jared Foundation, Russell Taylor, was arrested on charges of seven accounts of child pornography.
According to TheWrap, Fogle sent text messages to an unidentified female Subway franchisee. In them, Fogle suggested that the woman advertise herself on Craigslist for prostitution, commenting that she could make about $5000 for each act. He even asked if he could observe her. She responded by asking if that same website was where he found a 16-year-old girl and paid the girl for sex, where Fogle then allegedly replied, "It was amazing!!!!"
Fogle then asked if he could meet the unidentified lady's much younger cousin. This gave cause for the task force to suspect Fogle of harboring child pornography.
Worried, the woman voiced her concerns to Subway's management team, revealing the text messages. They did nothing at the time and had no documented proof of the complaint.
After originally refusing to comment on the matter, Subway released a statement to the press: "We are shocked about the news and believe it is related to a prior investigation of a former Jared Foundation employee. We are very concerned and will be monitoring the situation closely. We don't have any more details at this point."
Though investigators had not publicly accused him and he had not been charged with any crime, the seriousness of the situation motivated the world-famous food chain to make a mutual agreement with Fogle to end their partnership after more than 15 years. Attorney Ron Elberger said that his client is cooperating with authorities.
Though the confiscated electronics were still being examined, being linked with Taylor, a friend and executive of his charity which battles childhood obesity, who was arrested for child pornography, as well as producing it, was a major factor in the beginning of the suspicions.
No evidence had been procured to point to Fogle of keeping child pornography, however, and he remained un accused.
Despite no official claims, Fogle went from a crusader against obesity, showing that any weight loss goals could be achieved, to a disgraced man harboring shocking secrets. Whether guilty for not, it would be hard for the Subway Guy to slim down the enormous waistline of this scandal.
