School Sex Scandal: Behind the Story

In Issue 1070, Sabrina Rubin Erdely tells the story of a 15-year-old star athlete whose world was shattered after an affair with a teacher at his New Jersey high school (read it here: "Sex, Lies and Phys Ed"). The student, Jason Eickmeyer, is one of several subjects of After School, a Powerhouse Pictures Entertainment documentary that will be completed by July 2009. The Chris Barrett-directed film features interviews with Nancy Grace, Rita Cosby, Charol Shakeshaft and more (check out an exclusive clip above). Erdely recently spoke with Rolling Stone about the challenges of reporting the story, and what went wrong in that tiny Jersey town:

Was it hard for Jason when he was telling the story?
It was very hard on him. Our first interview, we sat down and talked for six hours. He knows that this has affected him profoundly, but he doesn't want to be portrayed as some kind of victim. What became very clear was just how damaged he was, even more damaged than he'd like to admit. So we sat there for six hours and we just got deeper and deeper into the story and he was all over the place. It took me forever to figure out the narrative and all the people in it because it was all just kind of swimming in his head. He'd never really told anybody the full story from beginning to end, and then after that first interview he then avoided my call for the next six weeks. He completely refused to talk to me. He just flipped out.

Just unearthing all those painful memories?
It was too much for him. And there's of course the terrifying idea that not only did he just unburden himself of all this stuff, but it's gonna be read eventually by millions of readers. It just took a lot of persistence and reassurance to even get him back on the phone in the first place, and in the meantime I really became very concerned with his mental health. I wound up talking to his mom and to his sister. I mean this is a kid who's not currently in therapy because he has no money for it, and he has no one to talk to about it. So he opened up to me and he was just like an open wound.

Did the insular nature of this town pose a huge problem?
This story was a really hard story to report. I mean the first problem was just finding the right person to talk to me in the first place. I spent two months making calls and talking to kids' moms and victims' advocates and lawyers and liaisons — it was really maddening. All the boys that I approached said no, or their moms said no, but along the line I was led to some people who were working on a documentary about exactly this issue, called After School. It's being produced by Owen LaFave, who is the ex-husband of the notorious Debra LaFave, the former beauty queen who was convicted in Florida of having sex with one of her students. I spoke to the folks at the documentary and they said, "We have exactly the boy you're looking for."

The second problem was when Jason flipped out and ran off, but then the third problem really was the town itself. It's a small rural town where everyone knows everyone else. So everyone was fearful of talking and airing their dirty laundry, and I think that's in some ways why this whole saga happened in the first place. Perhaps they were willing to turn a blind eye to something rather than make waves.

Could anybody explain why Traci Tapp wasn't investigated or talked to sooner?
It seems incredible doesn't it? There were two reasons. The first is that they just liked her so much. She was the coolest teacher in school. Teachers adored her, students adored her, she was so nice and everybody loved her, and so nobody wanted to really believe all of these rumors. And even when it was right in their faces — I mean, the idea that she moved in with a student days after he graduated — even that wasn't enough to get anybody to do anything. In fact, I said in my story that like their reaction was really telling. Instead of talking about, "Does this seem in appropriate?" they were saying, "Oh isn't it sad? Why can't she find somebody her own age?"