The Girls: “I need to tell you something”

Summary

Embedded Podcast - The Girls: “I Need to Tell You Something”

Date: May 14, 2026
Host: Kelly McEvers (NPR)
Reporter: Jess Clark (Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting)

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Episode Overview

This deeply reported, narrative-driven episode launches an investigative series examining nearly two decades of sexual abuse allegations against twin brothers, Ronnie and Donnie Stoner—both celebrated Louisville educators and football coaches. The story foregrounds the failures of schools, law enforcement, and social services to act, untangling how systemic negligence enabled ongoing abuse. Jess Clark, through survivor interviews and investigative reporting, presents voices and stories often ignored, giving survivors the platform to reclaim control of their narratives.

Trigger Warning: This episode discusses child sexual abuse in detail, including grooming and assault.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Stoner Brothers: Allegations and Community Impact

[00:15 - 04:48]

• The episode opens with four women, including 21-year-old Alyssa Foster, waiting anxiously in a courthouse for the Stoner twins—Ronnie and Donnie—to arrive for court. The twins, respected as educators and coaches, are accused of abusing their positions to prey on girls.
• Over 20 years, allegations persisted but little was done; institutions often failed to protect children or hold abusers accountable.

"They failed us just like everybody else failed us."
— Abby Jones, [02:40]

• Reporter Jess Clark describes her investigative process: collecting documents, contacting witnesses, and persistently reaching out to adults who could have stopped the abuse.

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2. A Systemic Problem: Institutional Failures

[04:05 - 05:05]

• Despite numerous reports, schools, law enforcement, and Child Protective Services (CPS) communicated poorly and failed to act, letting abuse continue.
• The Stoner case is both extraordinary—multiple, vocal survivors, long-term abuse, identical twin perpetrators—and, tragically, representative of broader trends.

"This is a story about all of that and about how adults in power failed to act and left it to survivors to take matters into their own hands."
— Jess Clark, [11:22]

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3. Abby Jones’ Story: Abuse and Aftermath

[05:05 - 10:46]

• Introduction to Abby: Abby, the youngest known victim, is now 20 but was 17 when the alleged abuse by coach Donnie Stoner began. She’s suing Donnie and school administrators; her account in the series comes via her mother, Amy Jones.
• Amy’s Discovery: Amy recalls Abby confessing in the summer of 2023, at first minimizing the coach’s actions before sharing the extent (Donnie coerced her into taking nude photos, then escalated to in-person abuse).
• Amy’s Regret and the School’s Inaction:

"I almost felt like I failed as a parent... I put too much trust in JCPS. I put too much trust in the school system and the leaders, and I've just put too much trust in them."
— Amy Jones, [09:18]

• School Response: Even after criminal charges, both brothers remained JCPS employees (reassigned away from students but still paid).

"Picture your child being raped by someone and you walking outside of your porch every day and handing them money. That's what it feels like to me."
— Amy Jones, [10:28]

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4. Patterns of Abuse: Data, Scope, and Kentucky’s Numbers

[11:33 - 13:14]

• A 2022 study: 12% of students experience sexual misconduct from a staff member before graduation; ~1% endure physical sexual assault.
• Kentucky’s child abuse rates are nearly double the national average, ranked fourth-highest.

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5. Alexis Crook’s Story: Abuse Began in 2005

[13:14 - 20:21]

• Background: At age 15, Alexis, biracial and living with white family relatives, joins the Evangel Christian School football team, where Donnie and Ronnie have just started as assistant coaches.
• Early Grooming: Donnie singles out Alexis with flirtatious comments, physical touch justified as “normal” in football, and repeated car rides.
• Sexual Escalation: The abuse goes from grooming to sexual acts at school, then to rape by both twins. Alexis recounts a traumatic night when she realizes mid-encounter that she is with Ronnie, not Donnie.

"He made me feel like it was okay, like there was nothing wrong ... I think he was very strategic ... genuinely asking me about my life."
— Alexis Crook, [19:42]

On realizing she was assaulted by Ronnie:
"I reached up to, like, grab his head or something, and it wasn't braids."
— Alexis Crook, [20:54]

"He [Donnie] held her down against the couch by her shoulders so that Ronnie could continue to rape her."
— Jess Clark, [21:05]

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6. The Network of Complicity: Friends, Family, and School Officials

[21:22 - 27:22]

• Inaction Across the Board:
  • Alexis says many in the twins' social and family circles knew about the relationship. Donnie would bring Alexis to family events and gatherings.
  • School authorities, including principal Ann Shively (now deceased), confronted Alexis about rumors but did not escalate or report the situation.
  • Alexis’s mother, a police officer specializing in crimes against children, was never notified.
• Coach Thomas’ Knowledge and Denial:
  • Head coach Dave Thomas allegedly arranged for a team mom, Danette (Donya McCrae), to chaperone Alexis at away games to “keep her safe.”
  • When Danette raised concerns, Thomas claimed ignorance in a tense, on-mic ambush by Jess Clark:

“Do you think Alexis would lie?”
— Jess Clark, [31:16]
“Evidently she is. I don't know.”
— Dave Thomas

• Danette’s Regret:

“I feel guilty because I should have shut the door and said, there's absolutely no way you're taking this young lady with you... I allowed it.”
— Danette (Donya McCrae), [28:57, 29:35]

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7. Survivor Guilt and Healing

[32:18 - 33:54]

• Alexis discusses ongoing impacts: unhealthy relationships, self-blame, and losses resulting from domestic violence.
• The recent emergence of other survivors, especially Abby, triggers complex guilt:

"If anybody would have just thrown me a rope or if I would have called the police or if I would have told somebody, it would have stopped this from happening... I'll always harbor some kind of guilt."
— Alexis Crook, [33:05]

• Now, Alexis helps lead a solidarity network of survivors aiming for justice and institutional change.

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8. Series Continuation: What Comes Next

[34:17 - End]

• The episode closes by previewing that more alleged victims will be profiled in future episodes, particularly those claiming abuse by Ronnie:

"I now see why young females don't say nothing when something like that happens, because no one listened."
— Unnamed woman, [34:17]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "You want to use me as a pawn? I'm going to use y'all too. I'm smart as fuck."
  — Abby Jones, [02:53]. Abby’s resilience and defiance.
• "There shouldn't be a second occurrence. It should end right there. This is my story to tell. That's another reason I'm not going to agree to shut up."
  — Abby Jones, [02:56]
• On systemic responsibility:
  "Our babies are the future and they're all still. The school district will not protect them."
  — Kelly McEvers & Abby Jones, [02:43–02:48]
• Visual Evidence: Alexis describes how her relationship with Donnie was open to peers and adults, marked by photos and public appearances ([23:06–23:36]).

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:15] - Kelly McEvers introduces the episode, describes its MeToo focus beyond the workplace.
• [01:06] - Four women, including Alyssa Foster, wait at the courthouse; Jess Clark takes over narration.
• [05:05] - Introduction of Amy and Abby Jones’ home life and background.
• [08:12] - Amy learns details of Abby’s abuse and school’s lack of adequate response.
• [13:14] - Alexis Crook’s backstory and first interactions with the Stoner twins.
• [20:54] - Alexis realizes she's being assaulted by Ronnie, not Donnie.
• [26:35–29:35] - Coach Thomas and Danette (Donya McCrae) discuss what was known and done.
• [31:02] - Jess Clark confronts Coach Thomas about his knowledge and actions.
• [33:05] - Alexis expresses survivor's guilt; themes of intergenerational trauma and responsibility surface.
• [34:17] - Teaser for next episode: more survivor stories and institutional response.

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Conclusion

This gripping opening episode of "The Girls" meticulously documents alleged abuse spanning generations, focusing as much on system failures as on personal trauma. Through candid interviews with survivors, remorseful adults, and those in power who failed to act, the narrative demonstrates how abusers operated in plain sight, allowed by institutional negligence. The episode is a call for vigilance, accountability, and solidarity among survivors, with the investigation continuing in subsequent installments.

If you are a survivor of sexual assault and wish to talk to someone, the RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline is 800-656-HOPE (4673).

Transcript

[Abby Jones]

This message comes from NPR sponsor Carvana. Your time is worth more than a waiting game. Carvana gives you a transparent offer for your car in minutes and picks it up from your door. Sell your car [e-mail] pickup fees may apply.

[Kelly McEvers]

Hey, I'm Kelly McEvers and this is embedded from NPR. We've recently been listening to a podcast series that we cannot stop thinking about. It's called the girls. It's a MeToo story, but it does not take us to a workplace. The allegations are not about what a boss did to an employee. This is a story about educators and the students they were responsible for. It follows nearly 20 years worth of accusations against the same two people and how the school system and local government responded. We're going to share this series here in the feed. It's called the Girls. It's the latest season of an investigative podcast called Dig that's produced by NPR member station Louisville Public Media. Heads up. This episode has cursing and discussion of sexual assault. Here is reporter Jess Clark.

[Jess Clark]

On the seventh floor of the courthouse in Louisville, Kentucky, four women are waiting. They're nervous, nauseous. 21 year old Alyssa Foster hasn't slept well in days.

[Abby Jones]

I'm so scared every time the elevator's open, my heart drops.

[Jess Clark]

They've been waiting all morning for two men to emerge from the elevator for almost 20 years. These men were respected educators and football coaches, the kind of people who get featured on the news for handing out turkeys at Thanksgiving, winning football games and changing students lives. But the women waiting at the courthouse say behind closed doors, these same two men, two brothers, were sexually abusing girls who trusted them. The elevator opens. Ronnie and Donnie Stoner stride into the lobby with the Kentucky center for Investigative Reporting. I'm Jess Clark. I've spent the last year and a half getting to know a group of women who say they are survivors of child sexual abuse by Ronnie and Donnie Stoner.

[Abby Jones]

How do you know how to hunt those girls down? Like you know the ones. You're the target.

[Jess Clark]

I've tracked down documents, witnesses and former classmates.

[Daniel Parrish]

That is when you say something to all the adults.

[Jess Clark]

I've found old football coaches and pestered school officials, state social workers, police, prosecutors and megachurch leaders.

[Abby Jones]

I don't know anything about this.

[Jess Clark]

I've tried to talk to all of the adults who had the power to stop Ronnie and Donnie, but didn't.

[Abby Jones]

They failed us just like everybody else failed us.

[Kelly McEvers]

Our babies are the future and they're all still.

[Abby Jones]

The school district will not protect them.

[Danette (Donya McCrae)]

I should have stopped it and I didn't. And look now almost 20 years of victims.

[Abby Jones]

You want to use me as a pawn? I'm going to use y' all too. I'm smart as fuck.

[Danette (Donya McCrae)]

There shouldn't be a second occurrence.

[Abby Jones]

It should end right there. This is my story to tell. That's another reason I'm agree to shut up.

[Jess Clark]

This is Dig Season three, the Girls. This message comes from NPR sponsor Shopify. No idea where to sell? Shopify puts you in control of every sales channel. It is the commerce platform revolutionizing millions of businesses worldwide. Whether you're a garage entrepreneur or IPO ready, Shopify is the only tool you need to start, run and grow your business without the struggle. Once you've reached your audience, Shopify has the Internet's best converting checkout to help you turn them from browsers to buyers. Go to Shopify.com NPR to take your business to the next level today.

[Kelly McEvers]

This week on Up First, President Trump heads to China. On the agenda, Taiwan, AI and the war with Iran, a close Chinese ally and trade partner. One big question will Trump ask China to pressure Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz? We're reporting from Beijing on a week of major news that affects the world and your wallet. On up first listen on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jess Clark]

If you live around Louisville, you've probably already heard something about the Stoners. Their case is getting a lot of attention. They're not just brothers, they're twins. It's also gone viral on TikTok, but this is a version of that story you haven't heard yet over four episodes. I'm going to show you what I found. That schools did little to investigate claims of sexual misconduct when girls and young women came forward. That poor communication between law enforcement, schools and CPS allowed an alleged abuser off the hook altogether. I found a story that might explain why in Louisville so many child sex abuse cases are closed with no charges filed. But in the case of the Stoner twins, there are charges. It took years of fighting by one group of women who are speaking up now for the little girls they used to be and children everywhere who remain vulnerable to sexual abuse by the adults entrusted to educate them.

[Amy Jones]

How are you?

[Jess Clark]

Good. How are you? Amy Jones waves at me from the front porch of her home in a south Louisville suburb. Amy's in her 40s and wears her blonde hair in a high and tight military style haircut. She lives in this updated ranch with her wife Tracy and their dog Max, a tiny black shih Tzu with An eye condition.

[Amy Jones]

His eyes don't produce tears.

[Jess Clark]

So has he always been like that?

[Amy Jones]

We have him. Antibiotic drops. Tracy, that cat you gave milk to is back at the porch.

[Jess Clark]

Amy adopted her daughter Abby Jones in 2015 along with her older sister. She wanted to give them a stable, structured home life with routine curfews and chore sheets. Abby and Amy butted heads a lot over rules and expectations. But despite the tension, there was love and trust. Abby is the youngest alleged victim of Donnie Stoner. Abby is 20 years old now. In 2023, she was a 17 year old junior at Dupont Manual High School. I'll note here that we are not going to hear from Abby in the season of dig. Abby is suing Donnie and administrators at her high school. And her lawyers have advised her not to speak to the media for now. The facts of her alleged abuse you'll hear will come from her mother, Amy, and from court filings in both criminal and civil complaints. Getting into Manual High School was a big deal. Manual is considered by many the crown jewel of Jefferson County Public Schools, the largest school district in Kentucky. It's a magnet school. Students have to apply to get in and kids work for years to take the right classes, stay out of trouble and build a portfolio impressive enough to get accepted. Manual also boasts a storied and celebrated football program. When Abby was in high school, Donnie Stoner was head coach.

[Daniel Parrish]

Donnie Stoner takes over the Crimsons as head coach now this isn't just a job for Stoner, it's his alma mater.

[Jess Clark]

People were excited about Donnie becoming head coach of the Manual crimson back in 2022. Donnie had played for the same team in high school in the late 90s and early 2000s. It was a good story. The star athlete comes back to lead the next generation to glory on the gridiron.

[Amy Jones]

He.

[Jess Clark]

Here's Donnie talking to reporters after his first win as head coach. This sports audio comes from local TV stations WH&WLKY.

[Abby Jones]

Okay, win number one.

[Jess Clark]

How's that one feel, man?

[Daniel Parrish]

Now that it's over with, it feels great. These guys are pretty determined and built for this. You know, they just laid it all on the line and it was reflected on the scoreboard. I'm so damn proud of these guys.

[Abby Jones]

It's his first win.

[Jess Clark]

Donnie was also a teacher at Manual. Abby would have seen him in the halls and at after school activities. Like a lot of kids in Louisville, Abby dreamed of going to Manual ever since she was in elementary school.

[Amy Jones]

I mean, that's, that's all she ever wanted. To do was go to Manuel, go to manual. And we were so excited that she got in.

[Jess Clark]

Now that big shiny dream that Abby worked so hard to make happen is tainted. Amy found out about the alleged abuse in the summer of 2023. Abby had just finished her junior year.

[Amy Jones]

I was sitting out back on the patio and Abby came out white as a ghost. And she said, mom, I need to tell you something. And I said, okay.

[Jess Clark]

Abby's best friend's mom was checking her daughter's phone and had found out there was something going on between Abby and Manuel's head football coach, Johnny Stoner. Abby was worried about the 39 year old teacher and coach getting in trouble and she was trying to do damage control.

[Amy Jones]

First it was, he just said some inappropriate things. He made some inappropriate gestures in the classroom.

[Jess Clark]

But a few days later, Abby said it went way beyond that.

[Amy Jones]

He actually, one day in class had her take his cell phone to the restroom to take inappropriate pictures of herself.

[Jess Clark]

On the last day of school, Abby said Donnie wrote her a note to get her out of her last period. They met in his empty classroom where he kissed and groped her. Once school was out for the summer, she said Donnie took her back to his home to have sex on multiple occasions. He also warned Abby what could happen to him if she told anyone about their relationship. Amy says her daughter stopped spending time with Donnie by the time it all came out. She's now in therapy for issues related to the alleged abuse.

[Amy Jones]

I almost felt like I failed as a parent, like this was something I should have known or I should have picked up on because I'm very active in my kid's life. I'm very, you know, this is your curfew. You know, share your phone locations with me now. I'm very protective of my kids. I just feel like I was just. I put too much trust in jcps. I put too much trust in the school system and the leaders, and I've just put too much trust in them.

[Jess Clark]

What Amy Jones didn't know on the day that Abby finally shared the full extent of what Donnie allegedly did to her is that her daughter is now a part of this larger group of women who say they were abused as girls by Donnie or his twin brother, Ronnie. In spite of numerous and very public allegations against both brothers and criminal charges against Donnie, the Stoner twins were still employed by JCPS when Amy and I spoke in March 2024. While they were reassigned away from roles that had direct contact with children, they reported to work every day to an operations building and collected their full taxpayer funded salaries and benefits. Amy is very blunt about how she feels about that.

[Amy Jones]

Picture your child being raped by someone and you walking outside of your porch every day and handing them money. That's what it feels like to me. These guys are out here raping kids and still getting paid by the system that allowed them to do it.

[Jess Clark]

That system has many other similar stories. Headlines have been full of educators and coaches in trouble for sexual misconduct with students. You should know that both Donnie Stoner and his brother Ronnie deny all allegations. We've tried to talk to them. We've called, sent letters and showed up at several court appearances to ask for an interview, but they and their attorneys declined to speak. You should also know that you're not going to hear from anyone with the school district, Jefferson County Public Schools. Their spokesperson declined multiple interview requests, citing pending litigation. But you will hear from six alleged survivors who say they were abused by one or both of the Stoner brothers going back to 2005.

[Abby Jones]

I went straight over and told them I reported him pretty fast. Once it started getting weird, I took

[Jess Clark]

it into my own hands and I made a post on social media.

[Abby Jones]

I said, no, I'm really serious. This is really happening to me.

[Jess Clark]

While a lot of pieces of the story make it extraordinary, the number of vocal victims, the fact that the alleged perpetrators are twins, the length of time and number of schools they operated in public and private, it it is unfortunately not a unique story. A 2022 multi state study suggests nearly 12% of students will experience sexual misconduct by an adult school staff member before they graduate, usually in the form of sexual comments or grooming behaviors. But about 1% reported touching, groping, kissing or sexual acts. And when it comes to child abuse in general, Kentucky in particular has a problem. Kentucky's child abuse rates are fourth highest in the nation in nearly double the national average. This is a story about all of that and about how adults in power failed to act and left it to survivors to take matters into their own hands. Abby Jones is the youngest survivor to come forward with accusations against one of the Stoner brothers. But she wasn't even born yet when the Stoners met Alexis Crook. We'll go back to the beginning, to Alexis's story at a small Christian high school where she says administrators turned a blind eye to her abuse. After the break. This week on the NPR Politics podcast, President Trump in China, the latest on a summit that was billed as a major meeting on trade and AI being

[Abby Jones]

overshadowed by the war in Iran, a

[Jess Clark]

close ally and trade partner of China. What's happening with tariffs and how is it affecting consumers? On the NPR Politics podcast. Listen on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Dig. I'm Jess Clark. It's a Summer Night in 2005, and 15 year old Alexis Crook is slipping out her bedroom window. She's on her way a couple blocks down to meet up with older boys, smoke weed and listen to rap. Probably Young Jeezy, her favorite artist.

[Abby Jones]

Back then I was just rebellious and I did what I wanted and I was very, I don't want to say troubled, but I had been through a lot that I didn't know how to process at that age.

[Jess Clark]

In her short life, Alexis had already survived emotional and sexual abuse by her biological father. He was finally out of the picture. Alexis was living with her mother's side of the family. But that came with its own challenges. Alexis is multiracial. Her estranged father is black, white and American Indian, and her mom is white.

[Abby Jones]

I felt out of place, like, because I was being raised, like, by my white family who I felt like, didn't understand, like, what to do with my hair or why. I felt like an outsider.

[Jess Clark]

Her relationships with her mother and stepfather were strained. They argued constantly. Weed and rap and friends were Alexis's escape. So were athletics. She played just about every sport her high school offered.

[Abby Jones]

Basketball, soccer, softball, volleyball.

[Jess Clark]

But her favorite, football.

[Abby Jones]

I loved football so much and then basketball was a close second. But football for sure.

[Amy Jones]

Yeah.

[Jess Clark]

Getting out more aggression.

[Abby Jones]

Yes, because you got to hit things and, you know, be violent. So we love that. Like, let go of your frustration in a legal, appropriate way.

[Jess Clark]

Alexis was the only girl on the football team at Evangel Christian School. It's a small, private K12 school affiliated with Louisville based megachurch Evangel World Prayer Center. The team was tiny and new. Alexis joined her sophomore year. Her teammate, Daniel Parrish, a year younger than her, remembers Alexis as quiet but tough as nails. He still thinks about a hit she took one season during drills.

[Daniel Parrish]

And I mean, I hit her hard. I remember it, that's 18 years ago, at least. Oh, my gosh. And I was like, she's done. And I walked off like, literally like, you're done.

[Jess Clark]

But Alexis got right back up, ready to keep training.

[Daniel Parrish]

She never quit.

[Jess Clark]

Right before Alexis's junior year, Evandel snagged a new head coach, Dave Thomas, who had helped coach Manual High School's football team. Thomas brought with him two of his former players as assistant coaches, Ronnie and Donnie Stoner. In the summer of 2005, Ronnie and Donnie Stoner were both 21 years old. They were tall, fit, and good looking. They also looked almost exactly alike. Parish says he and the other teammates saw the Stoner twins less as authority figures and more as peers. One time, Parrish says the twins bought cigarettes for a few players when they were out of town for an away game. They all snuck out of their rooms late at night to smoke outside the hotel.

[Daniel Parrish]

They were funny, they were goofy. They were not strict disciplinarians.

[Jess Clark]

In Parrish's garage, he shows me a framed photo of the team lined up and posed in their blue uniforms.

[Daniel Parrish]

Here's a picture to kind of link everything together.

[Abby Jones]

Oh, wow.

[Daniel Parrish]

This is from 2006 or 7. Pictures don't lie, right? So you have both of them there.

[Jess Clark]

The Stoner twins are on either side. Do you know who's who?

[Abby Jones]

So.

[Daniel Parrish]

The one. This one, yeah, because the other one was stockier. So this is the one that was the coach at Fern Creek. Right.

[Jess Clark]

So Ronnie.

[Daniel Parrish]

That's Ronnie and that's Donnie.

[Jess Clark]

Okay.

[Daniel Parrish]

Yeah.

[Jess Clark]

Donnie's a little stockier.

[Daniel Parrish]

At the time, okay.

[Jess Clark]

At the time, he was.

[Daniel Parrish]

Well, so this one had gold teeth and braids.

[Jess Clark]

Okay.

[Daniel Parrish]

And this one was bald and a little stockier. So we call this one Braids and this one Baldy as kids, you know what I mean? Because. But that was. They did look a lot alike. And if you had. You caught them at a certain angle, you didn't know which one was which.

[Jess Clark]

Yeah, actually, Parrish was a little mixed up the day we talked. Donnie was the one with the braids and open face, gold grill, and Ronnie was a little stockier. But you can't see those clues in the photo. They're both wearing ball caps, matching outfits, and neither is smiling. So I had Alexis weigh in. She knew immediately who was who. Donnie was the twin standing right next to her. He always posed them that way for photos. Alexis says the abuse started the summer she met the twins. Alexis was 15, and they were 21.

[Abby Jones]

Donnie in particular would make, like, comments about me, like, my body or my face being too pretty to play football and stuff like that. And it didn't really make me uncomfortable, honestly. I mean, I can kind of remember back to my thought process. I was like, oh, he's older. He's handsome, or whatever.

[Jess Clark]

Alexis says it made her feel good about herself, desirable at a time when she was struggling with her self esteem.

[Abby Jones]

And then that led to kind of like touching and stuff that I would say was, like, unwanted, but I didn't say anything. Like, he would touch my, like, slap my butt or something like that. But then I guess I kind of justified it as, like, that's what's done in football. You see that in football all the time.

[Jess Clark]

She says Donnie would give her rides home from practice. They would flirt and sometimes have deep talks. He asked her about her family issues. She says that progressed to oral sex and touching in his car, in the school, and sometimes even the coach's office at. Evangelist Daniel Parrish says he once walked in on them kissing in the locker room.

[Daniel Parrish]

And then the next day, she seen me in the hallway. And I don't forget this. Cause I was like, I'm not gonna say nothing to her until she says something to me. And she v lined it for. And came right to me and was like, you didn't see nothing, did you? And I was like, oh, you and the coach kissing in the locker room? And she goes, yeah. I was like, no, I didn't see nothing.

[Jess Clark]

Parrish didn't tell anyone today. He wishes he had, especially now that he has a teenager of his own.

[Daniel Parrish]

Now you tell yourself, if I could grab myself and say, that is when you say something to all the adults.

[Jess Clark]

That summer, Alexis started spending the night at the apartment Ronnie and Donnie shared, telling her mom she was at a girlfriend's house.

[Abby Jones]

I was a kid, and he made me feel like it was okay, like there was nothing wrong with. Gave me attention I was lacking. So I was all for it. And I think he was very strategic. Like, as an adult looking back now, I think he was very strategic with, like, how it happened and how it progressed and, like, genuinely asking me, like, what is your home life like? You know, what was your childhood like? And just making me feel like there was a genuine connection.

[Jess Clark]

What do you think he was actually doing?

[Abby Jones]

Grooming me. Like, textbook. We could read a textbook, and it would. All the things that he did would be in that textbook.

[Jess Clark]

Alexis says one night when she was 15, she and Donnie had intercourse on the couch at the townhouse. The twins shared it was her first time. Alexis remembers reaching up and feeling the braids in Donnie's hair.

[Abby Jones]

All the lights were out, and he said, hold on, I have to use the bathroom. And he walked upstairs. And I'd never had sex before. Like, I was. I mean, I'd done other things, but I never had sex. And he walked downstairs, like, started having sex with me again. And I reached up to, like, grab his head or something, and it wasn't braids.

[Jess Clark]

She realized it wasn't Donnie. It was his twin, Ronnie Stoner. She screamed for help and tried to claw his face.

[Abby Jones]

And Donnie came downstairs, but instead of

[Jess Clark]

helping her, she says, he held her down against the couch by her shoulders so that Ronnie could continue to rape her. Alexis says Donnie coerced her into having sex with Ronnie many times after that.

[Abby Jones]

And he would say, like, if you love me, you, you'll do this. So I thought it was normal.

[Jess Clark]

She says the twins also coerced her into having sex with the 31 year old man they were friends with named Zach Kilgore. He had been in a relationship with the twin sister and they had a child together. The twins considered Kilgore a brother in law. Alexis says Kilgore raped her one night, a night when she was deeply emotionally vulnerable. She was 17. Her grandfather had just died. And Donnie, Ronnie and Kilgore came to pick her up from the hospital in Kilgore's van.

[Abby Jones]

They got me alcohol first, so I got very drunk. I mean, I was not well. I was probably suicidal. That was like my father.

[Jess Clark]

Donnie started having sex with her in the van and then she says he forced her to have sex with Kilgore. Alexis says the abuse continued until shortly after she graduated at age 17 in 2007. She says at one point she got pregnant. Donnie wanted her to get an abortion, but it went against Alexis's beliefs. When she refused, she says he choked her and threatened to kill her. She got the abortion. Alexis considered Donnie her boyfriend. They spent a lot of time together. Donnie took her to massive alcohol fueled raiders at a warehouse in South Louisville. I met Alexis there one afternoon. She was in her medical scrubs.

[Abby Jones]

I was trying to get out the house and see my patients today.

[Jess Clark]

At 36, Alexis is a doctor. The warehouse is at the back end of a parking lot behind a Family dollar store and looks like it's seen better days.

[Abby Jones]

Like the front was right there and so there would always be like a

[Jess Clark]

line where was it like this way or the engine?

[Abby Jones]

It would be like going around this way, like going around to where it says Club 502. And Donnie would always like walk out and grab us and take us in.

[Jess Clark]

Alexis brought some photos with her. There's a Polaroid a little underexposed.

[Abby Jones]

I think that's a cool one because it was actually in the club like the photographer did.

[Jess Clark]

The backdrop, a young Alexis is wearing one of those hip length going out tops girls wore back then and a short, shiny, pink puffy coat with fur on the hood.

[Abby Jones]

You say it's like a baby fat, you know.

[Jess Clark]

In another photo, a baby faced Alexis is smiling towards the camera with her hair straightened.

[Abby Jones]

Also apple bottom. I was wearing. I was 16 before we went to the club. See, they threw money up.

[Jess Clark]

A handful of dollar bills are captured, falling around her, frozen in midair. Alexis says Donnie's friends and family knew they were in a relationship. She says they had dinner with the twins father, Fred Stoner, and spent the night at homes that belonged to family members and friends. Alexis says a lot of people knew about the relationship and never intervened.

[Abby Jones]

Many people. Too many people.

[Jess Clark]

I talked briefly with Fred Stoner at the courthouse one day. He says he doesn't remember Alexis.

[Daniel Parrish]

I don't know anything about this case.

[Abby Jones]

My two sons, they know. I don't.

[Daniel Parrish]

I'm just here to support.

[Abby Jones]

And so, I mean, it is what it is.

[Jess Clark]

Did you ever see Alexis Crook and Donnie together back in.

[Abby Jones]

I don't know. I don't know who nobody is.

[Daniel Parrish]

That's what I'm saying, ma'.

[Amy Jones]

Am.

[Daniel Parrish]

You asking me questions that I don't know.

[Abby Jones]

I don't know anybody.

[Jess Clark]

Alexis says school officials knew as well. She says the principal of Evangel Christian School, a woman named Ann Shively, called her into her office one day for a lecture about tattoos. Alexis was always in trouble for tattoos. Her first one was her name in a curling script circling her wrist.

[Abby Jones]

Like, I got this lovely thing when I was 14, and I had some on my feet and some behind my ears.

[Jess Clark]

Tattoos weren't allowed at Evangel, but Alexis kept getting more. When her grandfather died, she wanted to get one to memorialize him on her arm, but she knew Principal Shively would see it, so she got it somewhere else.

[Abby Jones]

It's literally on my ass, and it says Granddaddy, and it's very embarrassing. Like, I'll literally. It's horrible.

[Jess Clark]

But you did that because you were grieving and it was a tribute to him and, like, you.

[Abby Jones]

And I asked him, stop trying to. Stop trying to rationalize it.

[Jess Clark]

I'm trying.

[Abby Jones]

It's on my butt. No, but it's. It's literally like, it says grand. And there's the top of my butt crack, and it says, daddy, I'm going to show it to you, because it's not like I have to take my pants. I really am. And you'll get a good laugh.

[Jess Clark]

So Alexis was in Shively's office again, along with a classmate, and she talked

[Abby Jones]

about our tattoos, and we had to sign a contract saying we wouldn't get any more tattoos. And we were going to walk out, and she's like, wait, Alexis, you stay here. And then she said, I don't believe in rumors, but I've heard a lot of talk about you having inappropriate contact with one of the football coaches. And I was like, I don't know what you're talking about. And she was like, so you don't have any inappropriate, like, contact with one of the football coaches? And I said, no, I play football.

[Jess Clark]

I can't ask Shively how she knew or who else she told because she died in 2012. Alexis's mother was a police officer who worked in the Crimes Against Children unit, and no one told her. Of all the adults who Alexis says knew about the abuse, the one that hurts the most is Dave Thomas, the head coach of the Evangel football team.

[Abby Jones]

I thought a lot of him, and I guess I was like, oh, he couldn't have known because he wouldn't let this go on.

[Jess Clark]

Alexis loved Coach Thomas. They stayed in touch for years after she graduated. He even took her out to eat a few times to catch up. Coach Thomas was the man who hired and supervised Ronnie and Donnie. And today, Alexis says he had to have known about the abuse. During her junior year, he asked a team mom to stay in the hotel room with Alexis after away games to

[Abby Jones]

keep me safe, which is what he said.

[Jess Clark]

If Coach Thomas's plan was for the team mom to protect Alexis from Donnie and Ronnie, it didn't work. Alexis says the twins would arrive at the hotel room late at night, saying Alexis was needed for training or to clean equipment. When the team mom said no, they would take her anyway.

[Abby Jones]

After that happened, several times in a row, she told the coach and what was happening, and she tried to talk to me about it, but I was just. Just didn't care.

[Jess Clark]

Do you remember this woman sing?

[Amy Jones]

Yeah.

[Abby Jones]

Her name is Donya McCrae.

[Jess Clark]

I got in touch with Dania. Her last name is Danette now. She recently got divorced and moved to Italy. We spoke on a Zoom call, and I could see inside. Her small home, tucked into the mountains of rural Sicily. Danette is still in touch with Alexis. She thinks of her almost like a daughter. They've both been through traumatic childhoods, survived child sex abuse, and escaped abusive relationships as adults. Danette remembers vividly the first night Donnie and Ronnie came to the hotel room to get Alexis. It was after dark. The team had just lost a rainy, muddy game in eastern Kentucky.

[Danette (Donya McCrae)]

And I just remember how absolutely filthy it was. And I remember Alexis had to shower just like everybody else.

[Jess Clark]

Afterwards, Danette waited in the locker room while Alexis took her shower. She was the last to go because she had to wait until all the boys were finished. Then Danette took Alexis up to the hotel room.

[Danette (Donya McCrae)]

I mean, we had just barely sat down and got settled in, and they came knocking on the door and asked for her. And I was like, well, it's, you know, it's kind of late. You know, they. We've had a long day. And they were like, well, you know, we've got equipment to clean and place to go over. And I was like, well, it's kind of late. And they were like, well, we're the coach. You're just a parent.

[Jess Clark]

Danette says she knew it didn't feel right, but she let Alexis go with them. Alexis says on those nights, she and Donnie would engage in sexual acts.

[Danette (Donya McCrae)]

I feel guilty. Like, I feel guilty because I should have shut the door and said, there's absolutely no way you're taking this young lady with you. Because in essence, basically, after that, I knew about it. So, you know, I feel like I should have stopped it, and I didn't. And look, now 20, almost 20 years of victims, because I couldn't even be brave enough to argue with them and say, absolutely not. You can't have her. I don't know how else to describe it other than, you know, I have apologized profusely to Alexis, and I will till the day I die. There's other victims that I would love to apologize to, because had I been more vocal, maybe this wouldn't have happened to them. Maybe they wouldn't be in the position they're in now. They took advantage of Alexis, and I allowed it. I allowed it.

[Jess Clark]

Danette says she did eventually speak up. After several months of Rani and Donnie coming for Alexis after away games. Danette says she went to their boss, evangelist head football coach Dave Thomas.

[Danette (Donya McCrae)]

I told Dave I was just like, I'm not going to be able to keep her safe the way you want me to.

[Jess Clark]

Did you explicitly tell him that you thought that Ronnie and or Donnie were sexually abusing Alexis?

[Danette (Donya McCrae)]

No, I never said it like that, and I should have.

[Jess Clark]

Do you think he knew what you were insinuating?

[Danette (Donya McCrae)]

I believe so, yeah. Because I think that's exactly why he asked me to let her stay with me and all the away football games.

[Jess Clark]

I reached out to Dave Thomas to ask him about this interaction and how much he knew. After he didn't respond, I showed up at his home one afternoon in far south Louisville.

[Daniel Parrish]

Hey.

[Jess Clark]

Hi, Mr. Thomas. I'm Jess Clark. I'm a reporter with the Kentucky center for Investigative Reporting. I sent you a Facebook message. He didn't want to talk.

[Daniel Parrish]

I'm not going to have time to answer your questions there.

[Jess Clark]

Okay, I do want to ask you. So I'm in touch with Alexis Crook and she says that when she was at high school student, you were aware that Donnie was sexually abusing her. No, that's not true.

[Daniel Parrish]

That is not true. That's false.

[Jess Clark]

Okay. Do you think Alexis would lie?

[Daniel Parrish]

Evidently she is. I don't know.

[Jess Clark]

You never, you never knew that her and Donnie were in any kind of sexual relationship?

[Daniel Parrish]

I just answered that.

[Jess Clark]

Okay. Why did you ask Donny McRae to chaperone Alexis during the away games?

[Daniel Parrish]

Anytime we went on away trips, I always had an adult female with her.

[Jess Clark]

Okay, and why was that?

[Daniel Parrish]

I never let Alexis be alone.

[Jess Clark]

I talked to Dania and she says that she came to you with concerns that the chaperone arrangement was not protecting Alexis and that you didn't do anything about it.

[Daniel Parrish]

No, that's false.

[Jess Clark]

That she never came to you or

[Daniel Parrish]

that she never came to me?

[Jess Clark]

After Alexis graduated high school, she helped coach football for a while. Then she left Ronnie and Donnie behind. Got her PhD and MD. But to this day, she's still feeling the impacts of the alleged abuse.

[Abby Jones]

Probably the most profound way is in relationships. So this was my first. This was who I thought was my first boyfriend. So it shaped what I thought a relationship should look like.

[Jess Clark]

Alexis has been married twice. She's in the process of divorcing her second husband, who she says once beat her so badly she lost a pregnancy. She currently has an emergency protective order against him. Alexis didn't know Donnie or Ronnie were accused of abusing anyone else until the summer of 2023. 17 year old Abby Jones had accused Donnie of sexual abuse at Manual High School. And his face was on the news. That same week, another woman, more than 10 years younger than Alexis, posted on Facebook claiming Ronnie had abused her at another school when she was 13.

[Abby Jones]

It just really, it really, really hurts me to hear what, what they've went through because I feel, and I know I shouldn't feel this way and like my medical and cycle, everything, I know it's not my fault, but it's hard to because, like, I'm the first person and I feel like if anybody would have just thrown me a rope or if I would have been like, hey, like if I would have called the police or if I would have told somebody that it would have stopped this from happening to them because I know how much it messes your life up. I just have a lot of guilt around that. Everybody can say it's not my fault. I was a kid, but I'll always harbor some kind of guilt, guilt about not doing anything.

[Jess Clark]

So she's doing something now. She's leading a community of alleged survivors, all working together to get justice for the girls they used to be. And because of them, the wheels are finally turning. Next time, we'll meet more accusers of Donnie's brother, Ronnie Stoner, a man who Jefferson County Public School continued to promote despite multiple allegations.

[Abby Jones]

I now see why young females don't say nothing when something like that happens, because no one listened.

[Jess Clark]

That's next time on digg. Digg is produced by the Kentucky center for Investigative Reporting at Louisville Public Media. This season was reported by me, Jess Clark and edited by Jake Ryan and Laura Ellis. Special thanks to Morgan Watkins, Michelle Tyreen Johnson, Roberto Roldan, Amina Elahi, Joe Sanka, Kelly Wilkinson and Laura Atkinson. Kojun Teshiro created our theme music with assistance from Ryan Marsh, photos by Justin Hicks and Gisele Rhoden and illustrations by Effie Chalikapoulou. Our work is community funded. Visit kydig.org and click donate to help make reporting like this possible.

[Kelly McEvers]

Hearing stories like this one can bring up painful feelings and memories, especially if you're a trauma survivor yourself. If you need to talk, you can reach the Rainn National Sexual assault hotline at 800656. Hope you'll find that number and more mental health resources in our show. Notes this week on NPR's Newsmakers Maria Corino Machado. The Venezuelan opposition leader gave President Trump her no Nobel Prize, but he has questioned her leadership and openly supported her rivals.

[Danette (Donya McCrae)]

We are the government elect, not the opposition.

[Jess Clark]

We want an election.

[Kelly McEvers]

Venezuela's Machado walking a tightrope as she fights to return home this week on NPR's Newsmakers. Listen or watch wherever you get your podcasts.