Jared slid in ’11
Fla. kid-sex flap didn’t stop Subway ad man
A “SERIOUS” complaint about pedophile Subway pitchman Jared Fogle made in 2011 by a former Florida journalist failed to raise any red flags at the fast food chain.
The company announced Friday it has completed an internal investigation into whether it was alerted to concerns about Fogle — who has allegedly confessed to bedding teen prostitutes for at least the past eight years while earning millions as the face of the fast-food giant.
The restaurant chain said it received one “serious” complaint about the 38-year-old from former Florida journalist Rochelle Herman-Walrond, who says she worked with the FBI to record Fogle expressing interest in sex with minors.
A statement released by the company said that while the complaint “expressed concerns about Mr. Fogle,” it included “nothing that implied anything about sexual behavior or criminal activity involving Mr. Fogle.”
Subway spokeswoman Kristen McMahon would not elaborate on the nature of the complaint.
Herman-Walrond has said she spent four years recording conversations she had with Fogle for authorities.
“He told me how hot middle school girls were,” the 47-yearold told a local television station last month. “Gender didn’t make a difference to him, the younger the better.”
The FBI has not confirmed Herman-Walron’s account.
Fogle (inset) reached a deal last month to plead guilty to charges he paid for sex acts with girls as young as 16 and possession and distribution of child pornography.
Subway’s investigation included a review of more than a million online comments and interviews with past and present employees and managers with both the company and an advertising fund, according to the company.
“It is important to note that the investigation found no further evidence of any other complaints of any kind regarding Mr. Fogle that were submitted to or shared with SUBWAY,” the statement said.
The company said it regrets the complaint was “not properly escalated or acted upon.”
But Fogle’s plea agreement mentions that witnesses in Florida, Georgia and Washington state provided recordings and information it says show Fogle “repeatedly discussed with them his interest in engaging in commercial sex acts with minors or stated that he has done so in the past.”
The owner of several Subway franchises claims she warned an executive at the sandwich chain that Fogle had made disturbing comments about children back in 2008 —but the company did nothing, according to her lawyer.
Cindy Mills said that the disgraced spokesman told her he had paid for sex with minors while he was on a trip to Thailand, and that he had sex with a 16-year-old he found on Craigslist, her lawyer claims. The attorney said Mills also shared her concerns with a regional Subway contact in Florida, where she is based.
The executive, Jeff Moody, has denied being aware of Fogle’s criminal sexual conduct.
Fogle’s lawyers did not respond to requests for comment.
The slimmed-down spokesman is expected to pay $1.4 million in restitution to his victims and faces between five and 20 years in prison.