The Dreamy Teacher of the Year Who Was Outed as a Sexual Predator
Infidelity hurts, but the anguish Jenifer Faison suffered was on an altogether different level, considering the mind-bogglingly sleazy scale of her husband’s unfaithfulness. On June 1, 2018, Jenifer learned about her spouse Spencer Herron’s two-timing upon returning home to find him sitting on their living room couch, shaking his head and muttering “it’s over, it’s all over.” On the table next to him was a search warrant featuring the words “sexual assault” and “student.” Before Jennifer could process what was happening, police officers arrived and arrested Spencer, thus beginning a nightmare that was as ugly as it was unexpected.
Based on Jenifer and producer Andrea Gunning’s podcast of the same name, Betrayal: The Perfect Husband (July 11 on Hulu) is a three-part ABC News Studios docuseries that recounts the shocking revelations that rocked Jenifer’s world, and the courageousness on the part of a young victim who brought Spencer’s disgusting behavior to light. Its non-fiction form is stretched thin for maximum melodramatic purposes, lowlighted by cheesy drone shots and songs whose on-the-nose lyrics seem designed to inspire eye-rolls and guffaws. Yet its core tale remains compelling, especially when, during its closing chapter, it lets a sexual abuse survivor detail the step-by-step means by which she was groomed into participating in a criminally inappropriate relationship.
Jenifer originally met Spencer when she transferred to Berry College, a small institution in northwest Georgia, for her junior year. The manager of the school’s television station as well as an on-air personality, Spencer was well-known and liked by everyone; friend Josh Villines says he was the type of charismatic, good-looking, outgoing Eagle Scout who’d generously help you move a couch into your dorm room. Jenifer and Spencer almost immediately began dating, and thanks to his sweetness and effusiveness—he’d routinely pass her handwritten notes that proclaimed her “a dream come true. I am now the happiest man on campus”—Jenifer fell head over heels in love, going so far as to introduce him to her family (who were similarly smitten).