Hey, I'm Kelly McEvers, and this is Embedded from NPR. We're sharing this series The Girls by Louisville Public Media.

It's the latest season of their investigative podcast, Dig, and this is episode two.

If you haven't heard episode one, go back and listen to it first.

In the last episode, we heard about alleged abuse by two educators in Littleville, Kentucky

that happened over two decades. And as a reminder, both men, Ronnie and Donnie Stoner,

deny the allegations and declined interview requests by the show. Zach Kilgore, who is also

accused of rapist on the run, so couldn't be reached for an interview.

In this episode, reporter Jess Clark traces what happened when other accusers reported their

experiences to authorities. Heads up that there is some cursing in this episode. Here's reporter

Jess Clark. It's August 2022, days before the start of the school year for Jefferson County Public Schools.

And to get staff pumped up, JCPS is holding an administrator kickoff, a back-to-school celebration at the city's historic Brown Theater downtown.

JCPS Superintendent Marty Polio takes the stage and calls on staff to be, quote,

braver leaders than you've ever been. Later, the Jefferson County Association of School

administrators hands out awards, selected by members through a vote. Polio huddles up for a photo

with a muscular man in a light gray suit,

2022's Middle School Youth Service Center coordinator of the year. They smile for the camera,

under their COVID-era face masks. The school year would start days later, but what no one said

during the speeches and ceremony was that the man in the light gray suit wouldn't be

returning to school with everyone else.

Ronnie Stoner, 22 middle school youth service center coordinator of the year, would report

on the first day to a building miles away from the hallways and classrooms of Newburgh Middle.

Because when the school administrators association gave Ronnie his award,

...