The Band Played On

It's the summer of 1985. Peter Hamer is a typical, goofy teenager partying with his friends. They're drinking beer and coolers. Then he invites his music teacher to join them, with sinister intentions. Thirty-three years later, Hamer returns to his high school band room to explain what happened next. Listener discretion is advised.

The coach was successful, charismatic and powerful, and in 1968 he treated student Rob Ferron like he was special. Years later, Madeleine Glaus discovers her son had been groped by the same coach, and had also been preyed on by a music teacher. Both men worked at the same school at the same time. How else were they connected? Listener discretion is advised.

In 1986, Peter Hamer told a school administrator about his vulgar, abusive music teacher. Soon, the teacher was gone. Other adults had known what was going on, but it was a different time. This episode explores the institutional failure that allowed the abuse to continue. Listener discretion is advised.

On a clear spring day in 2017, witnesses call 911 to report a fiery car crash. The driver of the car is a high school music teacher who'd been facing charges of sexual assault. That teacher's former student, Laurie Howat, is the one who pulls the thread that unravels a troubling web of secrets. Listener discretion is advised.

A predatory music teacher has his day in court, and victims are there to watch. When Peter Hamer tried to reveal his secret decades ago, authorities failed to act. Now they're listening. But after so much time has passed, will this man go to prison? Will survivors get the answers they've been seeking? Listener discretion is advised.

When the court documents are finally unsealed, they reveal a disturbing portrait of a sex offender who began preying on students in the late 1960s. Authorities, including police, were aware of the teacher's encounters with teens. The fresh details draw sympathy and forgiveness from some survivors, while others hold him responsible for failing to keep his demons in check. Listener discretion is advised.

There's a confrontation as a victim demands accountability from the institution he says failed them all. Meanwhile, the drama heads back to court, with more charges and fresh convictions. Survivors gather together with Peter Hamer to laugh, heal and shed the secrets they say are no longer theirs to keep. Listener discretion is advised.