Report: Jared Fogle Charity Connected to Child Porn Case Never Gave Out Grants
According to records obtained by USA Today, a charity formed by former Subway spokesperson Jared Fogle for the supposed purpose of fighting childhood obesity never issued a single grant and spent 60% of its operating budget on the salary of its executive director.
That executive director, 43-year-old Russell Taylor, would later be charged with creating some of the child pornography that Fogle pled guilty to possessing earlier this month.
In 2008, Fogle announced the Jared Foundation would collect $2 million to fund school nutrition and fitness programs and “help parents identify ‘at-risk’ obesity behavior early on.” Tax records, however, show that never happened. From the NY Daily News:
But while the foundation raked in donations between 2009 and 2013, it only spent about $73,000 a year, far under the promised $2 million.
“If Jared was really interested in helping children through his foundation, he could have gotten more money,” Daniel Borochoff, president of watchdog group CharityWatch, told the newspaper. “As with a lot of celebrities, the charity appears to be more about image-enhancement than charitable deeds.”
About 60% of those annual expenses, about $44,000 a year, went to the salary of the foundation’s executive director, Russell Taylor.
When Taylor was charged with child exploitation, possession of child pornography and voyeurism in April, Fogle released a statement saying he was “shocked to learn of the disturbing allegations” and was “severing all ties with Mr. Taylor.”
Of the 40% of the budget that remained, USA Today reports more than half was unaccounted for.
[Image via AP Images]