ABC\/Hulu<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nHe added that he believed, \u201cmy ex wife really really dislikes me,\u201d and he said he believed the female detective interviewing him was a \u201cman hater.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His second wife, Sandy, who divorced him shortly after, testified that she trusted him with her kids.\u00a0But later on she changed her tune and alleged that Brent had \u201ccoached\u201d her \u201con some things to say\u201d and he wanted her to allegedly say she was with him any time Brynlee needed cream.<\/p>\n
Sandy also alleged that Brent had coached her to say that she had \u201cno concern whatsoever\u201d about leaving her kids \u201calone with him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After getting \u201cclarity\u201d about their relationship, Sandy said she realized Brent was \u201cmanipulative and controlling.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\nTy and Brynlee (pictured in a live stream) were barricaded for 54 days. ABC\/Hulu<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nBrent\u2019s mother, Jolleen Larson, called the abuse allegations \u201cfalse\u201d onscreen, and said that her son would \u201cnever harm a child.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jessica moved to terminate Brent\u2019s parental rights, and the court battle became ugly. He countered with a petition to modify their custody agreement based on \u201cparental alienation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBrent was saying the allegations were fabricated, and my fault,\u201d Jessica said.<\/p>\n
Jolleen said she supported Brent\u2019s claim that Jessica had \u201cfed\u201d the kids \u201cmisinformation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all recognized what was going on,\u201d Jolleen added. \u201cYou can create memories in these children, you can make any child believe anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
The court ordered the kids to participate in \u201creunification therapy\u201d with Brent.\u00a0Jessica said that the court wanted to \u201cforce\u201d her kids to have a relationship with their father, and these therapy sessions \u201cwent on for years,\u201d which was \u201ctraumatic\u201d and caused more \u201cdamage\u201d to her kids. \u00a0<\/p>\nBrynlee (pictured in a live stream) made her first abuse allegation when she was seven. ABC\/Hulu<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nBrynlee (pictured in \u201cThe Nightmare Upstairs\u201d) and Ty barricaded and live streamed it so that they wouldn\u2019t \u201cbe taken.\u201d ABC\/Hulu<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIn 2023, when a judge ordered that Ty and Brynlee spend 90 days in a \u201creunification camp\u201d with Brent \u2014 without being allowed to contact Jessica \u2014 they responded with their barricade.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI chose to barricade because I was afraid for my life,\u201d Ty said in the doc, adding that it was an \u201cimpulse decision.\u201d\u00a0The teenager live streamed his experience because he \u201cknew the court wasn\u2019t going to listen,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs long as I was live streaming it, I wouldn\u2019t be taken.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In one of his videos, Ty said, \u201cThe court system isn\u2019t trying to save us. Nobody\u2019s trying to keep us safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Police came to their mother\u2019s house, with permission from the judge to use \u201creasonable force\u201d to remove Ty and Brynlee from Jessica\u2019s home to bring them to Brent. After conferring with their caption, the cops backed off.<\/p>\nTy (pictured in one of his life streams) said he barricaded because he was \u201cafraid for my life.\u201d ABC\/Hulu<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nReporter Hannah Dreyfus, who covered the case, said that she spent months reporting on how \u201cparental alienation\u201d was being used as an argument in court to \u201cinfluence custody decisions.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
What \u201cstood out\u201d about this case was how \u201cthe focus in the courtroom shifted from abuse to parental alienation,\u201d she noted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After the kids came out of their barricade, the judge gave Jessica full custody, but Brent was still given visitation, which made Ty \u201csick with anxiety,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The ordeal ended in 2024, when Brent voluntarily signed away his parental rights to Ty and Brynlee.\u00a0This came out of \u201cleft field\u201d for Jessica, she said, adding that she holds \u201cgratitude\u201d that Brent took that step.<\/p>\nBrent (pictured in video footage from the 2018 investigation) has denied the allegations. ABC\/Hulu<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nTy (pictured in \u201cThe Nightmare Upstairs\u201d) said he\u2019s found a good therapist. ABC\/Hulu<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nShortly after, Jessica\u2019s second husband, Aaron, formally adopted them, and Ty explained onscreen that he has since found a good therapist.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Both sides of the fight had been decimated by legal bills.<\/p>\n
Jessica estimated that she owes over $300,000.\u00a0\u201cI will be paying on that for probably the rest of my life,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jolleen said her family also still has legal bills, but didn\u2019t specify a number.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jolleen said her son signed away his parental rights because the constant court battles and emotional turmoil on the kids was \u201ctorture\u201d for everyone involved.\u00a0<\/p>\nPolice (pictured approaching Jessica Zahrt\u2019s home in 2023) ultimately backed off. ABC\/Hulu<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nTy and Brynlee (pictured in footage from their live streams) got adopted by their mom\u2019s second husband. ABC\/Hulu<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIn a video message to his kids, Brent said that it was \u201cthe hardest thing I\u2019d ever do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t watch my children endure more pain for something they did not or could not control,\u201d he said onscreen, referring to his claim that his kids had been brainwashed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He noted that his kids deserved more than what this \u201cbroken [court] system put us through.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMy greatest hope is that one day we will have the opportunity to reconnect,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Nightmare Upstairs: What Happened to Ty and Bryn?\u201d is now streaming on Hulu.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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