After two decades apart, Charlie Cobb found herself at her estranged mother Josephine’s doorstep, driven by the urgency of her mother’s grave illness and a desire to mend their fractured relationship before it was irreparable.

Yet, upon entering the familiar yet distant environment, years of suppressed pain surged within Charlie, overwhelming her resolve.

Anticipating a return to the bitter exchanges that had torn them apart, Charlie braced herself as her mother began to speak.

Recalling the moment, Charlie shares, “I warned Mum not to start… I was fed up with the legacy of what her father did to me.”

Instead of the expected confusion or confrontation, Charlie witnessed a surprising reaction. “Mum just covered her mouth with her hands and collapsed. She immediately grasped what I was about to reveal,” Charlie recounts.

Tears streaming down her face, Charlie finally disclosed the agonising secret she had kept for 40 years. Her late grandfather Clive, a retired naval captain, had repeatedly raped her between the ages of five and 12.

‘Mum seemed genuinely shocked,’ says Charlie. ‘She called him a monster.’

As a horrified Josephine comforted her daughter, she then stunned Charlie by revealing her own deeply buried secret: Clive had abused her too.

‘He’d raped her as a child and – just like me – told her never to tell anyone,’ says Charlie. ‘We cried so much. We were devastated for each other.’

But if Josephine had experienced this torture herself, why then had she put her young daughter at risk, too? It’s a question that, understandably, has plagued Charlie.

After all, the attacks hadn’t happened during family visits; on account of her younger brother suffering serious congenital heart disease, Charlie’s parents had actually sent her to live with her maternal grandparents, who offered a comfortable life complete with private education and ‘anything she wanted’. The arrangement allowed them to focus on their son’s care.

‘I feel I’m back to me now. At 47, this is the best I’ve felt – like a huge weight has lifted. I have never felt more alive.’ 

Charlie’s grandfather Clive, a retired naval captain, raped her between the ages of five and 12. Sometimes he took her to another house where she was assaulted by two other men

‘I was initially furious Mum had sent me to live with him despite what he’d done to her,’ says Charlie, now 47, from Catherington, near Portsmouth. ‘I could have been spared what happened.

‘I would never have put my own child in that position. I asked her: “Why didn’t you say anything?” But she was so frail. Every time I broached the subject she would clutch her chest and I didn’t want to push it.’

In the end it was her mother’s sickening confession that triggered a turning point for Charlie. Not only did it spur her on to inform police, but she is now throwing off the shame that dogged her for so long to speak publicly. Her hope is that her story will help other young victims of abuse.

She is also campaigning for stricter ‘kinship care’ laws, alongside her MP Damian Hinds. The law dictates that children should be raised within their family network wherever possible, and these are often private, informal arrangements between parents and relatives such as grandparents or aunts and uncles. Had Charlie been put in foster care, her carers would have been subjected to safeguarding checks, but historically, there have been no such protective measures for those looked after by family members.

‘I didn’t exist in the system,’ she says. ‘To the outside world I was a child from a privileged, comfortable home. I’d fallen through the cracks.’

Talking from the Hampshire home she shares with husband Darren, 56, a financial adviser, and son Callum, 22, Charlie, now an HR adviser, says the roots of her ordeal began when she was two. That’s when her baby brother Ian, 17 months her junior, was diagnosed with the serious congenital heart condition known as Tetralogy of Fallot.

He required round-the-clock care so Charlie’s dad, Joe, a naval officer, and Josephine, a stay-at-home mum, moved from their home in Manchester to Portsmouth to be near Josephine’s parents for support.

Charlie was five when her parents sent her to live with her grandfather, Clive, then in his 60s, and grandmother, Valerie, in her 50s, two roads away.

‘That way they could focus on Ian and be assured I was still given attention,’ explains Charlie. ‘They desperately needed help.’

Her grandparents made sure a young Charlie wanted for nothing. She was sent to private school and even had a television in her bedroom. ‘If I wanted something, I got it,’ she says.

Charlie doesn’t remember the first time Clive came into her room at night to abuse her, she was so young. ‘A lot of it is hazy, and I have simply blocked it out’

Charlie with her grandfather and grandmother Valerie, a quietly naive stay-at-home mum, who had no idea what was happening

But there was little emotional warmth between her grandparents, she now realises. The three ate their meals separately and her grandparents had separate living rooms. ‘They didn’t go to bed together either. I was their world.’ So young at the time, Charlie doesn’t remember the first time Clive came into her room at night to abuse her. ‘A lot of it is hazy, and I have simply blocked it out,’ she says.

Nor did she understand, of course, that Clive was raping her. ‘I can only tell you about the pain. He was always on top of me. Afterwards, I hurt a lot. I used to take days to heal.’

But Clive convinced Charlie what happened was for Ian’s good. ‘He would tell me what I was doing was important. That he was looking after me, and me being there was helping my mum and dad get my brother better. He knew my brother meant everything to me.’

As a defenceless child who simply longed to see her family back together, Charlie had no reason to distrust him. ‘You don’t question it.’

She is sure her grandmother, a quietly naive stay-at-home mum, had no idea what was happening.

While her dad picked her up from school every day, he tended to keep her ‘hidden’ from her mother, who had turned to alcohol to cope with the enormity of caring for their desperately ill son: ‘She was drinking all the time and Dad didn’t want me to see that. She was like a stranger to me.’

Meanwhile, Clive lavished Charlie with both attention and gifts, buying her treats like shoes and stickers. ‘I was told I was amazing and beautiful. I wasn’t getting that from my parents, so he fed a need, and I became dependent on him. I would feel so confused, because obviously I loved him.’

He raped her every week. ‘It was so often, all of the time, they all merge into one experience. I’d be too petrified to speak.’ She put a blanket over her head as he assaulted her and became scared of the dark. ‘Even now, I have to have a light on to feel safe,’ she says quietly.

But that wasn’t the worst of her grandfather’s depravity. Sometimes he took her to another house in Portsmouth where she was assaulted by two other men. ‘I remember being in the house with no clothes on. And I remember hurting.’

She became withdrawn, explaining sadly: ‘I had no personality at all during those years.’ The fear of something happening to her brother kept her compliant, though.

Charlie became withdrawn, saying ‘I had no personality at all during those years’

Now happily married, Charlie is a foster mother to 15 and, having overcome breast cancer, has made the finals of Miss Great Britain’s Classic Division, for over 40s, for the third time this year

When Charlie was around seven, her brother was put in hospital. Convinced it was somehow her fault – Clive had, after all, said that the abuse he meted out was their way of helping to make Ian better – she told her grandfather she would tell a nurse that Ian’s illness was down to her.

In response, he ripped the head off her teddy bear – a chilling reminder of his threats that she should never tell a soul what he did to her at night. She recalls: ‘Naturally, I was inconsolable.’

Meanwhile Charlie only saw Ian, who was at a special needs school, every few months. ‘Dad would bring him to the house or to the park or I’d help take him swimming,’ says Charlie. ‘I would ache to see him.’

By the start of secondary school, it dawned on Charlie that what was happening to her was gravely wrong. Before she could do anything about it, Clive was diagnosed with leukaemia when she was 12. When treatment failed, he was admitted to hospital and Charlie remembers holding his hand, and being asked to say goodbye: ‘He said he was sorry and that he loved me.’

After Clive’s death, she felt a complex mix of relief and grief. As ‘a cry for help’, she started drinking and taking drugs such as cannabis, amphetamines and ecstasy in her early teens.

Lonely and confused, she had only her grandmother for company. She didn’t see her mother for months at a time, and didn’t know how to tell her father she was struggling.

‘By this point I was a disappointment… and Ian’s health was deteriorating.’

After enduring so much pain already in her short life, she suffered unbearable grief at 17, when Ian died. ‘The guilt was dreadful – I still thought it must be something I’d done. And I had loved him so much.’

She stopped taking drugs, but she continued drinking and embarked on a period of casual sex. Then in 2001, aged 22, she met her future husband Darren. Introduced by her grandmother, it was suggested he might help her sort her finances. ‘He was kind, calm, and reassuring,’ she smiles.

Darren was also the only person she’d been intimate with sober. ‘For the first few months, I couldn’t even look at him – I had to put a pillow over my face when we made love. I said I found sex difficult. He thought it was odd but was incredibly patient with me.’

Baby Callum was born in 2003. Motherhood was a turning point for Charlie, not only giving her a sense of purpose and curtailing her drinking but making her question her own childhood for the first time.

Charlie is campaigning for stricter kinship care laws, alongside her MP Damian Hinds

‘I’d look at Callum and think, how could my little body have coped?’ Witnessing his fear during a thunderstorm in the night, it sunk in how scared she must have been as a child separated from her parents. ‘The realisation of what had happened to me started to hit home.’

When her grandmother died in May 2010 she felt ‘release’, she says: ‘The last connection I had to my grandfather was gone.’

Only then did Charlie start telling Darren – who she married that September – about her childhood. It was the first time she had confided in anyone and dredging up the past, a process that took years, was both liberating and depressing. ‘He listened and took me to counselling.’

By this time, she had lost contact with her father, who stayed with her mother despite her drinking. ‘I didn’t understand why he put up with it.’ He died of Alzheimer’s in 2014.

In 2016, group therapy at a rape crisis centre with other survivors of sexual abuse proved pivotal. ‘We were sharing similar risky behaviours. I was slowly starting to feel this wasn’t my fault,’ says Charlie, who had by then begun her career in HR. ‘All these things I’d done had been by-products of what had happened to me.’

The same year, she saw an advert for fostering. It was at the time that the extent of television presenter Jimmy Savile’s horrific abuse of children in care was unfolding.

‘I was angry,’ says Charlie. ‘I thought I could look after children better than those in the stories that were emerging.’ She and Darren soon took in their first foster child and Charlie has now been a foster mother to 15 children.

Two years later, at 39, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. During her fourth round of chemotherapy, she saw another TV advert, this time for the Truth Project. Part of the government’s Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, the project invited survivors of historical sexual abuse to tell their story. In an incredible act of courage, Charlie spoke to the panel of social workers from her hospital bed via a video link.

‘I remember being out of breath, and they kept saying, “We can stop”. But I thought: “I have to tell you this. I have to get my story out.”’

Charlie’s was one of around 6,000 stories heard. ‘Telling it gave me confidence but also fuelled an anger, because I realised how many other children had been let down,’ she says.

In January 2024, aged 45, in remission and having recently had breast reconstruction surgery, she read an article on beauty pageants for over 40s. In addition to fashion rounds, contestants in Miss Great Britain Classic Division had to tell judges how, if successful, they hoped to use the platform to make an impact. ‘I had a vision to raise awareness of children who had been through abuse.’

She entered and made the finals in 2024, and again last year, her self-esteem building as she became more confident discussing her childhood. ‘I felt accepted.’

That in turn helped give her the strength to approach her mother last May, after a neighbour texted her to say Josephine was ill; she was struggling to walk, was hard of hearing and noticeably frail.

Charlie had avoided all contact despite only living ten miles apart and, by this point, Josephine had been sober for around a decade. ‘But she was so frail,’ says Charlie, through tears.

Josephine told her daughter that she was six when her father first got into bed with her and ‘put his hand over her mouth and raped her’. ‘That went on regularly, after that point,’ she added.

Charlie again felt fury that her mother had put her in harm’s way, but then she realised Josephine had been manipulated too. ‘I knew how dependent I was on him, so I could only imagine what she felt like. She had this monster telling her it would be all right.’

After spending a couple of days together, such was Charlie’s understanding and forgiveness that she moved Josephine into her family home: ‘It was the right thing to do. She needed care. We both needed time together.’ Last autumn, Charlie finally found the strength to report what had happened to Hampshire Police via an online form, naming the two other men her grandfather had taken her to. A decision her mother fully supported.

Within 24 hours a police officer called her. One of the men was known to police as part of Operation Amberstone, an inquiry into historic sexual abuse, and had served time in prison for sexual offences. ‘The officer had no doubt I was telling the truth.’

Police were prepared to try to prosecute, but her abuser was 83 and ill, and Charlie decided the trauma of reliving her ordeal in court wasn’t worth it. ‘That person is never going to serve a sentence. For me, being believed lifts the sentence I’ve been given. Being vindicated made me feel I have a platform to help others.’

Josephine died of diabetic complications in January this year, aged 83.

‘I told her I loved her,’ Charlie says. ‘I wished we’d had more time together.

‘For a long time, I thought she had abandoned me, but I see clearly now that she was a victim, too.’

Charlie has made the finals of Miss Great Britain Classic for a third time this year, sponsored by her fostering agency, TheraParent Fostering. She hopes she can tell her story to a wider audience on stage to help others ‘shed the shame’.

She concludes with the conviction: ‘My grandfather was a monster and what happened wasn’t my fault. I feel I’m back to me now.

‘At 47, this is the best I’ve felt – as if a huge weight has lifted. I have never felt more alive.’

Additional reporting: Matthew Barbour

If you have been affected by the issues raised in this article, the NSPCC helpline can be reached on 0808 800 5000.

In today’s baseball landscape, the game is often dominated by analytics, detailed scouting reports, and a maze of spreadsheets. Yet, there are players whose unique qualities defy quantification by data. Miguel Rojas, the hero of the Dodgers’ 2025 World Series victory, is one such player, thriving in areas that statistics fail to capture.

Recently, Rojas took to Instagram to remind fans of his memorable contribution. He commented on a post by ESPN’s Jeff Passan, who shared a video clip of a conversation between Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts and Blue Jays manager John Schneider. The two were reflecting on the dramatic Game 7 of the 2025 World Series.

During the interview, Schneider candidly discussed the analytics that had guided their strategy in the matchup between Blue Jays pitcher Jeff Hoffman and Rojas. According to the data, Toronto had a favorable projection for this duel.

“I can say this, and it is no offense to anyone, that Hoffman vs. Rojas was the best on the sheet,” Schneider admitted. “Our projections suggested a ground out, pop out, or fly out. It wasn’t a guaranteed strikeout, but it was expected to follow that direction—not the actual result we saw.”

“I can say this, and it is no offense to anyone, that Hoffman vs. Rojas was the best on the sheet,” said Schneider. “Part of our projection was ground out, pop out or fly out. It’s not like a slam dunk punch out, but it was something like that, not the actual outcome.” 

ROOSEVELT ISLAND — Across New York City, cherry blossoms are in full bloom, creating a vibrant spectacle from Central Park to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Nestled in the East River between Manhattan and Queens, Roosevelt Island emerges as one of the city’s top destinations for admiring these stunning pink blooms.

This island boasts the city’s most abundant display of cherry blossom trees.

Over 100 trees are currently awash with colorful blossoms, attracting visitors from all corners of the world during this time of year.

As the island welcomes a surge of admirers, a dedicated group known as the “Petal Protectors” is working diligently to safeguard the cherished cherry trees.

“We are trying to protect cherry blossom plants,” Petal Protector Kavita Rani said.

The volunteers live on the island and can be seen wearing authoritative pink vests.

They’re trying to protect the trees from visitors who pull on branches or petals, climb on them or sometimes worse.

“They grab hold of them and pull them down. Sometimes get on somebody’s shoulders and pull them down and break them,” Bonnie Cordova said.

“We saw somebody who brought a step ladder just to cut down some branches,” Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation’s Bryant Daniels said.

The Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation started the initiative last year not only as a way to protect the cherry trees, but to also to promote all the island has to offer.

Social media did most of the marketing.

Sometimes it’s also the reason why the trees need protectors.

“Most people are pretty respectful. Every now and then you get some folks who don’t want their Instagram photo ruined but by and large, people are pretty respectful,” Daniels said.

EXCLUSIVE: A forthcoming book sheds light on how Bryan Kohberger’s defense strategy might have unfolded in the Idaho student murders case, had he not altered his plea just weeks before the trial. The book suggests that the defense could have contested the admissibility of critical evidence, specifically a Ka-Bar knife sheath.

Christopher Whitcomb’s “Broken Plea: The Explosive Search for Truth Behind the Idaho Murders” relies on previously undisclosed expert analyses and documents that were not brought to light in court after Kohberger admitted guilt shortly before his trial was set to begin.

In an exclusive discussion with Fox News Digital, Whitcomb disclosed that a defense specialist had identified substantial issues with the chain of custody concerning the sheath discovered on victim Madison Mogen’s bed.

Bryan Kohberger was seen arriving at Monroe County Courthouse in Pennsylvania for his extradition hearing before being transferred to Idaho. On July 2, 2025, he confessed to the murders of University of Idaho students Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin, after spending over two years in custody pending trial. (The Image Direct for Fox News Digital)

“One could argue convincingly that the chain of custody potentially posed major challenges for the prosecution regarding any DNA evidence,” Whitcomb noted. “Without such evidence, the case would largely rely on the presence of a white car and cell phone tower pings.” He further explained, “This custody issue represents the most significant hurdle the prosecution might have faced.”

Brent Turvey, a criminologist and forensic scientist hired by the defense, said he became aware of the chain of custody issue after filing his expert report to meet a court deadline.

Bryan Kohberger appears at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, on July 2, 2025, charged in the murders of four University of Idaho students. (Kyle Green/AP)

“If this had gone to trial, this piece of evidence should have, by any competent jurist, been ruled inadmissible,” he said of the sheath. “In most cases, in most jurisdictions, it would be.”

No judge or jury has evaluated that claim.

“The problem is a chain of custody form is supposed to be something that is created live,” Turvey said Wednesday. “So, if I take a bag of evidence and I retrieve it, I sign that I’ve retrieved it, put my signature on it, the date, you know, that kind of stuff.”

The evidence bag appears to have been filled in twice. Once on the bag itself, and later on a sticker attached to the front.

This split image shows two undated photos of an evidence bag that author Christopher Whitcomb says contained the Ka-Bar knife sheath, the prosecution’s main physical evidence against Bryan Kohberger. The earliest date written on it, along the evidence sticker, is 11/14/22, signed with the initials “BP” — likely lead detective Brett Payne. Whitcomb’s new book, “Broken Plea,” raises concerns about the chain of custody of this evidence. (Courtesy of Christopher Whitcomb)

The earliest date visible on the bag are the initials “BP,” likely belonging to lead detective Brett Payne, and the date “11/14/22,” written over the evidence tape sealing the bag. Another signature appears to be from Shannon Arredondo, a forensic specialist with the Idaho State Police crime lab, signed and dated the bag again on Nov. 16. The label, affixed sometime later, has six recorded exchanges between Nov. 13 and Nov. 16 written by a single pen in similar handwriting, according to Turvey.

Kohberger’s defense team, led by Idaho attorney Anne Taylor, did not pursue his findings before the plea deal, however, Whitcomb said. She did not respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

There are significant issues with motive, means, mechanism. There are so, so many screaming questions that nobody will ever have answers to.

— Christopher Whitcomb, author

If the paper trail is flawed as alleged, that doesn’t necessarily mean investigators botched the case, said Paul Mauro, a retired NYPD inspector and Fox News contributor.

“But what it could point to is that is a vulnerability in the case, so they take a plea,” he said. “They could have been concerned about losing a juror on that. On the other hand it’s very indicative of what you do when you have absolutely no defense, you put the procedure on trial, instead of the facts.”

Mauro, after reviewing images of the evidence bag, said he didn’t see a significant problem for the prosecution.

That’s just one element of Kohberger’s defense that never faced jury scrutiny, and Whitcomb said he reviewed thousands of pages of additional documents that he didn’t have room to write about.

University of Idaho students Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, and two other housemates pose in the final photo shared by Goncalves on Instagram before four students were fatally stabbed in November 2022. (Facebook)

A second key element in “Broken Plea” is speculation surrounding wisps of hair photographed at the crime scene in, or at least beneath, Ethan Chapin’s hand.

“To the best of my knowledge, that hair to this day has never been processed or tested,” Whitcomb told Fox News Digital.

Turvey, a senior partner at Forensic Solutions LLC who has testified at more than 70 trials, found the hair when he traveled to Moscow, Idaho, to review evidence in person.

A watchman is parked outside 1122 King Road on Dec. 11, 2022, four weeks after four students were stabbed to death inside. The property is scheduled for demolition a year later, though critics say it should remain until the suspect’s trial. (Michael Ruiz/Fox News Digital)

“The FBI lab said Kohberger is excluded,” Turvey told Fox News Digital. “This is not his hair.”

As to who it belongs to, the answer remains unclear.

“When I saw this information, it changed my perspective on everything, and that’s how it started,” Whitcomb said, describing his motivation to write the book.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Idaho State Police and the Moscow Police Department for comment.

The author is a former member of the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team and early member of the bureau’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Program. He plays in a band, spent years as a journalist and congressional speechwriter, and has written a half-dozen other books.

An evidence photo from the Moscow Police Department shows a KA-BAR knife sheath believed to have housed the knife Bryan Kohberger used to murder four University of Idaho students in November 2022. (Moscow Police Department)

“I don’t feel it’s my place to challenge what [Kohberger] told the world,” he said in an interview Tuesday. “I’m not saying this is a wrongful conviction. He pleaded guilty. He’s a well-educated, intelligent, grown man.”

Jurors never had a chance to weigh in after Kohberger’s unexpected guilty plea last year, when he admitted to the Nov. 13, 2022, murders of Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Chapin, 20.

The plea landed him in prison for the rest of his life, with no chance of parole, but he avoided the death penalty. He offered no explanation for the crimes, shared no motive and offered no new information.

Prosecutors have said Kohberger remained inside for about 15 minutes, although the initial police affidavit doesn’t describe the exact time he went into the house. Whitcomb notes the defense narrative that the attacks took place in less than five, inconsistent with the hours Turvey suspects the crime scene cleanup would have taken.

While there were many outside experts on the case, Whitcomb focuses on three, T. Paulette Sutton, a forensic scientist specializing in blood spatter analysis for the prosecution; Turvey, for the defense; and Christopher Holland, a retired FBI agent and forensic criminologist also working for the defense.

Sutton, who did not respond to a request for comment, concluded in her peer-reviewed report that there was “no physical evidence to exclude a single perpetrator causing the death of these four individuals.” Turvey believes there were at least two.

Both of their reports have been reviewed by Fox News Digital. They contain graphic crime scene images not suitable for publication.

Bryan Kohberger is housed at the Idaho State Correctional Complex in Kuna, Idaho, after being sentenced for the 2022 stabbing murders of four University of Idaho students. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)

Whitcomb also obtained access to materials not mentioned in the book, which he told Fox News Digital include images of the evidence bag containing the Ka-Bar sheath, one with a chain of custody form attached and one without.

Whitcomb raised a number of issues that Taylor and the rest of Kohberger’s defense team never got a chance to present to a jury.

Kohberger pleaded guilty on July 2, 2025, admitting to all four murders and felony burglary in a deal that spared him from the potential death penalty.

On the night of the murders, he searched Google for local police dispatch audio, according to public records tied to the case. He powered off his phone before the murders and turned it back on after them. While investigators found none of the victim’s DNA in his car after they seized it in Pennsylvania, an FBI analyst determined soil on a shovel found inside it matched dirt from the Moscow area.

At sentencing, he sat through victim impact statements showing no emotion, as the victims’ families and surviving roommates excoriated him in their impact statements.

“Truth be told, I’m unable to come up with anything redeeming about Mr. Kohberger,” Judge Steven Hippler said at the hearing. “His grotesque acts of evil have buried and hidden anything that might have been good or intrinsically human about him.”

Cpl. Brett Payne of the Moscow Police Department and Lt. Darren Gilbertson of the Idaho State Police speak to the media during a press conference at the Ada County Courthouse after Bryan Kohberger’s sentencing on July 23, 2025. (Kyle Green/Associated Press)

Hippler handed down a sentence of four consecutive terms of life in prison with no parole, plus another 10 years.

As part of the plea, Kohberger forfeited his right to appeal.

The case’s lead detectives, Idaho State Police Lt. Darren Gilbertson and Moscow Police Cpl. Brett Payne, said afterward they still didn’t know his motive.

“Why did he take the plea?” Turvey asked in a conversation Wednesday. “I don’t know. I never met him.”

By design, he does not meet with defendants whose cases he’s working on, he said. But he is aware the defense made arguments about Kohberger’s mental health and capacity.

“He was not in a good space to make those kinds of decisions, and that was their argument the whole time,” he said. “So the idea that you would go in and get him to take a plea when he doesn’t know everything, doesn’t understand it… Well that’s a problem.”

“Broken Plea” is in stores on April 28.

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A journalist from Condé Nast, who owns a striking $2.2 million brownstone in Brooklyn, has openly confessed to shoplifting, asserting that taking from corporations is not ‘morally wrong’.

Jia Tolentino, a contributor to The New Yorker, at 37, has argued that pilfering food items from Whole Foods Market is inconsequential. According to her, the supermarket—owned by Amazon’s billionaire Jeff Bezos—can absorb the losses due to its alleged mistreatment of workers.

During a discussion with The New York Times alongside millionaire communist Hasan Piker and culture editor Nadja Spiegelman, she revealed her habit of stealing small items, like lemons, in the context of a conversation about the increasing trend of ‘micro-looting’.

Tolentino, who has been with Vogue’s publisher Condé Nast since 2016, mentioned that there are certain products she wouldn’t hesitate to take, including sharing her Netflix password and downloading music from others’ Spotify accounts.

She expressed support for those who steal invaluable art from the Louvre, emphasizing that her views on theft largely depend on the identity of the victim.

‘I think that stealing from a big box store is not a very significant moral wrong,’ she said. ‘However, nor is it significant in any way as protest or direct action.’ 

‘But I did steal from Whole Foods on several occasions,’ said Tolentino, who has written two successful books. 

Putting a woke and self-serving spin on her lawbreaking, Tolentino told of stealing from Whole Foods while involved with her neighborhood ‘mutual aid’ group that saw her go shopping for a friend called ‘Miss Nancy.’ 

Jia Tolentino, a writer at the New Yorker, proudly admitted to shoplifting because she believes it is not ‘morally wrong’ to steal from corporations

Tolentino lives in an opulent $2.2 million brownstone in Brooklyn, but argued this week that said she doesn’t believe it is a ‘moral wrong’ to steal from rich corporations – and added that she would ‘cheer on’ anyone stealing priceless art from the Louvre

Tolentino said when she would pick up food for her friend, she forgot items like lemons and decided to steal them rather than going through the hassle of standing in line to check out again. 

‘I forgot four lemons. And on several occasions I was like, I’m just going to go back, grab those four lemons and get the hell out,’ she said. 

‘But I didn’t feel bad about it at all.’ 

Tolentino sought to further justify her stealing by claiming that Whole Foods loses as much stock to its staff as it does to shoppers and implied that workers’ alleged mistreatment justified her antics.

‘These companies expect (stealing) from their employees that they are disenfranchising constantly,’ Tolentino said.  

Tolentino, a staff writer at the New Yorker, lives in a sprawling five-bed, four-bath brownstone home in Brooklyn’s desirable Clinton Hill neighborhood, public records show. 

The property sits a few blocks away from a Food Emporium supermarket and Family Dollar store – although Tolentino did not say whether she has stolen from those too.  

Tolentino made the admission to the New York Times in a sit-down with culture editor Nadja Spiegelman, in a conversation about ‘why petty theft might be the new political protest’

The author, who is married to architect Andrew Daley, 40, bought the gorgeous brownstone with a $1.5 million mortgage in 2023. 

The privileged pair also own a second home in the ritzy upstate New York town of Saugerties, a cabin bought with a $200,000 mortgage in 2018 that is now worth almost $500,000. 

Asked if her lack of guilt was based on how she felt about Whole Foods as a corporation, Tolentino responded: ‘Yeah. It already felt like a bit of a compromise.’ 

‘At the time I was like, I had not been to Whole Foods. I had a bit more consumer discipline about where I was spending my money then, and I already felt like I was in the hole, even by shopping there,’ she said. 

‘And it certainly felt, in a utilitarian sense, I was like, this is not a big deal.’ 

Piker – a self-described pro-Communism activist who has sparked backlash for often wearing expensive clothing and taking luxury trips – then chimed in to say he is ‘pro stealing from big corporations.’ 

The conversation was widely criticized even by the New York Times’ own famously-liberal readers, who flooded the outlet’s comment section to share their disgust with their pro-stealing opinions. 

Tolentino made the shocking argument in favor of shoplifting in a conversation with avowed communist Hasan Piker 

‘You are all part of the problem,’ one commenter wrote. 

‘Can we all agree to crack down on the wealthy stealing instead of approving of everyone else stealing too? It’s just wrong.’ 

 Another described the opinion piece from the Times as ‘appalling’, and argued that ‘retail theft hurts everyone’ including their employees. 

‘If you can’t afford Whole Foods, go somewhere less expensive,’ they wrote. ‘Everyone should have food access but no one is entitled to shop at stores out of their price range and then steal items… Go without the lemons – sheesh!’

A commenter from Brooklyn added: ‘Gosh. I disagree with so much of the sentiment here. 

‘There will always be injustice, unfairness, unethical-ness and there has always been. To use that as an excuse to surrender your own moral principles and justify partaking in what you know to be wrong, is madness and bad for everyone. 

‘These folks have lost the plot.’ 

The Daily Mail has contacted the New Yorker, The New York Times, and Tolentino for comment.’