What happened to Robert Berchtold, the monster paedophile from Abducted in Plain Sight.

Content Warning – This post discusses sexual assault and may be triggering to some readers.

It’s the true crime story that everybody can’t stop talking about.

In the early 1970s, Jan Broberg was kidnapped by her own next door neighbour. Twice.

The man who abducted her was no stranger, however. In fact, Jan’s abductor Robert Berchtold was a close friend of Jan’s parents.

Watch the trailer for Netflix’s Abducted In Plain Sight here. Post continues below…

Over the course of a decade, Robert Berchtold manipulated Bob and Mary Ann Broberg, using intimidation and sexual blackmail to kidnap their 12-year-old daughter twice in a two-year period.

Their trust in Robert was incredibly strong. For days after Robert took off to Mexico with Jan in tow, Bob and Mary Ann did not report their daughter missing.

While she was gone, Jan was repeatedly drugged, brainwashed and sexually assaulted by her abductor. It’s also believed Robert “married” the child.

But although Jan was missing for five weeks, Bob and Mary Ann did not pursue legal action against Robert.

Just years later, Robert kidnapped Jan again.

Earlier this year, Netflix documentary Abducted in Plain Sight brought the disturbing true crime story and its infuriating details back into the spotlight once again.

Since the documentary was released earlier this year, many viewers have questioned what happened to Robert Berchtold in the years following the two kidnappings.

Although Jan's parents did not press charges the first time Jan was kidnapped, things were different the second time around.

The second time Robert kidnapped Jan, he took her to California where he moved her into a new school while posing as her father. It's believed Jan was away from her parents for at least four months.

Eventually, after an intense search involving the FBI, Robert was arrested.

Following his arrest, he served just 19 days in jail before spending another five months in a mental hospital.

After his release, Robert lost interest in Jan. She was now 16 years old, which Robert considered to be "too old".

Sadly, it wasn't until Jan was an adult that Robert truly faced the repercussions of his horrific actions.

In 2003, Jan Broberg and her mother released a book about their experience titled Stolen Innocence: The Jan Broberg Story.

Robert was furious. Not only did he file a lawsuit against the Broberg family, he also attempted to crash one of Jan's book talks in 2004.

Following the attempt, a group of bikers called Bikers Against Child Abuse began to offer Jan protection at her book talks.

Soon after, Robert clashed with the bikers at Jan's talk. Robert was charged with aggravated assault and possession of a firearm and Jan was granted a restraining order against her abuser for the rest of her life.

"I'm doing this because I want to protect families from monsters like you," Jan yelled at him, according to the Idaho State Journal.

Following the case, six other women came forward to accuse Robert of sexually abusing them as children.

The next year, in 2005, Robert Berchtold ended his own life as he feared the possibility of entering prison once again.

"Bob had gone to court that day and been found guilty," Berchtold's brother, Joe, said in the documentary.

"He says, 'If it's one day in prison, it's going to kill me. I'm not going there.' He had taken all his heart medicine and drank Kahlua and milk. He drank that and died."

Read more on this topic:

The chilling new Netflix true crime documentary every parent needs to watch.

"They were manipulated": Abducted In Plain Sight's Jan Broberg has defended her parents.

What the parents in Leaving Neverland and Abducted in Plain Sight have in common.