In this episode of Rotten Mango, guest Lisa Plumb discusses her experience of childhood sexual abuse within her family and at Glen Eden nudist camp. She shares her journey through the legal system in attempting to hold her abusers accountable, describing the challenges she encountered with Megan's Law enforcement and the limitations of legal proceedings.
The discussion also covers Plumb's path to recovery, including her work in martial arts and her transition to becoming a therapist who helps other trauma survivors. She addresses systemic issues at nudist camps that can enable abuse, including insufficient protective measures for minors, and describes her efforts to implement stronger safeguards through policy changes at these facilities.

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Lisa Plumb shares her story of enduring childhood sexual abuse from multiple perpetrators within her family and community. Starting at age five, Lisa experienced abuse from her mother's boyfriends, including John and Larry Feldman, who used manipulation tactics to exploit her. Her stepfather Don Gordon, along with his girlfriend Jodie, continued the pattern of abuse at Glen Eden nudist camp. Lisa also discusses her father's questionable behavior, including his possession of pedophilic materials and failure to protect his children.
In her pursuit of justice, Lisa encountered significant obstacles within the legal system. She discovered that many of her abusers exploited loopholes to avoid registry requirements under Megan's Law, and enforcement of restrictions was often lax. Her attempts to testify against her abusers were frequently thwarted by sudden guilty pleas, and the legal process itself proved re-traumatizing without adequate support. These systemic failures led Lisa to contemplate vigilante action, though she ultimately chose not to pursue this path.
Lisa's path to recovery included various therapeutic approaches, with martial arts playing a crucial role in managing her PTSD and rebuilding confidence. She found strength through protective relationships and support groups, eventually becoming a therapist herself. Lisa emphasizes the importance of therapists engaging in their own healing work, drawing from her personal experience to help other trauma survivors.
Through her experiences at Glen Eden Sun Club, Lisa reveals how nudist camps can become hunting grounds for predators. She describes an environment of lax rules and minimal accountability that enabled abuse to occur unchecked. Lisa has initiated a campaign to ban children from nudist resorts, highlighting the systemic issues that make these spaces potentially dangerous for minors. The presence of individuals known as "COG" (Creepy Outside Guys) underscores the camps' awareness of predatory behavior, despite insufficient protective measures.
1-Page Summary
Lisa Plumb openly shares her harrowing history of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of multiple abusers, revealing a disturbing pattern of exploitation and neglect within her own family and community.
Lisa Plumb suffered abuse as a child, starting with her mother's boyfriend, John, who used crayons and coloring books to lure Lisa into a false sense of security before molesting her. Her sister walked in on one such incident, and it seemed to upset her. At that time, Lisa was nine, and it led to a kitchen conversation with their parents about the abuse. John even went as far as threatening to kill Lisa's mother if she disclosed the abuse to anyone.
Lisa's mother also had a boyfriend named Larry Feldman, who encouraged the family to visit Glen Eden nudist camp when Lisa was only five years old. Lisa, along with her brother and sister, was horrified by the idea but was forced to participate. Larry not only failed to protect the children but also actively involved them in sexualized environments. Lisa recalls a disturbing incident of being sexually abused on the kitchen table by Larry, while her brother was instructed to take pictures.
Glen Eden became a site of further abuse for Lisa, who was molested by her stepfather, Don Gordon. She details how Don Gordon, with his girlfriend Jodie, would manipulate her into sexual acts, using grooming tactics to normalize the exploitation. Don Gordon even insinuated that Lisa wanted to have sexual relations with him, an idea he shared openly with Jodie, who did not protect Lisa. Instead, Jodie suggested that if Lisa had a good father, she would want him, deepening the trauma of the abusive dynamic.
Don and Jodie's manipulation extended to telling Lisa that her mother was crazy, increasing her isolation and vulnerability. Lisa describes how sexual abuse frequently occurred at the nudist camp, with Don taking pictures of her and other girls, further highlighting the lack of protection and complicity in the community.
Don Gordon, identified as a predator with numerous charges against him, including assault on minors, claimed he abused children because he wanted to be a father figure. Lisa mentions her connection to both Don and Jodie, while also associating her experiences with a photographer known for killing children.
Lisa discusses her father's questionable attitude regarding ...
Lisa Plumb's Childhood Sexual Abuse Experiences
The narrative of Lisa confronting her abusers reveals a fraught journey marked by systemic obstacles and personal trauma.
In her attempts to confirm the release of abusers like Don Gordon into her neighborhood, Lisa encountered significant shortcomings in the system. Despite the intention of laws like Megan's Law to inform the public, the lack of full address disclosure and the need to visit the sheriff's office for information created barriers for Lisa. She discovered that individuals like Jodi Jones (or Jodi Gordon, after marrying to avoid testifying against each other) were not on the offender registry despite their sentencing requirements. Moreover, even when an abuser, such as Jodi Throckmorton, was supposed to be registered and restricted from certain jobs like in-home health care aid, enforcement was lax, allowing these individuals to continue potentially harmful behavior. Lisa’s vigilance was compounded when she found one of her abusers, Jody, who was supposed to be on Megan's Law, in her vicinity, underlining the inefficacy of legal measures.
Lisa found the legal system frustratingly opaque when it came to holding her abusers accountable. Despite abusers like Glenn and Jody exploiting loopholes to get off Megan's Law, there was scant communication about their status. When authorities in Illinois were alerted about an abuser's high-risk status, there was no follow-up action. The legal efforts Lisa participated in, such as preparing to testify for another of her abuser's recent victims, were often negated by abrupt guilty pleas that nullified the need for her testimony. Lisa recounts b ...
Lisa's Efforts to Hold Her Abusers Accountable
Lisa shares her story of triumph over childhood trauma and her path to becoming a therapist who helps others heal from similar experiences.
While Lisa does not specifically itemize her struggles with depression, anxiety, and PTSD from abuse in her memoir, the references to therapy and understanding early memories signal her profound engagement with healing. Her experiences also emerge during a period of postpartum depression when earlier traumas resurfaced, creating cravings for substances that she had managed to quit at 18.
Martial arts have been vital in Lisa's recovery, providing her not only with emotional strength but also aiding in the rewiring of her nervous system. She gained confidence through this practice, which helped her manage her PTSD. Further reinforcement came from reading Judith Herman's work on recovery and listening to Gabor Mate, highlighting martial arts as a therapeutic method. Lisa's involvement in the 12-step program and abuse recovery groups also played a role in her journey.
Lisa identified protective influences that mitigated the impact of her early adversities and recognizes the role of supportive relationships in healing. Having someone like 'Rei,' a protective figure from her past, proved crucial for her survival. These relationships modeled the empathy and validation she lacked from her mother, who struggled with psychological issues and lacked empathy. Lisa underscores the concept of validation and the power of being heard, recognizing the importance of hope and believing in a positive future.
Lisa emphasizes that as she educated herself to become a therapist, understanding the science of abuse was not just academic—it was a personal endeavor to deconstruct false beliefs and overcome anxiety to the extent that she could genuinely connect with others. In her practice, Lisa relates to many of her clients and ensures she continues to work on h ...
Lisa's Healing Journey and Becoming a Therapist
Lisa Plumb's distressing personal history exposes the dark underbelly of nudist camps where children's presence may enable sexual predators.
Lisa Plumb's experiences at Glen Eden Sun Club, a nudist camp she was taken to by an acquaintance of her mother, highlight the dangers these environments can pose to children. She describes being required to be completely nude, with the camp's culture discouraging even the temporary use of towels. Plumb indicates that nudist camps may serve as magnets for those with ill intentions towards minors. She herself fell victim to pedophiles, experiencing firsthand how such camps become prime territories for predatory behavior.
The alarming backdrop of her childhood trauma has propelled Plumb to push for a campaign that would ban children from nudist resorts, seeing it as a critical move to protect children from potential harm. She's started the research phase and reached out to politicians for this cause but hasn't received a response. The support from other victims reinforces her belief in the necessity of such a law.
Plumb’s troubling revelations extend beyond her personal narrative, hinting at systemic issues within the operation of nudist camps. She discusses the lenient rules and a glaring absence of accountability, which could allow sexual abuse to occur undetected. Notably, such camps had lax safeguards against potential abuse, illustrated by the ease of her perpetrators’ entry into the camp using a letter from her mother. She recounts that other adults present at the camp didn't intervene when openly inappropriate behavior occurred. Stephanie Soo notes the term "COG" (Creepy Outside Guys), illuminating the camps' awareness of the problem, yet there appears to be insufficient ac ...
The Issue of Nudist Camps Enabling Child Abuse
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