PLEASE BE ADVISED: This story contains subject matter that some may find upsetting. Listener discretion is advised.

In the sweltering bayous of southern Louisiana, Dwight “Jerome” Bergeron grew up hard. As a boy, he trapped raccoons, muskrats, and nutria for pocket money, learning survival before he ever learned opportunity. He left school in the 11th grade, trained in plumbing at Vo-Tech, and once dreamed of repairing helicopters in the Army, a dream that died when his recruiter told him his certificate wasn’t enough.

Instead, Dwight built a life for himself and his children on the bayou. But in the early 1990s, everything changed. His kids were removed from his home and placed with adoptive parents. Soon after, accusations surfaced, claims that Dwight had harmed the very children he loved. There was no physical evidence. Medical exams were inconclusive. But the state had some powerful words from his own children, testimony that was enough to secure his conviction.

Dwight was sentenced to life, while his partner Angela, under intense pressure from prosecutors, took a plea deal she said was forced upon her. Both went to prison.

Now, decades later, the children, now adults, have spoken. In sworn statements and letters, they insist their father never harmed them, that they were manipulated as kids, and that their testimony was built on lies told to keep them from returning home.

Dwight has spent his life behind bars maintaining his innocence, while his children fight to clear his name. Echoes from the Bayou is the story of a man condemned on the word of children, the family torn apart, and the haunting possibility that Louisiana’s justice system got it wrong.

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