One of the reasons I created the Crossing the Line podcast was to explore a difficult truth: many of the most important stories about abuse in schools come to light only because someone with a special understanding of the institution starts asking questions.
Episode two features one of those people.
In this conversation, I speak with investigative journalist Matt Drange, whose reporting uncovered troubling allegations involving educator sexual abuse at Rosemead High School in California. His work illustrates the essential role journalism can play in exposing abuse that might otherwise remain hidden inside institutions.
But for Matt, it was personal. He graduated from Rosemead High and one of the perpetrators was his high school journalism teacher.
Investigative reporting often begins with a simple question: What happened here?
But as Matt explains in our discussion, the answers are rarely simple. Stories involving educator misconduct frequently involve years of overlooked warning signs, institutional silence, and students who felt they had nowhere to turn.
Journalists occupy a unique space in these situations. They are not prosecutors or policymakers. But they can shine a light on patterns that demand public attention.
And sometimes that light forces change.
In our conversation, Matt talks about how reporters approach these stories, how victims and sources decide whether to speak, and why these cases require persistence, empathy, and careful verification.
What struck me most about the conversation is how often the same dynamics appear again and again: students who try to speak up, systems that hesitate, and the slow process of truth emerging.
This episode is a reminder that accountability doesn’t come from a single place. It comes from many directions — survivors, advocates, researchers, and sometimes reporters who refuse to let a story disappear.
Those efforts are often what allow the public to see what was previously hidden.
You can watch the full episode below.
Here are links to Matt’s reporting:
He was my high school journalism teacher. Then I investigated his relationships with teenage girls.