‘Little People, Big World’: Jacob Roloff Says He Was Molested by Show Producer

Former Little People, Big World star Jacob Roloff took to Instagram on Tuesday evening to share a major accusation against one of the members of the production team on the TLC series. In a lengthy message, Roloff claimed that he was molested by Chris Cardamone, an executive field producer on Little People, Big World. He went on to write that he will not be sharing any details about this alleged encounter at any point publicly. Roloff wrote that he hopes that Cardamone is “never allowed around children again.”

Roloff wrote that he initially began to think about releasing a statement back in November 2015 after Cardamone texted him years after the alleged incident. He wrote that he is disclosing this information now “as it remains a traumatic memory that needs to be exorcised of any further power over my development.” He continued: “By revealing this, I may be more fully understood and my perspective on issues such as child sexual abuse, child exploitation, and the collateral costs of reality television may be received more clearly. Although, I would have to add that this experience has not solely defined my point of view on any of these issues, nor has it defined my worldview in general.”

Roloff also addressed why he didn’t come forward sooner with this accusation, noting that “a child must process” and that he needed “silence and time” to deal with the situation. He went on to criticize the “voyeurism” within the reality television landscape, sharing that there needs to be more thought and consideration for the “complex human beings” on these programs. While Little People, Big World is still on TLC, Roloff has not appeared on the series in years and has been vocally critical of the show.

“I continue my own contemplation on the voyeurism involved in the entire enterprise of reality television — a massive spectacle of drama and pain and argument and invasion, with a little joy sprinkled over, that viewers watch completely disassociated from the complex humans inside the simplistic “characters” they see on TV,” Roloff continued. “Yet, there is no inherent causal connection between reality television production and childhood trauma. We are still sprinting ahead with the enterprise deaf, dumb, and blind, asking for forgiveness later, instead of asking harder preliminary questions of ourselves. The profits were indeed sweet. The actual experience was more complicated.”

The former reality star ended his post by stressing that “all fault lies with the predator, and no fault lies with any of my family members.” He continued to write that this was a positive moment for his personal growth and noted that he stands in solidarity with all silent survivors of sexual abuse. It should also be noted that his post was captioned with the word, “Libertad,” which translates to “Freedom.”