Austin St. John Indictment Fits Into Broader History of Childhood Heroes Letting Us Down

Guest Editorial by Tyler Waldman (@aresef on Twitter, RitoRevolto on RangerBoard)

I want you to think back to your childhood. Think of all those afternoons spent idolizing superheroes in TV, in movies, in comic books. The action figure by your bed. The shirt in your dresser. The poster on your wall.

You want these actors to stay true to the role models they represent. You want them to fight for the little guy, you want them to be honest with you, you want them to be that hero. But Tom Holland can’t crawl up walls. Chris Hemsworth can’t summon lightning. And not all Power Rangers actors live their lives in a way Zordon would approve.

In the 15 years since ranger actors first started attending conventions, many fans have had positive experiences with fans. We’ve met and gotten to mug with, gotten to shake hands with, gotten to thank them. Many of these people have been gracious and just as happy to meet us—Paul Schrier, Jason Narvy, Ron Rogge, Neil Kaplan, Erin Cahill and, of course, the late Scott Page-Pagter and Robert Axelrod, to name a few. But there are elements of these interactions that are inherently transactional. Any table at Power Morphicon, of course, they’re not doing these autographs for free.

But beyond that, there are people who see us fans less as validation and appreciation of the work they did and more as a resource for whatever they plan next. Michael Copon took 257 fans to the tune of $13,738 for an “independent Power Ranger movie”. The Time Force blue ranger raised that money in 2015—to be sure, he raised well short of his goal— and went into radio silence for five years. He returned in June of 2020, after the start of the pandemic, to claim he had raised the rest of the money, Ironically, he claimed he had been “screwed over… by some con artist investor” and would be funding the film with $200,000 of his own money. Nary a peep since then.

In 2020, Jason David Frank and Bat in the Sun raised half a million dollars for Legend of the White Dragon, a legally distinct hero series that would star Frank, Michael Madsen, Mark Dacascos and fellow ranger alums like Cerina Vincent, Johnny Bosch, Ciara Hanna and Jason Faunt. Now, to their credit, Bat in the Sun has been very forthcoming about posting pictures and news of their progress. But sometimes visual evidence is not quite enough.

And that takes me to The Order. The brainchild of Karan Ashley, it raised more than $142,000 from 1,633 fans. They were promised prints, they were promised shirts but, most of all, they were promised a movie directed by Phantom Menace stunt coordinator Nick Gillard that would, in many ways, bring the band back together. Despite a trailer purporting to show a movie in progress, that movie never arrived. The movie we were told we’d get, Erin Cahill, David Yost, Brad Hawkins, Catherine Sutherland, Alyson Sullivan, David Fielding, on and on and on… and the protagonist, Austin St. John.

Where to start with this one. Short of JDF, St. John’s face is perhaps the one most synonymous with MMPR and, therefore, Power Rangers in general as much as the public consciousness is concerned. And, after he left the show in an admirable stand for principle, he went on to live up to what it means to be a hero. He became a paramedic. He worked with our troops abroad. He worked in northern Virginia. And at Power Morphicon in 2014, he tended to me after a medical incident on the convention floor. And after that incident put me in the hospital for the rest of the weekend, he quietly helped ensure I could get to RangerStop later that same year. I’ll never forget that.

It’s because of that experience—or what I was told of it—that I was willing to let slide the people he associated with, and some of the things he said and did. I would sit out arguments, I would scroll past threads. As long as he wasn’t hurting anybody, you know, I’d let it slide, I thought. I owed him that.

Then I got home Thursday night to learn the awful truth, that St. John and others had allegedly scammed the federal government and financial institutions out of millions in COVID-19 relief aid.

Many businesses and many business owners have been going through the toughest period in their lives. Getting federal aid is hard enough as it is. But, if what federal prosecutors say is true, he and his alleged co-conspirators defrauded the government and banks of millions that could have gone to help businesses and employees who are truly struggling.

The news came to us at a tumultuous time in the Power Rangers fandom. Resurfaced allegations of sexual assault against Copon, the invitation of Samuell Benta to two stateside cons (including PMC) for the first time since the staff of the first Power Morphicon said he stole a banner signed by convention guests, one of four intended to be auctioned off for The Make-A-Wish Foundation. It began a conversation about who we should and shouldn’t welcome in our community what is and isn’t forgivable and who should and shouldn’t be welcome. It is a reckoning that comes several years after a similar discussion in the anime fandom. It’s a conversation that should continue.

I don’t know if St. John is guilty. I don’t know if he’ll go to prison. My heart breaks for the fans who, like me, feel betrayed by this news and others who were looking forward to meeting him or taking their kids to meet him on the con circuit. What I can say for certain is that you should think hard before giving to any legal fund that may emerge, no matter what he promises you.

Tyler Waldman is a Baltimore media relations professional, recovering journalist and former host of Rangercast. You can follow him on Twitter @aresef .
Edited by Eric Berry (@trekkieb47)