Hidden Truth

By Allyn D. Pryse

Evil villains are on the hunt to find prey. They’re watching, hanging out at skate parks, posting false profiles on social media, posing as friends—getting to know everything about their targets. Inch by inch, they’re gradually manipulating minds by distorting perceptions—a plot to capture those we love.

No one knows these evil villains, “traffickers,” are out there in ordinary neighborhoods, disguised as trusted friends. Those we love most, are prey for “the life.” A war has been declared, but few know how the enemy looks, and what strategies they use. HIDDEN TRUTH gives you the first weapon needed to protect you and your loved ones—knowledge.

HIDDEN TRUTH peels off the cover of a dark, underground world, that preys on United States citizens throughout communities in America, destroying lives of countless thousands with an intensifying, terroristic strategy to capture women and children, even within the K-12 grade schools, parks, malls, on the streets, and everyplace females are.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Jan 20, 2016
• ISBN: 9781483442006

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PRYSE

Copyright © 2016 Allyn D. Pryse.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of both publisher and author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-4834-4201-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-4200-6 (e)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 01/08/2016

Contents

Introduction

Not in America

Know Your Enemy

V.I.C.T.I.M.

Fighting a Losing Battle?

Trafficking Online

A Deadly Web

Gangs: An Increasing Menace

Coping Deception

The Trafficking Network

Act

My Action Plan

Endnotes

About the Author

Introduction

For me, it began in 2009. It was dark and cold outside. I was on the phone with a man who had asked me to help find his missing daughter. I had met neither this man, nor his daughter, though I had tacked up her missing posters all over the city as I talked to people in the community and gathered some promising leads. I had thought that perhaps I had done enough, but the man on the phone was asking me to go to a location where he had learned that his daughter might be.

I arrived alone with no weapons, no backup, and no experience with this sort of thing. The police had not taken on the case, not convinced that the girl was being trafficked. So why should I get further involved? Perhaps, empathy at the sound of the father’s voice, his deep depression and helplessness was appealing to my core. There was silence. Then I responded.

Terrible scenarios of what could happen to me were running through my mind. Although I had no firsthand experience in situations like this, I know the extent of evil. It felt like I was going to pass out. My heart was pounding. The house the father asked me to observe was dark, menacing. Instinct told me his daughter was held inside. Time seemed to stand still as I waited to see if his daughter or the traffickers would come outside.

Enough evidence was gathered a couple days later for police to get involved. The girl was rescued from her trafficker, a man who had pretended to be her boyfriend but was actually working with his gang-affiliated father to lure unsuspecting girls.

I don’t want to live in a world where I can’t trust people— I will never forget these words of a victim from another case I worked. She came from a financially and emotionally stable family that regularly attended church. I will call her Mary. Unfortunately, she was taken advantage of by a female recruiter. Mary had felt sorry for the woman’s sad life story, and therefore, they started to hang out. The recruiter built a profile of Mary and used that information to slowly lure her into domestic trafficking. Although Mary is a college graduate, she had no clue that Americans are trafficked in all 50 states or of traffickers’ sophisticated recruiting strategies.

At the time I got involved in the case, Mary was already being sold on an adult entertainment website, backpage.com. Only her mother looked at their daughter’s pictures on the adult website. It was too much for the father to bear, pictures of his daughter being advertised. Her parents’ political connections meant nothing when they went to the police for help. From the police perspective, Mary was not a victim but a willful participant. There was no proof that Mary was a trafficked victim. Often this happens because traffickers build relationships with victims that make it appear as if the victim had willingly chosen this work.

Her father, a retired veteran from the Gulf War, had been in many bloody battles and was trained in martial arts, was thoroughly at a loss for what to do. Nothing could prepare him, or any parent, for the shocking reality of a loved one becoming a victim of domestic trafficking.

The parents had been watching where Mary lived, watching as johns/customers and gang members streamed in and out of her apartment. Using his military training, the father tried to rescue Mary. Now it was time to put together a new rescue plan with my assistance. Since the police were not involved, I needed two more men to assist in the rescue. Mary’s father contacted his buddy with special skills in matters as these.

Someone had to actually go inside the location and physically identify Mary before the rescue operation began. We understood that once inside anything could go wrong. I looked at the father, this man who had served his country, the American people, and our ideal of freedom, and volunteered to go inside.

Mary is fortunate to be free now, since the rescue rate is 1 out of 100. None of the traffickers was arrested. Her family had to move to an undisclosed location. Mary’s emotional wounds are eternal, something she and her family will deal with for many years to come.

The purpose of this work is to protect the American people from domestic trafficking, the second-largest criminal enterprise in this country, a scourge that shatters the innocence and destroys the lives of thousands of women and children every year.

I was absolutely clueless to domestic trafficking, as many people are, until I happened upon a movie that depicted the trafficking of girls. I was so offended by the contents that I set out to investigate the facts. I eventually discovered that 100,000 to 300,000 American children are at risk of being trafficked every year. But more information was not readily available, so I had to dig deep and long. I diligently conducted intensive research, interviewing victims and analyzing complicated statistical data.

This journey changed me. Knowing that children and women were being trafficked caused many sleepless nights and anxiety. I thought about those I love and anytime I saw children and young women I worried that without a knowledge of human trafficking, they could become its victims.

Freedom is our life source. We have cried out for Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness since the birth of our nation. By fighting against human slavery, I have committed myself to serving my fellow citizens.

No one should ever be stripped of his or her dignity. Parents should never have to look into a loved one’s eyes only to see the dehumanized effects of their trafficker’s abuses. Out of respect and love for others, I knew I had to develop an approach that would keep our loved ones out of traffickers’ hands. It was my duty as an American citizen and a member of the human race.

My first experience with fighting trafficking and every one thereafter were frightening endeavors that opened the door to what traffickers actually do to victims. Everyone has something to fear. To still do what is right in the face of fear is courage. I do not make claims of possessing such