Episode #50 - Heidi (Pt 2/3)

Heidi was 15 when she was trafficked, and in Part 2 of her story she tells Dr. Lois Lee what it took to get out and what came after.

She describes how completely her trafficker controlled her, and how she still believed he loved her even as federal agents closed in. When investigators finally reached her, she stayed silent through a ten-hour interview, having been taught never to talk to police. A detective who understood the life eventually earned her trust, and she agreed to testify about how traffickers operate.

Heidi speaks openly about the shame that surrounded her family and friendships, and about the road back. She arrived at Children of the Night to kindness, school, and girls who had lived the same thing, and it was her peers who first told her he never loved her. For the first time, she didn't feel alone.

Dr. Lee also shares what it took in the early days to convince law enforcement that these were children. Heidi carries her story through leaving the shelter, earning her GED, and becoming a young mother, and it ends as she heads back toward the life, setting up Part 3.

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