Throughout January, Human Trafficking Awareness Month, FieldNotes and UNICEF USA's End Trafficking project will be running a series of posts on child trafficking in the United States.
Greg H. Bristol is a retired FBI Special Agent with a background in human trafficking and civil rights investigations. A former Michigan State Trooper, Bristol joined the FBI in 1987, working out of its Washington D.C. Field Office. In 2006, Bristol was assigned to the Civil Rights Squad where he focused on D.C. area human trafficking cases. Bristol also served as a member of the D.C. Human Trafficking Task Force and the Northern Virginia Human Trafficking Working Group.
UNICEF USA interviewed Mr. Bristol about his experience fighting trafficking and his perspective on the issue in the United States.
How was your relationship with Danielle when she went off to college?Greg Bristol: We definitely had some mother-daughter angst already. There were times when she didn’t really elect to give me a lot of information about her life or interests. I think that a lot of our daughters feel like they’re ready before they’re ready, and she definitely felt that way.
We dropped her off, carloads full of things from Bed Bath and Beyond, tchotchkes and bedspreads and books. I think she was ready to test herself and see what was going to happen. Life was never the same after that.
“I constantly hear police say ... there isn’t any human trafficking, but I tell them there is, its all around them. ”
It didn’t take very long for the streets to really swallow her up. Whether it was just that she was vulnerable, looked very young, very … I think she looked like a person that somebody could get over on easily, and she was tricked, she was tricked.
How the deception occur?Bristol: The way Danielle has expressed it to me, someone made an introduction, she was invited to a party, and when she went, nobody was there, only this one guy answered the door.
He said something about how she must’ve been confused, it’s a different day, but I’m just about to go out for dinner why don’t you come and join me. He made it seem really innocent, off the cuff, and she went. The next day or two, there was lots of attention,
would you like one of these, or
have you ever tried that before, just a nice guy being thoughtful and nice.
Yet within a short time, he basically told her that she was going to do whatever he said, with violent consequences if she didn't.
What kind of person was he? What left Danielle vulnerable?Bristol: What I know is that he was a lot older — maybe twenty years — that he came across as being sincere and nice, and what could be bad? Not threatening, not frightening, not scary, no yelling and screaming, just interest and curiosity and conversation and she went with it.
And how long did it take until your daughter, basically, disappeared?Bristol: She started college in September and was out of touch with me by December or January.
How the deception occur?Bristol: I met a man who was a prominent lawyer. Two years ago, when people were protesting, he made a decision to defend the protesters. So they bombed his house, and when they bombed his house, his daughter was severely injured. Her skull was fractured, and nobody would help him because he was loyal to the wrong side.
How the deception occur?Bristol: I met a man who was a prominent lawyer. Two years ago, when people were protesting, he made a decision to defend the protesters. So they bombed his house, and when they bombed his house, his daughter was severely injured. Her skull was fractured, and nobody would help him because he was loyal to the wrong side.
How the deception occur?Bristol: I met a man who was a prominent lawyer. Two years ago, when people were protesting, he made a decision to defend the protesters. So they bombed his house, and when they bombed his house, his daughter was severely injured. Her skull was fractured, and nobody would help him because he was loyal to the wrong side.
How the deception occur?Bristol: I met a man who was a prominent lawyer. Two years ago, when people were protesting, he made a decision to defend the protesters. So they bombed his house, and when they bombed his house, his daughter was severely injured. Her skull was fractured, and nobody would help him because he was loyal to the wrong side.
“She looked like a person that somebody could get over on easily, and she was tricked”
How the deception occur?Bristol: I met a man who was a prominent lawyer. Two years ago, when people were protesting, he made a decision to defend the protesters. So they bombed his house, and when they bombed his house, his daughter was severely injured. Her skull was fractured, and nobody would help him because he was loyal to the wrong side.
How the deception occur?Chesman: I met a man who was a prominent lawyer. Two years ago, when people were protesting, he made a decision to defend the protesters. So they bombed his house, and when they bombed his house, his daughter was severely injured. Her skull was fractured, and nobody would help him because he was loyal to the wrong side.
How the deception occur?Chesman: I met a man who was a prominent lawyer. Two years ago, when people were protesting, he made a decision to defend the protesters. So they bombed his house, and when they bombed his house, his daughter was severely injured. Her skull was fractured, and nobody would help him because he was loyal to the wrong side.
