04x15 - Seattle Sex Trafficker: "You're Gonna Be Rich

[bunniefuu]

- She met Marysa
on the Internet.

M.K. said that she was
in love with her.

Marysa came to pick
her up from school.

And there was an adult
man with her.

He offered M.K.
a spot on the documentary.

You'll get $20 million dollars.

- She had no idea she was going
there to have sex with a man.

- He was making a documentary
on prostitution.

There's so much manipulation
and emotional abuse.

- She has had these horrible
images of her

being posted online.

- There were other victims in
her same situation

that were in other states.

At the apartment we collected
nearly 700 hotel key cards.

- We found child p*rn*graphy.

- It's like watching the work of
a demon walking on the earth.

- Is he reaching out to victims?

Where is he?

In the FBI,
we make a lot of headlines.

Drug busts, mob stings.

t*rror1st takedowns.

We understand why people want
to tell stories about us.

- Mark it.
- Freeze!

- FBI.

- FBI!
- Action!

But they don't
know the half of it.

What really goes down?

We save that for each other,

when we're talking
agent to agent.

This is FBI. True.

- So, Ingrid, tell me about this
phone call that you get.

Kristy Kottis is
a 24-year veteran of the FBI.

she worked gangs, crimes
against children, as well as
human and drug trafficking.

- I get a phone call from
Natalie at one of our partner

police stations outside
of Seattle.

Ingrid
Arbuthnot-Stohl has been

an FBI special agent since


She investigates sexual
exploitation

and the trafficking of juvenils
and adult women.

- I'm thinking: "okay ... let's
see what you got."

- I was working as a detective
with the Redmond Police
Department.

After working as
a patrol officer,

Natalie D'amico rose to
the rank of detective,

focusing on sexual as*ault
cases and crimes against
children.

- Natalie starts telling me this
story about a girl we're
calling M.K.

This girl just came in to file
a complaint about harassment.

- She came to the police
department.

- By herself?
- She came with her mom.

- She is 18 years old.

M.K. wanted to meet friends.

She was lonely.

She met Marysa on the Internet.

- After some time online,
they built a relationship.

M.K. said that she was
in love with her.

- They decided to meet
in person.

And at the time, M.K.
was in high school.

And Marysa came to pick
her up from school.

And little did M.K.
know there was an adult man

with her, who Marysa introduced
as her boyfriend, David DeLay.

"This is my boyfriend.
I live with him.

He takes care of me."

Now her girlfriend
has a boyfriend.

M.K. was initially probably
caught off guard.

M.K. and Marysa are around
the same age.

And then you have this man

who's about 30 years older
than them.

And I think David
at the time was like 48.

Marysa introduces David
as a movie producer.

- Movies I've always,
always liked movies.

- There is some intrigue
with a movie producer?

I mean, that sounds pretty
cool, especially if you're

a teenager in high school.
- So we have a situation

where M.K. feels like
she has no choice, if she wants

to be with Marysa, she's got to
also accept the old man?

- Correct.

She was living at home
when she met them.

She eventually moved
in with them.

She was 18.

Just graduated.

I mean, you're an adult.
If you decide to go live with

someone else, you can do so.

David says he's filming
a documentary for HBO.

He had a photo of him outside
of a sign that said HBO.

"Oh, hey, look, I'm here for
a meeting with HBO."

He offered M.K.
a spot on the documentary.

- And what kind of work
was she doing?

- She was doing prostitution.

Because he was making
a documentary on prostitution.

- His concept was, she would go

engage in an act
of prostitution, and then,

after that, he would sit down
and film her

and discuss her experience
with prostitution.

- I think she was doing
the documentary

because it was
important to Reese.

- David had her sign a contract.

- And what'd that contract
look like?

- A bunch of legal jargon that
no 18-year old would understand.

- M.K. believed she was going
to get $20 million dollars?

- I think part of this was
her age.

- Okay.

- And she was a teenager.

She was developmentally delayed.

So for her, it was
very believable.

- Right.
- Her first encounter,

she wasn't even expecting it.

- She wasn't told she was going
to work as an escort.

I don't think she even
knew what that meant.

They just put her in a hotel
room and Reese said:

"okay, well, someone's going to
come in and I'll be back later."

And she was very confused
about this.

And this man came in.

She had no idea she was going
there to have sex with a man.

And let's keep in mind,
she, you know, had feelings
for Reese.

She was in love with Reese,
with a female.

She's left feeling traumatized.
- Without question.

I can't imagine.
- Reese follows back up

and collects the money.

The contract listed out
a lot of different stuff

as far as you're going to make
this much per month

while working, escorting, and
you're going to give me,

you know, a set amount.

It was 12 to $1800 a month
in production fees.

- Production fees?
- Yes.

- So his framing was,
he's a pimp.

He makes the appointments.
- No, no.

He did not frame he was a pimp.

He was a producer.

But everything he was doing
was fulfilling

what a pimp actually does.

It's starting to very much look
like human trafficking.

M.K. was especially vulnerable.

And they really relied upon her.

So they were always trying to
convince her to get them more

and more and more money.

- And how many times was
she engaged in um--
- Numerous.

- She lost count.
It's very typical

in pimping cases, you don't feel
like you have an option.

- They had her passwords
to everything.

Her phone number got changed.

- Reese just constantly
berating her.

She physically abused her.

David was constantly telling
her: "No one cares about you.

We care about you."

- There's so much manipulation
and emotional abuse

that kept her from leaving.

- She felt like she didn't
have a place to go.

She just hit a breaking point
and she was like:

"I need to get out of here."
She finally took the chance

and called her mom.

- Do we know how David and Reese
felt when they got home

and she was gone?
- Just enraged about it.

They were texting her nonstop,
Reese and David,

like: "you need to come back",

"What are you doing?"

David was blaming Reese.

And David's like:
"You need to go fix this.

You need to fix it now."

And Reese started
threatening M.K.

We're going to post all these
things on your Facebook account

if you don't come back.

She has had these horrible
images of her

being posted on
her Facebook account.

- They're of M.K.
in provocative positions,

some of which she had
no clothing on.

She can't get back into it
because Reese changed her

password, so they're in full
control of her account.

- One Facebook post said:
"I'm 18 and I can express

myself, however I want"

Another said: "I'm starting my
own business in the adult
industry."

All of her friends
and family can see this.

And she's horrified by it.
- Oh yeah, I can't imagine.

- M.K told me that David
had flown her to places.

She traveled with them
to different states.

Interstate.

Crossed the state lines.

So, Ingrid, what
are you thinking?

- You bring in the interstate
travel and now you're starting

to get into the federal nexus.

- You realize this is serious.

Yes.

- I knew it was much bigger than
what one detective

at Redmond Police Department
could do.

Based upon what M.K. told me,
I learned that there were

other victims in her same
situation.

- We open a full investigation,

which gives us broader
authority.

I needed to focus on
the digital evidence.

Natalie even started showing me
printouts of ads

that she'd found.
- These escort ads popped up

when I'd image-searched
M.K.'s Facebook photos.

- She'd gone on to Backpage.

It's basically a hub for
posting prostitution ads.

- So, the phone numbers M.K.

gave me for David and Marysa
were on these ads.

- I start looking at some
of the email accounts

to see what I can get.
We went out and did some
interviews together.

- Their story sounded pretty
similar to M.K.

with a lot of the same details.

One was being
on the documentary.

- Some girls were afraid
of being blackmailed by David,

so they never reported him
to Police.

I start looking at David's
online presence.

I started looking at his bona
fides for being a producer

for which he was remarkably
unsuccessful as a producer.

He would show these girls
pictures of him involved

in what appeared to be
productions like,

I think a music video for some
little local band that he shot.

- As we started talking about
where to sh**t it from as far

as the weather and the woods
and just the kinda general

look we've got here.

- So David, the "HBO producer".

What kind of documentaries
does he produce?

None.

- I was trying to think of
a nice way to say that,

but, none.
- And he doesn't work for HBO.

- No.
And HBO confirmed with us that

they had no business dealings
whatsoever with David.

- Have you ever seen a case of
human trafficking

that's laid out this way
to get the victims?

- No, it was very unique.

I've never seen somebody take
it from the producer angle.

- He never filmed anyone, and
some of them became suspicious

as time went on about this.

- What about Reese?
- We learned that Reese was also

victimized by David initially.

That's how they first met.

She was an aspiring musician
and so he would say:

"I'll make you a music career."

- David is a very good
manipulator.

He had Reese serve as the one
who does a lot of recruitment.

so..
- His bottom b*tch.

- Yeah. So she would actually do
some of the recruitment

for people like:
"Oh, I'm a female.

This, this guy, he's really
great and he's helping me with

my music career and I think
he could really help you too."

In this case, there were no
chains involved,

no threatening
them at gunpoint.

In this investigation, fraud
and coercion were huge for

the federal statut.
I remember calling Nathalie

because I'm looking at this bank
statement and it says that

he has $155 million in the bank.

- What? What?
- Like, there's no way

this man has $155 million
in the bank.

It's like, this doesn't
seem right.

And I look, and in the date
at the top you can see a cursor

Oh my God. And then you look
at the top of it and you can

literally see at the top
of the screenshot--

- The toolbar!
- That's fantastic.

- A Word document that had been
edited as a bank statement.

- So he made a bank statement.

At some point, we did
a search warrant?

- That's correct.
There was enough evidence of
sex trafficking to convince

a judge to allow a search
of their apartment.

- What does that place
look like?

- I can still smell it.

It's disgusting.

Marysa and David were not
home at the apartment.

It was exactly the opposite
of what I would expect from

somebody who, you know, says
he has enough to pay employees
$20 million.

Uh-uh.

- I did find the contract that
had M.K.'s signature on it.

You know, corroborating
her statement.

- That's obviously fraud.

These are not legal contracts.

- That's great.

Anything else you find there?

- We collected nearly


- Wait, timeout.


From different hotels?

- Different hotels.

- Those cards have information
on them.

Those cards have the date,
the room,

what credit card you used.

- I was able to cross-reference
a number of sources

of information to connect half
those cards to prostitution.

A lot of the hotel key cards
that were there

were the same hotels that M.K.
had stayed at.

We have to leave a Return
of Service with the copy
of a search warrant.

- Yeah.
- So now you're looking at

not only what crimes

I'm investigating, but you're
looking at everything

I just took from your,
your place.

And that evidence points to
sex trafficking charges.

I learned at that time that
he had an attorney.

I coordinated with his attorney
to have him turn himself in,

which is a common tactic.

The attorney will tell their
client just turn yourself in.

It's better for cooperation.

The bail was set to $250,000.

He didn't show up to second
appearance.

An arrest warrant gets issued.
- Right.

For both David
and Reese.

They're now on the run.

I became worried.

He now knows he's facing
all this stuff.

Is he destroying evidence?

Is he reaching out to victims?

Is he getting them
to change their mind?

Where is he?

David goes from coming in,
you know, voluntarily,

to be arrested, to...now you're
a fugitive.

- Police looking for two
suspects now on the run.

- We had no idea where he is,

I was pretty frustrated
and stressed out.

And, you know, now I have like
the victims freaking out,
calling me.

- We were able to track his
movements with

credit card information, and--
- So the FBI drops a subpoena.

And we're watching his
credit card traffic.

- Yes.

He made a credit card purchase
on an airplane.

They were flying across
the country.

So we can get booking
information for that.

He went to Chicago.

Gets a hotel in Chicago.

But then our agents give a call
to Natalie and say:

"hey, he's on a flight back
to Seattle right now"

- Oh, wow.
- They were like:

"he's going to be coming
into SeaTac tonight."

I was like: "Oh, I'm going.
Meet you there!"

We get down there and
to Sea-Tac Airport.

And get to the gate.

The flight staff is like:

"okay, everyone
has to stay seated."

This is like stuff
I've seen on TV.

This is bad a*s.

- Absolutely.
- I'm walking down the jet way

thinking: "Oh, my gosh.
I'm with the FBI."

And I get on the flight.

He's in first class.

David immediately was like:
"I'm not saying a word.

Talk to my attorney."

I'm like: "all right".

Very confident that this
is not going to impact me.

We bring him to jail.

And then it's a matter
of tracking down Reese.

- We find her in a not great
hotel in Chicago.

And at that point, I coordinate
with our agents in Chicago

to go get her, our fugitive.

- She was extradited back

and also booked into
King County Jail.

- It was an amazing feeling.

We were able to catch
both of them!

- The two face multiple charges

tonight including promoting
prostitution.

Now, police want anyone who
knows anything to come forward.

They do expect there are
more victims out there.

- Now they're both in jail.

And David and Reese
found a way to have

conversations while in jail.

- And now what are these
conversations like?

- Horribly manipulative.

- "So what you got to do is you
got to go tell them

what you did."
- David was convincing Reese

to take the fall for
this entire thing.

- Like, I was listening to this
going: "gosh, he's good".

I get why they all believed
everything he said.

- Um, what other calls was
he making from jail?

- Gosh, he was talking
to friends, his family members,

his mom especially.

I get a phone call and Natalie
is like: "oh crud",

like he was asking his mother
to dispose of evidence.

Because he says that this
backpack with I think an iPad

and a computer are at his mom's
house and he wants her

to get rid of.

Get in my car. Let's go.

And off we go like


Almost get pulled over.

We didn't have a warrant yet.

So when I showed up, the dad
was home and we just kind of

had to sweet talk the dad into
giving us consent.

- But then we learned that
his daughter

had the iPad and MacBook Pro.

- Where's the Daughter?

- In the Seattle area.

- How old is she?

- She was older than Marysa,
wasn't she?

- Early twenties.
- He had given those things

to her and had purposely not
given her the passwords,

basically hoping she'd wiped
them to use for herself.

- Fortunately, she brought those
to us and turned them in.

On those devices we found child
p*rn*graphy,

which we now call
Child Sexual Abuse Material.

Or CSAM.
- Yeah.

- That led us to some
other victims as well.

One of the victims that
we found, he had actually

approached through
a grief chat room.

This girl was 15-years old at
the time and her mother

had recently committed suicide.

She was especially vulnerable.

It was: "I love you and I'm
going to take care of you.

We're going to get married."

He told her everything
she wanted to hear.

And he had her send nude
pictures, sexually explicit
pictures.

So he caused the production
of child p*rn*graphy.

- I was just going to say,
he produced child porn.

- Yeah.

- We would call each other and
just be like:

"I can't believe the level of
depravity of this person".

- I mean, you know, I worked
crimes against children also,

and it's the worst possible
evidence to review.

It's like watching the work
of a demon walking on the earth.

- We presented our case
to the AUSA, who is also female.

- There's a female prosecutor

and then both investigators
are female?

- Yes, which is actually
pretty unusual.

- Like there's--
- It's very unusual.

- This is a person who hated
females, who discussed them via

messages as a property
essentially.

And I think that this helped so
much for the victims to see

that we can all take him down.
- Right.

- As a big group of females.

- Reese agreed to testify
against David.

But based upon the jail calls
that we were reviewing,

we ended up believing that
she maybe wouldn't follow
through with that.

So we went without
her testimony.

It's so important to see that
when victims come forward

that we listen to victims and
we're willing to fight for you.