(soft wind blowing) (birds chirping) - I didn't realize the weight that I carry.

I think it was just this couple of weeks when people come up to me and ask me, "Are you okay?"

(Ferris wheel motor roaring) And I'm so afraid of breaking apart after the trial.

(gentle music) I don't know if I can go through it again.

(birds chirping) You'll never be ready for that.

(gentle music) We were told it was a job.

We were not told that that's never how a child should be treated.

I don't want to use my past to bury me alive.

(gentle music) I want to empower myself to do something right.

(gentle music) To have that freedom, to be who I wanna be, to live how I wanna live.

And for me, it was time to go back to Cambodia.

(gentle music) (birds chirping) (dog barking) (birds chirping) (speaks in foreign language) I was born behind Svay Pak.

(speaks in foreign language) It was hard 'cause it was very violent.

When the sun go down, we weren't supposed to go out or allowed to go out.

So during the daytime, I definitely tried to take advantage of it.

(speaks in foreign language) To just run around.

(speaks in foreign language) And I loved to plant things.

I used to go steal my neighbor's flowers and the seed in it, so I can plant it.

To me it was the best moment of my life.

(birds chirping) I didn't expect much.

I think I have to grow up really quick that I didn't know how to be a child.

My mom had 13 kids.

And I don't know half of them.

As far as I know, with my mom, which is her last husband, they have six kids together, but one pass away and I don't know what happened to the other one, but there's four of us now.

My sister, we lived together at AIM.

But my youngest brothers, we got separated when they were baby.

- [Interviewer] - Yeah, it all happened so quick.

I remember when it began.

(gentle music) There's a fire, we were sleeping, taking a nap, with my baby brothers, the fire was behind our house and the stuff that we have, you know, for us, we were so poor and we were already struggle.

When it happened, we just had to leave it all behind.

You know, there's no picture of us when we were baby, of when I was kid.

My mom was able to save one.

(gentle music) To just stand across the field and watch everything that we have and my flowers and the land that I used to play at, it was just all burned.

(gentle music) (fire crackling) From that on, we barely survive.

We live in a tent and you know, we do whatever we could to survive.

(gentle music) Now that I'm actually here, I have that fear of what if, what if I can't and what if it's too hard, and what if I'm just not able to?

Being in the same place that traumatized me in the first place, I'm in it again.

(birds chirping) You can still see the poverty that existed.

But it was also cool to see there's so many tall building and fancy store, which is really cool.

And Starbucks, I love that.

(laughing) That was seven year of not being in Cambodia and went back.

So it was a really drastic change.

(birds chirping) (dog barking) I was such a good girl and I was a momma's girl.

She have a way of, I don't know, you can say wrap people around her finger.

I truly believed that she cared and that she sacrificed for my life.

(gentle music) I was such a fool that I believed that.

(gentle music) - Reaksmey, is a Cambodian girl that was sold by her mother at the age of nine.

Her mother sold her to a trafficker who sold her to an American pedophile.

She was with him week after week after week suffering trauma at a depth we can't imagine.

They told us it was the worst case of child abuse they had ever seen.

- [Man] How old do you want?

- [Man] Like under ten or older than ten?

- Whatever.

Ten.

It's good yeah.

- [Man] If I have the girl with you, what do you want?

- Yes, I'd like young girl.

- [Woman] I want to confirm, how old do you want?

- You have virgin?

- [Woman] Yes, but how old?

- If possible, - fourteen.

- [Woman] Girls, how old do you want?

- Young.

- [Woman] How old?

- What's the youngest?

- [Woman] Huh?

- The youngest.

(birds chirping) (gentle music) - There was a bunch of cops, I don't even remember how many.

(gentle music) I was really scared because I didn't know what to expect.

I didn't know if they were, that we committed crime.

To us we were in danger, not able to trust.

(gentle music) They were separating me from my mom, who I know, who I thought of as my protector.

She was in prison for almost a year.

I had to testify.

- [Interviewer] You testified to help your mom get out?

In Cambodia there?

- Yes.

(gentle music) I replay that all the time in my head.

(gentle music) We were told that the police is not gonna protect us.

Like we're gonna be arrested and put in jail.

And that was just so confusing.

Who's who's protecting me, like what's gonna happen with me.

- When we started this SWAT team, we needed to make sure that they were really victim-centered rescues.

And when we do a raid, there are social workers who were actually rescued victims, right, that have gone through the program and then went to school to become a social worker.

So when they come in, they're not just trained on how to handle someone that's in a traumatic situation, they've been through it themselves.

And that's made all the difference in the world.

(gentle music) - To go back and help and rescue girls.

And to be the one that say, hey, come into our arm and you're safe.

Like, everything's going to be fine, you're not in trouble, it's not your fault.

To be able to have that, I think for me as a child, I think it would help tremendously.

(gentle music) For the longest time I thought I did something wrong.

I felt so ashamed and I couldn't accept who I am.

And you know, the truth is, the worst and the good define who I am and who I will become in the future.

So, I could have been bitter about what happened.

I could have blamed so many thing on people, on God, but, you know, I chose to use those to make a difference and keep going.

(birds chirping) - She was asked to testify here in California against the pedophile who had been torturing her.

eleven years old in a foreign courtroom with the man who had abused her, fifteen feet away, smiling at her.

(gentle music) - Looking at a man that make you feel so worthless.

And to have to tell and describe everything that happened.

And then somebody questioning, if it was the truth, it was horrifying, it was upsetting, it was, humiliating.

- In over an hour of testimony, it ended up in this man being convicted and sentenced to 220 years in prison.

What amazing courage.

(audience applauds) (boat engine revving) - You came and changed my whole perspective of men.

But I did not like you guys at first.

I mean, I grew to like you.

- Well that's very nice.

(all laughing) I've always appreciated that.

- Like, I wouldn't be able to describe why I was so mean to him then, but now I'm like, wow, like, well, I get it.

The first time I met Don, I was so afraid of him because he was an American.

But he wanted nothing in return from me.

He wanted me to know how much I'm worth and that I'm not a victim.

(people chattering) He always said that we are hero.

(people chattering) - [Don] The photo you see there is the day that Reaksmey was brought to our aftercare home.

And the healing process began.

(audience applauds) (speaks in foreign language) - When I went to the restoration home for the first time, the word that I would describe it was heaven.

(sings in foreign language) I felt safe there.

It was a home.

It was, oh, it was beautiful.

The waterfall and the rock and the nature, so many trees, mango tree, and there's a pool.

(children chattering) It was like, I was in a dream.

(children chattering) And then walking into our room.

(gentle upbeat music) Like my bed, to have a bed.

(gentle upbeat music) And there's like this doll.

I used to make a doll from a towel.

(gentle upbeat music) - [Interviewer] What was your first day like at ARC?

(gentle upbeat music) (gentle upbeat music) - I remember my princess ceremony.

(gentle upbeat music) We sing and then we ate after.

(gentle upbeat music) I have a crown placed on my head.

Every girl wants to be a princess.

It was the beginning of something great.

(gentle upbeat music) (speaks in foreign language) (both laughing) (speaks in foreign language) I think it was frustrated for both of us because she's like, "Can you tell me how you feel?"

And I'm like, I can't like, I don't know.

I can't describe it.

And I just, it was just hard, hard to breathe.

You know, I can't explain how I feel.

(gentle music) Having a safe place to just fall apart is very important for me, because I don't want to seem weak in front of people.

And it was just, it was that moment that I can just, you just, you know, I could, I would sit and cry for 40 minutes.

That just for me, that was like, okay, that was good.

(people chattering) (speaks in foreign language) Oh.

(speaks in foreign language) She wasn't just a counselor.

She showed me what I'm capable of.

And she was protecting me from the truth.

(birds chirping) She knew what the truth would do to me.

(birds chirping) - She was reintegrated to a family here in California.

And she was supported to graduate from high school, graduate from cosmetology school, get a California license to be a beautician.

As life went on, she got to experience a different kind of love, romance.

She met a great guy.

They fell in love and were married.

(gentle upbeat music) - It was hard to have somebody that love me and to be able to just accept that because it was so new.

(gentle upbeat music) - She decided that she had a creativity that wasn't being used as a beautician.

So she chose to quit and start our own business.

And she started a business, making and designing jewelry, and she's wearing one of her creations right there.

(gentle upbeat music) And you may wonder why isn't she here in telling that story?

Well, the reason is, she closed their company.

And two weeks ago, she and her husband moved to Cambodia.

Today, she's in Svay Pak, in our employment center, teaching other girls how to make and design jewelry, giving them freedom that they never had.

(gentle upbeat music) - Hello.

It's me, you know me girl.

(laughing) (people chattering) (speaks in foreign language) (speaks in foreign language) (bike engines revving) (birds chirping) - In my family there's no one that actually have a, like, a real wedding.

And I was able to, you know, have a ceremony in America for my host family that is in America, and Sam's family, for them to be a part of.

And this is just something that I wanted to do for my birth family.

(gentle music) It's his first time meeting my family.

And for me, it was a lot of emotion.

I honestly don't know if I was happy or if I was more anxious.

(gentle music) (bike engines revving) (gentle music) (bike engines revving) Now every time we see each other, I am trying to do the best I can.

I just don't understand how could she ever do that?

She was so twisted.

From my memory, she was always in our neighbor's house playing card game, but somehow we never have enough money.

I don't know how I do it 'cause I want to run away from her.

I want my peace so bad, but somehow I felt like I need to be in her life.

(speaks in foreign language) To see the way my mom think that we owe her something, it was hard to love her.

At eight years old, I don't have to take care of the household, I don't have to take all of those weight by myself.

And I surely didn't have to put in a position where I would be exploited or abuse.

And yet, somehow she had do a audacity to tell me that she sacrificed for me, when all my whole life as I could remember, I was the one that doing the sacrifice, I was the one that putting myself in harms way, for my family.

(speaks in foreign language) I think in that moment, I lost it and told her the truth that sadly, I was the parent in this household.

(speaks in foreign language) (gentle music) My mom never told me to be selfless.

My mom tell me to take advantage of the people around me.

(speaks in foreign language) (audience applauds) Mak Mom always tell me to serve, to encourage, to educate and empower.

To be able to have somebody that tell me, even when you are a child, you can dream however big you want, that's empowering.

And I love, I love and I am proud of who I am and I'm still working on improving, but at least I'm allowed to do that.

(speaks in foreign language) (sings in foreign language) (speaks in foreign language) (children cheering) (speaks in foreign language) (gentle upbeat music) (speaks in foreign language) (audience applauds) (speaks in foreign language) (all laughing) I love you guys.

(all laughing) - [Srey] I love you too.

- Thank you.

(speaks in foreign language) (all laughing) (speaks in foreign language) (motorcycle engine revving) (gentle music) Some people think that, oh, you rescue a girl, that's good enough.

It's not good enough.

(gentle music) You don't stop trafficking that way.

You liberate the girls and then they go on to liberate other girls.

(gentle music) That should be the cycle.

And who better to tell them than someone that had been in their shoes?

(gentle music) Prevention, rescue, restoration and re-integration, the four aspects of stopping human trafficking.

The only way for it to function and to work, it need the four foundation.

I remember when my parents put me into school and I was able to attend, I think the most was two week, because we couldn't afford it anymore.

If I had something like this, I would have been able to go to school and be normal.

All right, I have decided that I'm gonna be a little girl (laughing) and I'm gonna register.

Oh.

Okay, I like bathroom, it's very important to me.

Wow.

That's a privilege, to have a bathroom like this.

So much better, it's beautiful.

There's so much love put into this.

I think this is the greatest thing that AIM have accomplished and they have accomplished so many great things, but this is beyond.

1,500 kids.

It's too cool.

It's too good to be true.

So I don't know.

There's a computer lab.

What the heck?

All right, don't go on YouTube.

(laughing) Stay focused, you guys.

Type, type, type.

See, oh, this is so cool.

Wow.

Can I steal one of these?

Like I wanna take it home.

(bike engine revving) (whispering) And I wanna take it.

(laughing) - You know what amazed me?

'Cause you're spirited, right, you have a strong spirit.

You never once got angry with me.

- I never?

I felt like I have.

- Oh you have, many times.

That was a joke, yeah.

(all laughing) - No, because I couldn't decide whether I want to love you guys or I don't.

And you were there.

And I'm like, I want to be able to, you know, feel like I could let go and take the walls down.

I'm like, I felt so bad now that I think of that, it's like, he doesn't, like you didn't, I don't think you knew what to do.

It was the first time that I actually was able to, like, 'cause I feel safe, like, I was so angry, but I can't like - - Express it.

- Yeah.

I can't express it to them because it's not a safe place.

So Don was my safe place to be my punching bag.

(speaks in foreign language) Wow, I like that.

I like this whole thing.

I can't hit.

(speaks in foreign language) (Reaksmey laughing) (speaks in foreign language) Yeah.

(speaks in foreign language) I'm married, I'm a woman now.

And finally I discovered the truth that wow, like, there was some ugly thing that happened and you protected me, you never wanted to make me hate my parents.

(bike engine revving) I think that is just amazing.

You know how you always tell us about Abraham Lincoln fighting to free slave and he was your hero and this freedom fighter and then like, that's you to me.

I would tell my children and I realized that yeah, I have a dream and that was to be Don and Bridget.

(gentle music) (children chattering) (gentle music) (children laughing) (gentle music) (sings in foreign language) (gentle music) (speaks in foreign language) - We're hearing the argument in United States versus Pepe.

- Good morning, may it please the court, I'm James Lockland, I represent the appellant Michael Pepe.

I'd like to focus this morning on the statute under which Mr. Pepe was charged in conviction.

That's 24, 23C, which makes it a crime for a US citizen to travel in foreign commerce and then engage in sexual acts in a foreign country.

The first question is whether that act applies to people who are residents of the foreign country.

- What you're saying is the statute doesn't apply to an American citizen who doesn't travel, he just lives in a foreign country?

- Correct.

So if the statute doesn't apply to such residents, then his convictions must be reversed.

- This particular statutory language of traveling in foreign commerce and engaging in illicit conduct, it seems to fit.

- I disagree your honor, because I feel that when any certain factual scenario, the court applies a statute and says, "It can be applied for these reasons, "because we're addressing these arguments "that are being raised by counsel."

This particular issue was never before the court.

So it never ruled on this issue.

It was never raised by the parties.

But of course encompassing all of this too, the last thing the court has to remember is the rule of Leonetti, which means to the extent there's any ambiguity about whether residents are covered, it has to resolve in Mr. Pepe's favor.

- In a week, I'm gonna be sitting across from the man that (thunder rumbling) But I get to look back and see this young child.

And I get to feel for her.

(gentle music) As hard as it was, going through the preparation for the trial, it was good for me because I had so much closure.

And it's nice because I don't have to be strong, I don't have to say that I'm okay, I can say I'm okay with being this hurt and allow myself to say, it's okay to go through this, you don't have to be strong all the time.

(gentle music) (children chattering) (speaks in foreign language) Oh, no.

(speaks in foreign language) (all laughing) (gentle music) (both crying) (both laughing) - [Reporter] Hundreds, if not thousands of people arrested around California are not getting chance to see a judge because of a temporary stop to almost all of court proceedings.

Every single case, other than a few exceptional emergencies will be on hold at least until April.

- [Woman] The World Health Organization has officially labeled as a global pandemic.

And here's what it looks like right now.

- The trial just got postponed because of the Coronavirus.

And we don't know for certain when it's gonna take place.

And that is very disappointing.

- [Reporter] Now, more than 1,000 confirmed cases across this country.

But there is concern that the real number is much, much.

- It's been an emotional rollercoaster, honestly.

And it was just so hard for me.

Like I feel like I'm losing control of everything that this is just uncertainty and high expectation.

It's very confusing.

- [Reporter] Coronavirus headlines throughout the day.

And many fear that this is only the beginning.

- [Man] Mr. President, a lot of people are concerned about how long all of this might last.

- [Donald Trump] People are talking about July, August, something like that.

So it could be right in that period of time.

(thunder rumbling) - I've forgiven him, but I would never put any child at risk.

If I have to do everything in my power to keep him locked up, that's what I'd do because that's the right thing.

(gentle music) True freedom is when you get to speak out and inspire somebody else to stand up.

(gentle upbeat music) (birds chirping) You can either use this crazy thing to break you or use it to make you better.

(gentle upbeat music) It really is about who you want to become.

(gentle upbeat music) (gentle upbeat music) (motorcycle engines revving) A question that we all should ask, who do we want to become?

Then we get to motivate ourself to start doing something and make some changes.

You open up yourself to see the needs in the world.

(gentle upbeat music) 'Cause when we stop thinking about ourself, but we start caring more about others, that's who I wanna be.

(gentle upbeat music) Live with passionate, passionate love for other people around you, for a cause.

Live to inspire.

And live to tell stories.

(gentle upbeat music) (upbeat music)