Amber | Betrayal Weekly

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As a kid, Amber was curious about the world around her. I was vibrant, just full of life and wanted to learn things my way. There was a part of me that wanted to seek and know and do and figure it out for myself. She and her friends spent their days roaming around Salt Lake City together. We were just in the neighborhood all the time, you know, hopping fences to take shortcuts. In the summer, we were out until the sun came down. Living on rollerblades. Those parts of childhood were a bright spot. But Amber's childhood was also defined by a lot of hardship. She lived with her mom. They've always been really close. But Amber had a turbulent relationship with her stepdad. Because of that, Amber started spending as much time as she could outside. The house. But the adults she met there weren't safe either. There were some pretty dangerous men in the neighborhood, offering cigarettes and drugs and alcohol. And with my mindset at the time, I really just wanted to experience everything, including the underbelly of society. By the time she was 13 years old, she was drinking and using drugs regularly. It was intriguing to me. I definitely knew the inappropriate behavior of my mom. But I also knew that there were a lot of inappropriate individuals in the neighborhood, and would seek them for drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, a place to hide. Amber's mom was desperate to help her. I was in and out of juvenile systems, lockdown facilities, ankle monitors, wilderness programs, ordered therapy, all levels of care. But each time she got out of a program, she was pulled back into the same predatory state. She was in and out of the same place. I was in and out of the same place. And I had to give birth to him and bury him. And it was just like trauma after trauma after trauma. After that, she stayed at the rehab facility. That community helped her through her grief. And that facility kept me there for like six months. They supported me and they loved me and they knew that I had a fire inside of me that just needed to be harnessed properly. Receiving long-term care was a turning point for Amber. And then things really started looking up for me. I was feeling kind of stable and acclimated. She went back to school and met the man who would become her husband. For a while, things were good. They decided to have a baby together and their son was born, safe and healthy. For the first time, stability didn't feel suffocating. It was my first experience of a real normal life and enjoying it without substance. I've known what it feels like to come up for air. And live on earth with some sense of happiness and satisfaction. But her husband had his own history of addiction. He was sober on and off through their relationship. And when their baby was just a couple months old. My husband was struggling. And there was a situation at the home where he had kicked down the bedroom door, just like shattered it into pieces. And I was just there with these two little boys and so much fear. This was a turning moment for me where I fell out of love with him. He showed a side of himself that I couldn't unsee. So she left her husband and moved back in with her mom. She was now trying to raise two young kids, work full time, and most of all, stay sober. I was working at this job and paying for these bills and that feeling started to creep up again. That suffocating feeling that she couldn't handle this, that she needed to escape her body. It was overwhelming. And of course, I did what my system knew to do. I reached out to what was my husband's drug dealer. She started doing cocaine. I felt like super mom doing cocaine in the morning to go to work and come home and do a little bit more cocaine to like make dinner. And it's like, I could do this, you know, of course, I can manage a cocaine habit. Amber's family quickly noticed a change in her. They realized she was using drugs again. And of course, the boundary is you don't let the drug addict come home. You don't give them money. You set up really firm boundaries. You protect the kids. I was unwilling to stop using. And that was it. I was out. Her son stayed with her mom and grandmother. Amber left the house and her struggle with addiction spiraled further. As long as I could keep a drug in my system, I could avoid the devastation of being this piece of shit mother. Her drug dealer said she could live at his house. She was out of options, so she agreed. Amber quickly became dependent on him. He was providing her drugs, shelter, and the closest thing to stability she had at the time. But one day he told her they were short on money for the week. And he positioned it like, hey, I just need you to get us by this one time. Like, I just need you to do this one thing. You're just going to go give this guy a handjob and that's it. He's going to pay you this money. He's going to pay you this much and we're going to be fine. Amber felt trapped, like she had no choice. She didn't want to do it, but her addiction came first. She was already dealing with withdrawal symptoms. So she agreed. I was like, okay, you know, I was disgusted by it. And I remember the first time doing it, just this ability to just check out of myself. Just get it done, get it over with, and never do it again. But not long after that, he told her they were facing another financial crisis. I'm going to need to do it again. And there was a few times there where I consented. And then I remember the day that I didn't consent. She told the man she was living with she didn't want to do this anymore. As a note to listeners, Amber is going to describe an experience of graphic violence. I said no. I said no. And that was my first real experience of extreme violence. He attacked her and sexually assaulted her. Amber lost consciousness. The next thing she remembers. It was dark. And I just remember the lights breezing past me like he's driving really fast and end up in an emergency room. Amber was rushed into the hospital, still fighting for consciousness. It wasn't until I got an IV that I found out what was going on. I didn't know what was happening. I had been penetrated with something, and I was bleeding out in the emergency room. Amber went into emergency vaginal reconstructive surgery. Right after surgery, he's right there, and we're taking IVs out of my hand, and hospital staff is pleading for me not to leave. But he had called a cab. She knew if she didn't leave with him, she could be in even greater danger. As Amber walked out of the emergency room, the severity of the situation sunk in. She was being forced to perform non-consensual sex acts. She was being coerced and threatened. And when she didn't comply, she was met with severe violence. The man she'd turned to for drugs and for housing was sex trafficking her. You know, in that moment, I knew I was being sex trafficked. And that went on for five years. Five years. Five years of just intense brutality, all while having this brutal addiction. I'm on cocaine and heroin. So many times I tried to get away from him. I would try and leave and run away, and he's stalking me, threatening my family. Like, it was incredibly intense. Her addiction was used to control her. I'm catching felonies of my own, and I'm just completely desensitized to incarceration. In 2016, Amber was sentenced to three years in prison. In 2016, Amber was on probation for a few different felonies. I'm in a lot of trouble. I'm at the bottom of the barrel. One day, she was at a scheduled check-in with her probation officer. During that time, you know, I'd had broken ribs and broken arm and black eyes and all sorts of issues. Stitches. But this is the first time I'd finally gotten a female probation officer. And she just looks at me and says, No one gets hurt this much. Tell me what's wrong. Tell me what's going on. She was the first one to kind of notice it. And how she positioned the question was not what's wrong with you. It was like, what's happening to you? Finally, someone saw beyond the drug use and her felonies to the horrific abuse that was driving it all. Amber felt seen, but she was terrified. If her trafficker found out she had told the cops what was happening, it could be life-threatening for her. I felt so suicidal. In my mind, I'm like, you know what? I'm just going to tell the truth. And my life's going to be over. And I told her. I told her what was happening. And she's like, I know. This man is dangerous. He's been dangerous. Many women have press charges, but he's always gotten away with it because they're too scared to come to court. And she's like, I want to help you. The probation officer contacted the midwife. Midvale City Police Department. A detective joined them. He started asking Amber questions. And I'm starting to explain it. But at the time, my phone starts blowing up and it's him. Her check-in with her probation officer was taking longer than normal. Her trafficker was demanding to know where she was. And so the detective's like, OK, I don't want to tip him off. So I'm going to give you this witness statement. I want you to start filling it out into as much detail as possible. And as soon as you have it filled out, quickly drop it off at my office. We are ready for you. We're prepared for you. We're going to help you. The detective handed Amber a blank witness statement. I stuffed a little piece of paper in my pocket. And she headed home. I folded up into a little square and I hide it in a piece of luggage under the stairs. One night, Amber could tell something was wrong. He found it. He found the witness statement. And he saw what I was doing. And then I was getting ready to tell. That night was. Horrifying. Amber endured extreme physical and sexual violence. After a while, her trafficker finally fell asleep. And while he was asleep, I called the police. But the officer on the other end of the line didn't know who she was. He didn't know she'd been working with their department to try and safely get away from her trafficker. I tried to explain to him what was going on. But he just wasn't listening to me. Police were dispatched to Amber's house, not understanding the complexity of the situation or how to help. They were there for all of like maybe two minutes. And they actually took him to jail because he had drugs and a scale in his pocket. They took him on misdemeanor assault and felony possession. He bailed out immediately. Now, Amber was even less safe than before she called the police. Thank you. He comes right back and assaults me again, and I get away again. And this is all before the detective arrives to work. Finally, at 9 a.m., the detective familiar with Amber's case arrived at the Midvale City Police Department. And he responds immediately, and he's like, I'm so sorry. This will never happen again. The police were sent back to Amber's house. Her trafficker fled before they got there. He was now on the run. The police stationed a patrolman outside her house to protect Amber day and night. Law enforcement would come in, and they'd make sure I'd have food, and they'd see if I need a ride anywhere. But I am out of my mind, absolutely terrified. I will not go to sleep. Finally, one of the officers called Amber. Amber, we got him. You can go to sleep. You're going to be safe. Everything's going to be fine. But the next morning. My story makes the news. The media hadn't named Amber, but they had named her trafficker. By proxy, everyone that was affiliated with him, gang affiliation and drug affiliation, knew it was me. This reporting compromised her safety. I'm having news people show up at my door asking me if I want to give a statement. It was absolutely horrifying. Amber was given a small amount of crime victims' reparations money, but it wasn't much. She spent all of it. And I wasn't even fully detoxed. I was still throwing up because I had such a raging opiate addiction. Law enforcement had put her trafficker behind bars, but that was where their support ended. She was still living in the same conditions that led to her being trafficked. And I didn't have a way out. Eventually, it was time for her trafficker's preliminary hearing. Amber was assigned a victim advocate. The advocate I had. The advocate I had was like scared of this whole situation. I think it was the first time she ever heard anything like this in her life. This hearing would determine what charges her trafficker would face. Amber had to describe her trauma in detail. Amber took the stand and testified against her trafficker. I'm up on the stand for like hours and he's looking right at me with pure evil in his eyes. You could tell he is so angry and his defense attorney is asking me the most horrible questions. Like, you liked it and you wanted to do this and I could not believe it. Up on the stand, Amber felt a familiar feeling taking over. That overstimulation in my nervous system was happening again. I wanted to get out of my skin. When the hearing ended, the charges against her trafficker went through. People congratulated her. They're like, you did a great job. Congratulations. Let us know if you need anything. Their words floated through her. She could hardly hear them. All she could feel was a suffocating feeling, swelling up higher than before. I drove right to the block, bought the most heroin that I could buy. I shot up and my intention was to overdose. Hours later, Amber woke up in her car. Of course, I didn't die. I wake up and I'm like, God damn it. The sun is down. I'm like totally disoriented. And I'm like looking around. I've been robbed. Like they've ripped the stereo out of my car. Utah doesn't have any residential facilities designated for survivors of sex trafficking. And law enforcement had no idea what to do either. There wasn't any infrastructure to properly support survivors. Everyone's just like, oh God, we know that we messed up. The system messed up. We almost had this girl killed. Let's just leave her to her own demise. Right when she needed someone to lean in and support her through the trauma. Of testifying against her trafficker. Everyone backed off. The cops are like, we're going to support you. We're not going to charge you anymore. My PO is like, we're just going to have you check in by email. We're not going to have a drug test or anything. So, of course, I just continued to use. When her trafficker's criminal trial finally came, Amber didn't return to court to testify against him. And they had to drop charges because the victim wasn't there to testify. And so they let him out of jail. And he was a victim. He was a free man. Knowing her trafficker was out of jail, Amber was on edge. I knew I couldn't go to sleep. So I'm just doing as much cocaine as possible and trying to stay up. Amber had been up for several days. She was in her car driving around Midvale when she crashed. I just remember like, boom, boom, crash, crash, crash. I hit my head on the steering wheel and I sit back and I try to open my eyes. She realized she was in front of the police. Police department. I have sideswiped all of the cars in front of Midvale City. Police department. Amber was taken to the hospital and then to jail. And I thought they were just going to let me out again. No, they didn't. I had been given way too many chances and the judge had seen that. And I was on my way to prison for the first time. And I was going out there on some pretty serious charges. Second degree. Distribution, an aggravated assault, a weapons violation by a restricted felon, and now this DUI. During her sentence, she kept to herself and stayed sober. And I just remember crying and realizing that I had extreme mental health issues and everything that I had learned to survive these experiences, I was going to need to unlearn. And I started becoming very angry. She thought about all the people that had harmed her. All the systems that had failed her along the way. My brain is on fire and I'm just becoming more and more pissed off. There was a goal coming together in Amber's mind. When she got out of prison, she wanted to devote her life to making a change for other survivors of trafficking. I knew that there was something growing in me that was going to take me far. I felt like I was obligated to turn. I didn't know what the hell I had been through into some sort of purpose in order to make sense of my life. 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But these aren't stories about what's taken from them. They're stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to The Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When Amber's prison sentence ended, she went straight into treatment for her mental health. I needed months and months of extreme trauma therapy at every kind of level of care you can think of. After nine months, Amber was ready to leave treatment. I was in a place now where I felt stable and strong and I knew I wasn't going to return back to drugs. She started school working on a degree in computer science and information systems. And she had a new purpose in life, to help survivors of sex trafficking in Utah. She knew something had to change. I was pissed. I was really pissed. I had watched a lot of people really, really destroy survivors with their rescues. The most glaring problem Amber saw was the lack of support and resources for survivors after they were rescued by law enforcement. Because you can rescue survivors all day long. And then what? The exact same thing that happened to me. You're still in the same environment, same people, and they just end up back into trafficking. She wanted to work with an organization that was focused on long-term aftercare for survivors, like safe housing, mental health support, addiction recovery programs, and financial aid. But she hadn't found a nonprofit with that mission yet. So she jumped in where she could and joined street outreach teams that offered survivors immediate resources. Like needle exchange, condoms, wound care, Narcan, and naloxone. Amber kept close tabs on all the organizations doing anti-trafficking work in Salt Lake City, whenever she saw a new one pop up, she reached out to make sure they were working responsibly and understood the landscape of trafficking in Utah. We saw this new organization hit the street. It's called Exodus. Exit us. Amber reached out to the organization on Facebook. Like, hey, I'm a survivor in Utah. I want to find out what you're doing. I want to talk to you. But she never got a response. She figured maybe the organization never got off the ground. A little while later, Amber attended a fundraising event. There were a few speakers there, but one woman stood out from the rest. I remember listening to her and I'm like, gosh, she is captivating. Her name was Candace Rivera. And she happened to be the founder of Exodus. I was like, oh, they're still on the scene. After the event, Amber sent Candace a message. Hey, I see Exodus starting to like catch, some traction here. I want to meet you. This time, Candace responded and they hopped on a call. Amber explained who she was and told Candace a bit about the work she had been doing in Salt Lake City. And she was like, really? Wow, I would love to meet you. Yeah, I want you to just come over to my house. We'll have a private meeting and we'll get to know each other. Candace lived in Alpine, Utah, one of the wealthiest suburbs of Salt Lake. A few days later, Amber made the 30-minute drive out to her house. And I remember arriving to her house up in Alpine. It was this huge, beautiful home. I remember just walking into this home and I was like, whoa. The house was stunning. Amber looked around in awe. Candace greeted her and encouraged her to sit down and make herself at home. Then Candace told Amber more about her new nonprofit, Exodus. She was just getting started, you know, but she was meeting the right people and talking to people. She was talking to the right people and also had this passion of bridging law enforcement with nonprofit work. And I was like, oh shit, okay. This looks really promising. Amber was impressed. That was exactly the kind of work she was passionate about. She was excited to meet someone who shared her goals. The two women kept talking and Amber learned more about Candace's life. She's a single mom and she's a nurse and she's raising two boys of her own. I was like, oh God, she's kind of inspiring. You know, like she had that super mom thing that I had only obtained while on cocaine. She motivated me. And beyond that, Amber just liked talking to her. Candace was bold, confident, direct. Utah's very conservative. And to get my point across, I'm really annoying and loud. And like, she was kind of the same way. When she finished talking about Exodus, Candace asked Amber if she'd be comfortable sharing more about her experiences as a survivor of sex trafficking. Amber was used to people shying away from the brutal realities of her story. But hearing what she'd been through, Candace just leaned in. Wow, you're incredible. You don't know how incredible you are. I would love to coach you. Let's do this thing together. Just totally supportive of me. I was like, man, this feels like sisterhood. When Amber was going through the process, she was like, getting ready to leave Candace's house, Candace gave her a go bag, a bag of donations that Exodus typically gave survivors. It was full of creature comforts, brand new Nikes, makeup, a set of matching sweats. And it was such nice donations. And I was like, wow, I would love for the girls on North Temple to get a bag like this. This is like new stuff. Driving back to Salt Lake that day, Amber finally felt a sense of certainty. This is what she had been waiting for. I was like, okay, I've been looking for a nonprofit that will exercise a lot of funding into aftercare. And so I'm going to align with this nonprofit and I'm just going to put all my fire into it. She told Candace she was all in. She wanted to volunteer as much as she could to help the organization grow. Let's get this thing going and let's do it right. Let's get it up off the ground. And that's what they did. Together, Amber and Candace made Exodus the first nonprofit for survivors of sex trafficking that focused on providing aftercare services. Amber had a full-time job and was raising her sons on her own again. So she was busy, but she volunteered with Exodus whenever she could. They gave her a title, Survivor Advocate. Introducing our staff and volunteers to what adult survivors look like, what a survivor needs in advocacy, and what navigating the court system looks like. And that's kind of my forte. Amber began working directly with survivors. Law officers would reach out to me and they'd be like, hey, we've identified this survivor. She wants to get out. She's identified her trafficker. She needs safe housing. She needs detox. And I jump right in. Like, okay, Candace, here's a survivor. I'm going to utilize Polaris Project for flights, Safehouse Project for placement, LDS Hospital for detox. She's like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Cool, do it all. As they began working closely together, Candace offered Amber one-on-one coaching to help her achieve her goals. Amber was eager to learn from Candace. I felt like there's this top-level executive, nurse, single mom, boss babe that was taking me under her wing. They started spending more and more time together. Candace would invite Amber over to her house. Amber met her two young kids. And when they had their mentoring sessions, they'd go on long drives up into the city, into the mountains. There, their minds were clear. And Amber felt like she could talk about anything. It really kind of let her into my most vulnerable spaces inside my mind and my goals and what I wanted and some of my secrets. After a few mentoring sessions, Candace told Amber that she thought it would be really powerful if Amber shared her story publicly. To promote what aftercare can do for a survivor and how Exodus can be that organization. Amber always had to fight hard to be heard, kicking down doors herself. Now, Candace was offering her a powerful platform. I really wanted to utilize this and try to make other survivors' voices heard. And I had an endless amount of fire in me to do it. But if Amber was going to get on stage and represent Exodus, Candace had some recommendations on how Amber presented herself. I cuss a lot. And for Utah women, it can be really off-putting. She did explain that to break down certain doors, you had to kind of present a certain way. And I needed coaching on public speaking. And I was open to this because I wanted to be the most effective advocate that I could be. So Candace started coaching Amber on how to deliver her story in the most impactful way. Candace had built an impressive reputation for herself as a leader in the anti-trafficking space. She had an entire, entire series happening with KUTV, Channel 2 News here in Utah about what trafficking looks like in Salt Lake City. And we would take these news broadcasters out on the streets at night in these high-crime areas and let them witness it for themselves. Candace Rivera is the CEO and founder of Exodus. She took us along on the community outreach work her teams do nightly. It's around 10 o'clock on a weeknight, downtown Salt Lake City. Candace had access to some really powerful powerful spaces in Utah, politically and culturally. And she was inviting Amber to share that spotlight with her, to tell her story. She started setting up media appearances for Amber. Different news agencies and executives in the Valley, wealthy individuals who wanted to donate. Even when they were surrounded by powerful people, Candace made Amber feel like the most important person in the room. She would take me right to these individuals and she's like, this is the Amber I was telling you about. And then with the cameras rolling, Amber would tell her story. She'd explain the realities of what sex trafficking looked like in Utah and how Exodus was working to change that. Candace was right there with her, supporting her. She made me feel like surviving the horrors that I had been through and some of these really embarrassing moments in my life, like prison and rehabs and psychiatric stays were not to be shame-based and that they can be transphobic. Transmitted into this big, beautiful thing. It made me feel really good inside. As a forward-facing advocate, Amber developed relationships with various law enforcement agencies, including Homeland Security. They were looking to step into the arena of anti-trafficking efforts and what that actually looks like in Utah. Homeland Security told Amber they wanted to work with her on an upcoming rescue. They knew their work would be more effective if they partnered with her. They partnered with a survivor and a local nonprofit. They brought a lot of different nonprofits in and they ultimately asked me which one I wanted to work with. And of course, I chose Exodus. During this time, the NBA All-Star Games were coming to Utah. Anytime there's a large sporting event, we're going to see an influx of all trafficking. Drug trafficking, human trafficking, gambling. So Exodus, Homeland Security, and other local law enforcement agencies, began to plan a large-scale sting operation. They would implement Exodus' supportive exit strategies. Trained victim advocates would be present on scene, as well as social workers and medical professionals. The goal is to take Candace out on site to the hotels because she's a medical professional. And I'll stay at headquarters at Homeland Security for when they bring the survivor back if they've decided to exit. Each assessment requires to be looked at individually and it's very unique. The operation was. successful. They exited multiple survivors and arrested their traffickers. The sting operation was covered on the news, highlighting Candace's leadership. She's already got other law enforcement agencies across the country that she's going to start training with some of these methods now that she says this proof of concept has been proven so successful. Exodus had a lot of eyes on them, and not just locally. Candace's work was gaining traction across the country and internationally. Candace was also leading international rescue operations. One in Afghanistan and one in Ukraine. She would leave and take our international ops teams to different areas. Amber wasn't involved in this work. She only knew the basic details of what Exodus' international teams were working on. Afghanistan. We had our individuals that we were going to exit. Whole generations of families, sometimes 40 people. There was safe housing and transport and an ops team trying to escape the Taliban. Candace was really passionate about the work Exodus was doing internationally, but it made Amber uncomfortable. I had no experience dealing with the Taliban, none, and I wasn't going to pretend to know. What I do know is Utah, sex trafficking, drug culture, gang culture. That's what I do know, and I just stayed in my scope. For the last two and a half years, Amber had been working with Exodus for free, volunteering her time on nights and weekends. There was only one thing that would make Amber consider coming on full-time and accepting a paycheck. If they could get a joint task force signed with law enforcement. I wasn't going to come on full-time until we had this done. This was my dream. One day, Candace sent Amber a cryptic text, telling her she had big news and to prepare for a phone call that evening. Amber's mind was racing all afternoon. Finally, that night, Candace called. And she's like, we did it. Your dream has come true. I'm signing the paperwork right here. Law enforcement was on board. They were about to sign the paperwork that would create Utah's first joint task force to support survivors of sex trafficking. Amber was in disbelief. Just tears of gratitude. All these extra curricular things I was doing with Exodus. We're worth it. Putting on the representative and out in the middle of the night doing outreach. This is what I've been praying and working tirelessly for and all that is paying off. Things were about to change, not just for Exodus, but for Amber too. Now that the task force was in place, she told Candace that she was ready to come on full-time as a paid employee. I've already been working so hard at this. I can imagine that the work now that I'm being paid for it is going to be, exponentially bigger. I'm expecting it to be a really big deal. Finally, her first day arrived. Okay, I'm here. I'm full-time. I'm getting a paycheck. Now, let's do this. She was ready to hit the ground running. But to her surprise, Those first couple of days, it was really lax. Nobody was reaching out to her to tell her what to do or where to jump in. Like, okay, well, maybe I just need to be more assertive. So she reached out to Candace and her personal assistant, Aura. I'm like, hey, I'm going to get a meeting. I need to have access to SharePoint. SharePoint is the platform where Exodus stored all of their documents and files. Candace responded right away. Oh, yeah, yeah. You know, let's do it. Let's do it. But then, for three days, it was just more silence. I'm feeling so guilty. I'm taking a paycheck and now I'm twiddling my thumbs. Like, what in the hell? That can't be what leadership is. So she reached out to Candace again. She told her she needed to be fully on boarded. This is an organization that's been into different nations across the world. I'm expecting there to be some very streamlined systems in place. Candace is like, oh, yeah, Aura has access to all of that stuff. So Amber reached out to Aura. And Aura is like, oh, okay. Well, let me talk to Candace first because I haven't heard that. This weird communication is happening and it's stalling. Red flags are going off inside of me. I'm like, what in the hell is going on? Finally, Aura had an update. She's like, meet me over at Candace's house. I found a laptop for you. I go over to Candace's house and I get this laptop and I get the login to the SharePoint for Exodus company-wide. What she saw next stunned her. I'm looking at it and it isn't enough documentation to fill a short story for a children's novel. I'm literally shocked. Something is wrong. There was no intake paperwork for the survivors they were working with. No medical paperwork. The work they were doing was high stakes, high risk, and needed to be tightly controlled. But there was hardly any documentation of any of it. Amber felt like it was her responsibility to fix this. So I'm immediately in Google. Docs, creating documents, intake paperwork, confidentiality agreements, releases of information, like just the basic ass stuff that you would need, uploading, uploading everything into SharePoint. But I'm trying to find any reason to make any of this make sense. She asked Candace why all these documents were missing. And Candace's like, some of this stuff is confidential and a lot of this stuff would have to be redacted. Amber couldn't make sense of it. But she didn't have much time. She didn't have time to worry about the paperwork. Because Candace had a big new project she needed help with. She wanted to turn her house in Alpine into transitional housing for survivors. We're going to turn this house into a survivor house. Downstairs will be level one. They'll need medical. They'll need detox. Upstairs will be girls that are a little bit more stabilized. Just need continuing case management. This was a much needed resource. Amber was surprised that Candace was willing to turn her own home into survival housing. It was so generous. This house is phenomenal. This house is huge. It's got a hot tub in the backyard. It is right on the front of the Wasatch Mountains. Like, it's stunning. Candace asked Amber to take the lead on the redesign and decoration. She's like, I want you to be able to decorate it all. I want you to pick out the paint schemes, the beds, the linens, all of it. Candace told her she'd hire decorators to implement Amber's design choices. Amber could hardly believe it. But there was a lot to do to make this dream a reality. First, Amber would have to clear out Candace's stuff that was in the basement and first floor of the house. Candace told her, I want you to start cleaning out the basement and organize all the donations, all the medical supplies. Get it ready for these decorators to come in. come in. Around this time, Candace mentioned to Amber that she was having a dispute with one of the vendors at a gala she'd put together. Some minor financial miscommunication. Because he said that she didn't pay entirely for the stage. I never dealt with this type of stuff with Exodus, and nor did I really want to. So Amber just focused on getting Candace's house ready. I'm working my butt off, taking things off the walls, patching holes, taking trash to dumps, grinding it out nine, ten hours a day. Exodus had worked with the Attorney General's office on a few rescue operations. But then one day, Amber heard that one of their projects had been abruptly called off. As victims were identified sitting right there, perps were in handcuffs. They walked off the off. It was shocking. At the time, this decision to call off the operation didn't make sense to Amber. She chalked it up to internal politics. Maybe a disagreement over direction between Candace and the authorities. One morning, Amber was getting ready to go over to Candace's house. I'm getting my coffee. Getting ready to go pull trash out of this house. Then, her phone rang. It was Candace. She's panicking. Amber, I'm back. Being arrested. And I'm like, for what? And she's like, it's the Attorney General's office. The Attorney General's office is arresting me. I'm at my bank. I need you to come get my car and my gun. I'm at my bank. I, um, I can't stop scratching my downtown. I just remember this low, taunting voice next to my ear saying, Shut up. Don't say anything. Every week, I'm with Survivors. Survivors who live through the unthinkable. They are abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced. If you're seeking to try to understand the forensic science behind these cases that we hear about in the news, Body Bags is where you need to turn. There's no fluff. We do a deep dive into the forensics. Listen to Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Open your free iHeart app and search Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan. Joseph Scott Morgan, and start listening. Well, it's that time again. Backpacks, first day of school outfits, and the low-key anxiety of, am I even doing this right? Good mom's bad choices is diving into the back-to-school season the way only we know how. Unfiltered, funny, and full of the moments other shows won't touch. From surviving morning drop-offs to the guilt of missing the first bake sale. Irie told me that next season she wants to join a club team that's by your house. So I was like, so you want me to pick you up from school? I'll take her by my house, but then I have to take her there, and then I have to drive back. And then some days I'm here, and I have to go pick you up at school, and then bring you back. I was just like, hell no. This is the space where moms trade their highlight reel for the real reel. Whether you're a new mom, a veteran mom, or just trying to make it to pick up on time, this season of Good Mom's Bad Choices is for you. Listen to Good Mom's Bad Choices from the Black Effect podcast network on the iHeartRadio. Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. One morning, Candace called Amber panicking. Amber, I'm being arrested. I'm at my bank. Amber, they've made up so much stuff. They've made up so much stuff. They're coming after me. Amber sprang into action. I know this area, right? I know charges. I know jails. I know how to bail out. Now we're talking. I can manage this part. She called one of her friends, and together, they drove to Candace's bank. Sure enough, a law enforcement officer was standing by Candace's car. He gave Amber the keys, and they took the car back to Candace's house. There, she made a group chat with Ora and a few other employees from Exodus. And I'm like, listen, the AG's office just arrested Candace. We got to get her out of there, you guys. This is bullshit. Something's going on. And Ora's like, well, I just don't know who to trust anymore. And I'm like, what? Amber had always known Ora to be Candace's best friend. What do you mean you don't know who to trust anymore? You're going to jump ship right when your boss's best friend needs you the most? What the hell is going on? Then, Amber's phone started ringing again. It was Candace. She's devastated, crying. She's like, Amber, there's so many charges. I'm like, well, what is it? She's like, Amber, they just made up so much stuff about me. It's all lies, Amber. It's all lies. I was like, I know, Candace. Like, I know. We're going to get you out of there. Don't worry. I'm still in rescue mode. I'm like, I got to get my girl out of there. I'm contacting Bella Bosman to see if they can see anything on the booking sheet. They can't see anything yet. So we just have to wait. Amber started making arrangements, finding someone to pick up Candace's kids from school. She even took Candace's dog back to her place. She went to sleep that night, feeling on edge. I didn't sleep at all. I had some crazy nightmares. My hands were shaking. I'm starting to have my own trauma responses. The next morning, I wake up and still nobody has called me. One of her friends suggested that they drive up into the mountains to get some fresh air and space from the situation. He was renovating an old cabin and could use the extra help. Happy for the distraction, Amber hopped in his car. And on our ride up there, the story makes the news. Founder of anti-human trafficking nonprofit faces more than 30 felony charges, including theft, fraud, and forgery. Candace Alexandria Leard, also known as Candace Rivera, claims to be a physician, a physician's assistant, and a nurse, but she was never licensed or registered in Utah. Repeatedly made false representations to donors who gave money to support the fight against human trafficking. I'm having this outer body experience. They're saying impersonating a nurse and my reality is being ripped apart. It feels like I'm having a mental breakdown. And then my phone starts blowing up. It seemed like everyone she knew had heard the news and wanted an answer about what was going on. But Amber had no idea. She couldn't handle this right now. So she turned off her phone. She stared straight ahead as the car climbed higher and higher into the Utah mountains. None of this is making sense to me. Then she and her friend arrived at his cabin. Her friend handed her a sledgehammer and said, and asked her to help him work on the renovation. Finally, some relief. A physical outlet for all of the anxiety. All she had to focus on was tearing a wall down. I just started banging on the walls. And then I started to come alive a little bit. I'm just beating the shit out of this house with a sledgehammer. Raging. Eventually, they had to go back home. It was time to face whatever dark reality was unfolding in the canyon below. And as we hit the point where we get service coming down Parley's Canyon, I turn the phone on and it's Instagram messages, a hundred text messages, 14 voicemails. And I'm obsessively going through all of them. I'm calling people. She got on the phone with one of her contacts in politics who worked for a congressman. And she's like, I'm so sorry. I wish I could have told you. And I'm like, what? What do you mean you wish you could have told me? She's like, Amber, just know that, like, I wanted to tell you. And we just had to, like, pretend like everything was. normal. It turned out there had been an active investigation into Candace for months. Many people Amber worked with in politics and law enforcement knew. Desperate for answers, Amber googled Candace's name, and up came the 34 charges. Fraud, theft, forgery. She read through them all. I'm scrolling and scrolling and scrolling through all of them, and I'm like, this cannot be real. This can't be real. These people have it wrong. Amber called another one of her contacts in Homeland Security. They already knew. And they're like, we're so sorry. We respect you, and we love you, and we'll do anything we can to help you through this. And it's still not sticking. I'm still just angry. Then Amber got another alarming call from one of her law enforcement contacts. And they're like, Amber, I can't get a hold of anybody. I'm from Exodus. Where is our survivor? Exodus still had open cases, and law enforcement needed Amber's help locating one of their survivors and making sure she was safe. Okay, just relax. Calm down. Breathe. I gotta lock in. I've gotta identify, locate, and we gotta figure this out. There's real cases that are happening and being jeopardized right now. Reporters were also worried about Amber's safety. They're also reaching out to Amber, asking for comment. But she didn't know what to tell them. I'm starting to crash out. This feels a lot like when I was rescued from trafficking. The press, the articles, the phone calls, all these different narratives from different people, and people believe Candace. They don't believe Candace. It's too much information at once. So she reached out to the Attorney General's office. She wanted to hear the information straight from the source. An investigator got on the phone with Amber and started walking her through the charges. He's trying to be calm with me, and I'm being really assertive. Like, tell me the truth. Where did you get the information? How do you know? Tell me your proof. I need to know what is going on. First, there were financial crimes. Candace had been embezzling money from Exodus. She stole the money that they had raised, that was supposed to go toward supporting survivors, and spend it on herself. For instance, she stole $200,000 of donations and used them for the down payment of her house. Amber felt sick. She remembered Candace talking about how she'd been able to afford the down payment. At the time, Candace told her, The down payment was just one example out of many. For years, Candace used the non-profit's donations as her personal bank account. The money was used to fund a lavish lifestyle. She went on international vacations, drove multiple luxury cars, ate at the most expensive restaurants, bought designer clothes. Hundreds of thousands of dollars would be coming in from donors that went to her own personal expenses. Candace repeatedly preyed on the most vulnerable groups. She took a large donation from the Navajo Nation, which she claimed she would use to locate missing and murdered Indigenous women. Instead, Candace spent that money on herself. Candace Rivera was not who she said she was. Even her name was a lie. Her legal name is Candace Leard. She created a false persona and fabricated medical credentials. I learned that she was never a nurse. Candace gave trafficking survivors prescription medications, evaluated wounds, and made medical recommendations. It was later reported in outlets like Us Weekly and Yahoo News that in her international work, Candace performed medical procedures and administered drugs to sick children, all without having a license. The darkest part of her crimes don't even appear on her long list of charges. Unicorn Girl, a recent investigative podcast about Candace's crimes, reported on her international work. Candace reportedly connected with families trying to flee Afghanistan and promised them she could be the one to facilitate their evacuation. She gave them a specific location where they would need to go. She insisted she and her team would be there to bring them to safety. But she wasn't. Candace took his time explaining all of this to Amber and answered her questions. He's being very patient with me. He's explaining to me where some money came from, where it went, where she spent it. And I'm starting to come to terms with, oh my God, this sounds real. Amber got off the phone with the investigator. The world around her felt unsteady and shaky. The organization she poured years of her life into was a fraud, and Candace was a dangerous person. And then I get a call from Candace from the jail. I'm like, Candace, I just got off the phone with the AG's office and they're saying this and this. They said that no one was ever even rescued from Afghanistan. And she's like, Amber, they're lying. Amber started pressing her about specifics, like the $200,000 donation that Candace stole to pay for the down payment of her house. I was like, Candace, what did you do with this $200,000 that was sent? She was like, that was a mistake. And I just immediately could recognize the lie. Amber kept pressing her, demanding answers. And she's like, Amber, I did all of this for you. I remember feeling so disgusted in that moment. Like, you did all these horrifying things for me? Don't put this on me. For the rest of the phone call, Candace insisted that she was innocent. And that was the last time she ever called. It was the last time she ever called. I think she knew she had been caught. Amber started looking back on the years she spent volunteering and working with Exodus. Since the very beginning, Candace asked her to be a big part of their fundraising effort. I was trying to transmute my experience into something good for the better, for a spiritual purpose. It wasn't easy to tell her story, but she had done it, thinking that the money that they were raising would help support survivors. But now, she found out Candace had stolen that money for herself. Candace took my story and made millions off of it for herself. Living this lavish lifestyle and utilizing my story for credibility and for her own personal gain. Candace even coached Amber to tell her story in a very specific way, a way that would encourage people to open their pocketbooks. And would work on how I spoke and how I delivered things. And I did feel like she was genuinely invested in me. Unusually so. I mean, looking back, it was grooming. In retrospect, everything looked different. Was Candace ever going to be the same? Was Candace ever planning on turning her house into transitional housing for survivors? Or had Amber just been sent to do busy work? Just to get me off her back of asking questions of what the hell was going on with the paperwork? What is going on with the officiality of this organization? Exodus really did provide support to survivors and connect them with aftercare services. Their contracts with law enforcement were real. All the work Amber did connecting them with aftercare services was real. All the work Amber did connecting all the work Amber did connecting them with aftercare services was real. All the work Amber did connecting survivors with resources was real. But for Candace, all that work was just a front for her larger cash grab. Amber cares deeply about improving the systems that failed her. And Candace exploited that passion. Our values and what we were doing were completely different. And my face was attached to it. And a lot of people had trusted her because I asked them to. It was the most disgusting feeling I've ever felt in my life. And I don't think it's some part in all of this. Oh, it shattered my soul. Amber endured so many betrayals of trust in her lifetime by her stepfather, her trafficker, as well as institutional betrayals that left her to fall through the cracks when she needed support the most. It took years of hard work to open herself up to trust again. And then Candace, the person that she let in, betrayed her too. In the days after Amber learned the truth, her mental health was at a high level. She was in a state of shock. Her mental health took a turn for the worse. After a few days without sleep, she knew she needed help. She arranged for child care and checked herself into a residential mental health treatment facility. They took care of me until I re-acclimated back into my body. Amber had to reset her life. The list of people she trusted had shrunk dramatically. She stayed updated with Candace's life. In the end, Candace pled no contest to nine felony charges, including theft by deception, communications fraud, and second-degree felonies for a pattern of unlawful activity. The only hearing Amber attended was the one where they set the date for Candace's sentencing hearing. And we're sitting there and we're determining the day that she's going to be sentenced. And they set it on the presidential election day. The outcome of Candace's sentencing would never make the news on the day of a presidential election, which would be convenient for a lot of the politicians who had trusted Candace, endorsed her, worked with her. Now it seemed like they were trying to sweep it all under the rug. Amber wasn't going to let that happen. Her attorney's like, yeah, that's fine with me. And the judge will accept the prosecution. Yeah, that's fine with me too. I'm going to stand up and I'm like, well, it ain't fine with me. Just at the top of my lungs. And the judge snaps her head up and locks eyes with me and she could tell she's just angry. And I'm like, oh shit. The judge was not pleased, but Amber's complaint worked. Candace's sentencing hearing was rescheduled for October 22nd, 2024. Amber watched the sentencing via Zoom. And when she got up to speak, I took my headphones off, walked away from my desk because I didn't want to hear anything else coming from her. That day, Candace Leard was sentenced to three to 15 years in prison. She was shocked herself. Her ability to speak her way in and out of things had worked all across this globe. I think she thought that it was going to work again and it didn't. And she was sent to prison on consecutive sentences. At the time I'm recording this, Candace is still serving a prison sentence. Some people who knew her have tried to make excuses. She's been sent to prison for her. Saying that Candace meant well. And she just got carried away with the financials. But Amber knows the truth. I don't know if people can really conceptualize how dangerous she is. Because it just looks like money crimes, like white collar crimes. And that's not true. It's actually a lot deeper than that. People were hurt. Since the truth about Exodus and Candace has come out, law enforcement is reticent to collaborate with anti-trafficking groups. Trafficking non-profits in Utah. Nobody trusts anybody. Survivors don't trust law enforcement, don't trust non-profits. Everyone's fallen through the cracks. In society, we think we know what a dangerous person looks like. The people that I'm used to and the people that I was in prison with, it was very obvious we were criminals, right? But perpetrators like Candace? They present very well. These ones are like snakes in the grass. They go unnoticed and seen for a long time and do a lot more damage. It is terrifying. Today, Amber works full-time at a treatment facility. She's taken a step back from forward-facing advocacy. But she still steps in to help law enforcement on select cases where they need her guidance. She's tossed aside Candace's advice about how to be more polished and well-spoken. I'm no longer trying to present as articulate and position myself in a professional manner, be within the bounds. I'm an out-of-bounds kind of girl now. We end every weekly episode with the same question. Why do you want to share your story? For Amber, there's one very specific reason. Candace has a parole hearing coming up in November 2026. She wants to remind people about the damage Candace caused. I want to be quiet about my experience. But I don't want anyone else to get hurt. I ultimately want to stop her, and I want to stop people exploiting the anti-trafficking community. And so in preparation for this tentative hearing, I wanted to make sure that my story got out. And I hope that that information gets accurately portrayed and that the Board of Pardons and Parole can understand the complexity of what happened. Who they're dealing with and how dangerous she is to our society. I don't want to go quietly into the night. On the next episode of Betrayal Weekly. My mind is racing. We have another person who is absolutely trying to sabotage this. But why? If you'd like to share your story on betrayal, please email [email protected]. That is [email protected]. Please note that we are not a mental health organization. If you are in crisis or currently experiencing domestic violence, we encourage you to seek local help or dial 911. Please contact organizations that offer immediate support. In our show notes, we've included a list of U.S.-based resources. You can follow us on Instagram @betrayalpod or find me @itsandreagunning. To access our newsletter and additional content and to connect with the betrayal community, join our Substack at betrayal.substack.com. We're grateful for your support. One way to show support is by subscribing to our show on Apple Podcasts. And don't forget to rate and review Betrayal. Five-star reviews go a long way. A big thank you to all of our listeners. Betrayal is a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group in partnership with iHeart Podcasts. The show is executive produced by Nancy Glass and Jennifer Faison. Hosted and produced by me, Andrea Gunning. Written and produced by Olivia Hewitt. Our story editor is Monique Laborde. Also produced by Ben Fetterman. Our associate producer is Leah Jablo. Production management by Kristen Malkuri. Booking support by Curry Richmond. Our iHeart team is Allie Perry and Jessica Kreincheck. Audio editing by Tanner Robbins with additional editing and mixing by Matt Dalbecchio. Voice acting by Carrie Hartman. Betrayal's theme composed by Oliver Baines. Music library provided by MyMusic. And for more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Some people use ChatGPT to answer questions. Others use it to get real work done. With ChatGPT Work, you bring the goal, plus real inputs like briefs, notes, files, feedback, data, and project plans. It can help turn them into an analysis, tracker, deck outline, prototype, or workflow you can review and keep shaping. You stay in control. Giving direction and choosing the final output. Put ChatGPT to work on your most ambitious ideas and projects. 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