'It's right here in Wake County': Raleigh mother shares how her 12-year-old daughter was lured into human trafficking
Human trafficking shows no boundaries.
It can happen to anyone, anywhere, regardless of factors like race or economic status.
Earlier this summer, the unthinkable happened to a 12-year-old Wake County middle school student.
On the condition of anonymity, WRAL News spoke with the girl’s mother about the incident.
“My daughter has to live with this [for] the rest of her life,” the mother said.
Authorities said Brieania Pinnock, 21, spent many days and nights in mid-June lurking in an apartment complex parking lot to befriend the middle schooler, who lived nearby.
In June, Pinnock was charged with three counts of second-degree sex exploitation of a minor. She was indicted on those crimes and promoting the prostitution of a minor. In September after an investigation, prosecutors added the charge of human trafficking of a minor.
How a 12-year-old girl was lured into human trafficking
The victim’s mom said Pinnock hung out in the apartment complex’s parking lot for four days.
“I was like, ‘How old is she, and why does she want to hang around with you?’” the mom said.
The mom said on June 18, Pinnock wasn’t in the parking lot and her own daughter was not asleep in her bed. Also, the 12-year-old girl’s belongings, shoes and clothes were gone from her closet, the mother said. She knew it had to be Pinnock.
When the mom found Pinnock’s number and called her on June 19, what she heard was shocking. The mother said she heard from both Pinnock and her daughter during the phone call.
Pinnock told the 12-year-old girl that her mother didn’t want her anymore, according to the mother.
“She is 12,” the mom said. “Where are you? Where are you, and I’ll come get you.
“I said, ‘Look, wherever you are, you need to get back here right now.’”
The mother then called the police and filed a missing persons report on June 20. Her daughter had been gone for three days.
WRAL News asked the mother why she waited three days to contact police with her 12-year-old daughter missing.
“I thought she was going to come home,” the girl’s mother said.
Experts said these are techniques used by criminals in human trafficking cases. Pinnock’s actions are common among those who lure victims into exploitation, according to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill research professor Dean Duncan.
“That’s what exploiters are doing, trying to sell a fantasy life,” Duncan said.
Duncan serves as the principal investigator for Project No Rest, which is a five-year effort funded by the U.S. Children’s Bureau to increases awareness of human trafficking affecting children and youth involved with the child welfare system in North Carolina. The project aims to reduce trafficking and improve outcomes for victims of trafficking.
In Duncan’s career, he has taught courses in welfare reform, data analysis, program evaluation and research methods.
“Human trafficking is using force, fraud and coercion to get an individual to do something they wouldn’t otherwise do,” Duncan said. “Sex trafficking is force, fraud and coercion to get an individual to engage in a commercial sex act.”
Duncan acknowledged anyone can be a trafficking victim. He explained common behavior he’s seen with criminals.
“Sometimes, there is control and psychological control saying, ‘You can leave, [but] no one is going to want you. You can’t go home to your parents,’” Duncan said. “There are also situations like with law enforcement[ where the person coercing the victim will say,] ‘They are not going to believe you. Police aren’t going to believe you.’”
In 2020, North Carolina had 260 reported human trafficking cases. It’s the ninth-highest total in the U.S. It follows California, Texas, Florida, New York, Georgia, Ohio, Michigan and Missouri, all of which make up nearly half of the entire country’s reported cases for the year.
Year: Human trafficking cases reported in NC
- 2020: 260
- 2019: 268
- 2018: 286
- 2017: 235
- 2016: 188
Data courtesy of the Human Trafficking Hotline.
Duncan said there are not clear answers to fully prevent kids from getting trafficked.
12-year-old girl overdoses at hotel
Someone sent the 12-year-old girl’s sister a text message with a video, saying they recognized the girl. The video showed the girl screaming “at the top of her lungs,” according to her mother.
The person who sent the video told the mom told her to go to the Budgetel Inn and Suites at 3804 New Bern Ave. in Raleigh.
“They said she [overdosed],’” the mom said. “I said, ‘What do you mean she [overdosed]?’”
Police said Pinnock had naked photos of the girl with an advertisement for sex for the purpose of prostitution and human trafficking. Bonnie Ray Morris, 30, is also accused of raping the 12-year-old girl and drugging her with Percocet and fentanyl.
“She was given that by the pimp supposedly to be able to knock her unconscious so she can perform,” the girl’s mom said.
Authorities took the girl to WakeMed where doctors used rape kits to determine what happened.
“The doctor was in tears. She is a mother herself,” the girl’s mom said. “It bothered her because my daughter didn’t even know her [own] name.”
It took two to three days for some normalcy to return, according to the mother.
“She was vomiting constantly,” the mom said of her daughter. “It and out, in and out.”
The mother also said her daughter had to take medications due to contracting two STIs.
“It’s very unfathomable,” the girl’s mom said.
The girl still watched Disney movies, her mother said. Then, she was pulled into a world of drug use, human trafficking and forced prostitution.
This mother said what happened to her daughter serves as a wakeup call, and hopes other parents know their children can also be preyed upon.
“To know this is real,” she said. “It’s not in other countries or other states. It’s right here in Wake County.”
Resources to help
Project No Rest: Project No Rest is a statewide project to increase awareness and prevention around human trafficking and how it affects children and young people.
National Human Trafficking Hotline: The National Human Trafficking Hotline connects victims and survivors of sex and labor trafficking with services and supports to get help and stay safe. The Trafficking Hotline also receives tips about potential situations of sex and labor trafficking and facilitates reporting that information to the appropriate authorities in certain cases.
Call 1-888-373-7888 or text 233733
