Former Charleston, South Carolina sex worker Lindsey Edwards doesn’t want money – even though she and her family could certainly use it. Like far too many Americans, Edwards – who recently left the Palmetto State in her rearview mirror – is finding it harder to make ends meet amidst the onslaught of increasingly ominous economic indicators.
But this 28-year-old mother of four isn’t about to cash in on her gut-wrenching story – or go back to the life that led to it.
To her, telling her story is much more important than selling it …
During a raw, emotional, wide-ranging interview with me over the weekend, Edwards made one thing perfectly clear: Any money conceivably coming to her from a slew of potential court cases would go directly to a foundation benefiting victims of human trafficking.
She doesn’t want a cent … she just doesn’t want what happened to her to happen to anyone else.
And what happened to Edwards?
As a twenty-year-old exotic dancer in and around Charleston eight years ago, she found herself forced into the sex trade – at gunpoint, in some instances. According to her, she was under the thumb of a ruthless madam, armed “bodyguards” and a network of dirty cops (many of whom allegedly received favors in exchange for the information and “protection” they provided the madam).
In this capacity, Edwards was compelled to have sex with literally hundreds of men – often against her will.
And often resulting in violent rapes …
During this period of involuntary sexual servitude, on four occasions Edwards said she found herself compelled to service a personal injury attorney from Hampton, S.C. named Alex Murdaugh – one of many wealthy, well-known clients in her madam’s black book.
What transpired during those four encounters?
According to Edwards, Murdaugh choked her to the point she nearly blacked out, gagged her, beat her and pulled clumps of hair from her head – trauma she willingly relived on our cameras in the hopes of making sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else.
Here is my full interview with Edwards …
***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
(Via: FITSNews)
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and seven children.
***
WANNA SOUND OFF?
Got something you’d like to say in response to one of our articles? Or an issue you’d like to proactively address? We have an open microphone policy here at FITSNews! Submit your letter to the editor (or guest column) via email HERE. Got a tip for a story? CLICK HERE. Got a technical question or a glitch to report? CLICK HERE.
3 comments
Astonishing, I believe her for sure. The courage of this lady is unbelievable. I really hope that she can help other girls entrapped like this. I hope she gets justice for what was done to her.
She had a choice from day one. To say that taking your clothes off for money because it was the only thing she could do to take care of her baby is a slap in the face to all of the women who were left to take care of their children alone, with no help, and didn’t take their clothes off to survive. She willingly entered the sex trade, knowing full well the dangers that come with that. Abortion is not the answer for saving these women. Abortion helps keep these women in the lifestyle that they chose to go into. It’s sad that she ended up being forced to have sex with men, period, but she made the choice to go into an extremely risky lifestyle all on her own. She needs to own that and not use abortion as her savior.
Incredible, moving interview. Prayers for your healing. You are so courageous.