On October 28, 2024, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) searched the home of Joel Biermann, the former mayor of University Park, Maryland. What they found was shocking. 

Biermann had over 45,000 files containing child sexual abuse and exploitation material (CSAEM) on his devices, as well as even more incriminating, horrific physical evidence. The 45-year-old was arrested and charged with a litany of felonies, including soliciting, possessing and distributing CSAEM. 

But that’s not the end of the story. 

The United States FBI also discovered a history of correspondence with a child trafficker in the Philippines that spanned years. They traced the messages to a man named Holden. 

Discovering a monster

The ensuing investigation painted a disturbing picture. Holden was a truly monstrous trafficker who’d spent decades perfecting his evil trade. He targeted boys by offering fake sports scholarships before grooming and pressuring them into sexual exploitation.

Holden was a prolific child trafficker, even employing handlers to help target the boys and facilitate their exploitation. While he used the kids to produce enormous amounts of CSAEM, Holden didn’t stop there. In one series of messages, Holden claimed that he’d hosted over 100 paedophiles from the US alone so that they could abuse prepubescent boys in person. 

The FBI saw this as an opportunity. If they could arrange one of these in-person meetings with an undercover agent, they might be able to take down the trafficker, rescue some of his victims, and get access to his client list all at once. An agent went undercover posing as a child sex buyer and made contact with Holden online. 

Things went well at first, but after a second US buyer was arrested, Holden started getting skittish. As his clients went silent without explanation, he started setting up protection protocols, distancing himself from the work. He also put his handlers on high alert for any suspicious interactions with clients. The FBI knew they needed to move quickly before Holden went completely dark, but had no way of reaching him in the Philippines. 

That’s where we came in.

Playing the part

A fellow FBI agent recommended bringing Destiny Rescue in on the case. She’d collaborated with our team and the Filipino National Police (PNP) in the past and was impressed with our proficiency.

A Destiny Rescue agent, Austin, was recruited to take over the FBI correspondence with Holden. He quickly got into character and earned Holden’s trust, even pretending to be angry and suspicious when one of Holden’s handlers didn’t show for an early meet-up. “I used the situation to my advantage—reverse psychology,” said Austin of messaging the handler before the meeting. “I told Holden that I was not happy with (the handler). He was acting too flaky and suspicious.”

The ploy worked. Holden placated Austin, insisting that he’d send a different handler for the primary meet-up with the victim. This meeting was the focus of the whole operation: the new handler would bring a 13-year-old boy to a hotel for the apparent buyer to abuse. Agents and officers had to find a way to rescue the child, arrest the handler and somehow find and arrest Holden at the same time so that he wouldn’t be tipped off.

The plan of attack

The plan they settled on was broken into two parts: Team One would wait until Austin confirmed that the child and handler were present in the hotel. Once this team got his signal, they’d swoop to rescue the boy and arrest both the handler and Austin, preserving his cover.

At the same time, Team Two would storm Holden’s home, arrest the trafficker and collect evidence from whatever devices they found. The plan was straightforward, but the timing had to be precise for it to work.

After a few tense days of waiting for a warrant, the morning of the operation finally arrived. The teams met together in the morning, poring over maps and rehearsing the plan one last time. At 3 p.m. that afternoon, the operation began.

Strike

As Team Two set up near Holden’s home, Austin arrived at the hotel restaurant, where Holden had instructed him to wait. In the meantime, Austin messaged the handler, asking for a picture of the boy he was supposed to meet. The picture he received had no date stamp: there wasn’t enough evidence for the raid to begin. So Austin made a decision. 

He knew which room they were supposed to be in. He quickly pre-typed out the “go” signal to the raid team, but didn’t send the message. Holding the phone at his side, his thumb hovering over the “send” button, Austin approached the room and opened the door. As soon as he saw the victim and handler inside the room, Austin hit the send button and resumed his character. He’d have to maintain his cover long enough for the arresting officers to arrive while simultaneously keeping the boy from harm. 

For the next few minutes, Austin maintained his cover while police prepared the rescue. When asked how he kept his emotions in check in such a difficult situation, the seasoned agent said that maintaining focus on the end goal was key: “It’s like when you’re running: you know you’re in pain, but you keep going because you have to finish…. It’s a full-body focus on staying two steps ahead.”

He didn’t have to keep up the act for long. Soon, officers from Team One knocked on the door, pretending to be room service. When the victim answered the door, officers calmly arrested Austin and the handler, and caseworkers took the boy to safety. The first phase of the operation was a success. 

At the same moment that Austin was placed under arrest, Team Two made their move on Holden’s home. Unfortunately, officers immediately ran into difficulties. Ignoring the police warrant, Holden’s family members refused to let the officers in, hurriedly chaining the outer gates shut and making urgent telephone calls. Fed up with the delays, officers scaled the outer fence and entered the residence. By that time, there was no sign of Holden. The notorious trafficker was in the wind. 

To be continued…

Though Holden managed to escape, Team Two collected valuable evidence from the many devices they recovered on the property. Even more importantly, the handler Team One arrested began providing information about Holden’s operation enthusiastically. He claimed to have started off as one of Holden’s trafficked boys before being transferred into the “handler” position, and had no love for the trafficker.

A 13-year-old boy is now safe; by that standard alone, we categorise this mission as a success. That child no longer has to face Holden’s twisted machinations or endure abuse from strange men. His long road to recovery can lead him wherever he wants to go in life. We are thrilled with his rescue, but we are not done.

Holden remains a target of interest to the FBI and PNP. We stand ready to pursue this horrible trafficker with law enforcement until he’s stopped. You can help us in that endeavour. Your donation enables us to provide vital manpower and invaluable expertise to rescue operations all over the world. You can be a part of freeing children and stopping traffickers. Fill out the form below to rescue a child today.