Riverdale’s Marisol Nichols, a Rape Survivor, Works Undercover to Catch Sex Predators
Like most actors, Marisol Nichols is used to playing many roles. Her latest is her most important yet — helping to arrest hundreds of sex traffickers.
Over the last several years, the Riverdale star, 46, has worked alongside law enforcement by going undercover to catch predators in the act of hunting children. Nichols has acted as both the victim and pimp, leading to the arrests of a number of criminals.
Nichols opened up about her powerful part in the mission to end sex trafficking in an interview with Marie Claire, explaining, "If good people don't know about it, it will keep happening, because good people are the only ones who will do anything about it."
"They're the ones who, when faced with inhumanity, will try to stop it. Because you have to try, right? Even if it doesn't work."
Giving readers a clear glimpse of her work, Marie Claire detailed one sting operation Nichols participated in, which involved pretending to be a 13-year-old girl and luring predators to a motel room. A law enforcement agent acted as her pimp, describing her to the predators.
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Saved In America is an organization dedicated to locating and rescuing children from sex trafficking
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The man agreed to met her at the motel and upon his arrival, officers arrested him, By the end of day two, Nichols had helped police arrest a dozen of men, according to Marie Claire.
Nichols' passion for the work stems from her own childhood trauma.When she was 11, Nichols was raped by a few boys she had gone out to party with.
"It ended up being my worst nightmare," Nichols said of the experience to Marie Claire. "It changed the entire trajectory of my life in a day."
The incident caused Nichols to turn to drugs, telling Marie Claire, "I did a lot of them."
Dean Buscher/The CW Marisol Nichols on Riverdale
It was also around that time that she discovered that the man she thought was her biological father had adopted her. The discovery only pushed her further down a dark path.
"I would go to the city and scrape the [cocaine] block and weigh and measure and mix it," Nichols told Marie Claire of her 20s. "I think I paid for coke like twice," Nichols explained, adding that she would get drugs for free from older men.
It wasn't until she began acting that her life turned around.
After making her movie debut in Vegas Vacation in 1997, Nichols discovered the Church of Scientology.
Monica Schipper/WireImage Marisol Nichols
"Honestly, Scientology is what saved my freaking ass. I'd probably be dead," Nichols told Marie Claire.
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Nichols also started her nonprofit, Foundation for a Slavery Free World in 2014, which aims to raise awareness about the sex trafficking world.
Nicholas has played Veronica Lodge's mother Hermione since Riverdale premiered in 2017. In February, she announced that she is leaving the series, alongside Skeet Ulrich.
“I had an incredible time bringing Hermione Lodge to life and working with my amazing cast, who became family,” she told TVLine. “We had so many wonderful times together during the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. We really do have the best fans ever. I am looking forward to the next chapter and am excited about the future.”
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to online.rainn.org.
