My Daughter Was Taken by a Cult — I Tried to Save Her & Ended Up in a Polish Prison | Iain Bryson

Locked In with Ian Bick

Ian Bick

Society & Culture

4.8 • 745 Ratings

🗓️ 23 March 2026

⏱️ 96 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Iain Bryson shares the heartbreaking true story of how his life was shattered when his three-year-old daughter was taken to Poland by her mother and never returned. In this episode of Locked In with Ian Bick, Iain explains how he unknowingly married into a family he later believed operated like a cult, and how warnings about his daughter being taken eventually became reality. After authorities and international agencies failed to act, Iain traveled to Poland in a desperate attempt to expose what he believed was abuse and trafficking — a decision that ultimately landed him in a Polish prison for 50 months. _____________________________________________ #cultstory #prisontime #truecrime #prisonstory #lockedup #cultsurvivor #prisonexperience #ianbick _____________________________________________ Thank you to Married By The Mob for sponsoring this episode! Visit https://www.marriedbythemob.com/ for tickets! _____________________________________________ Buy Iain's Book: https://www.amazon.com/Love-You-Like-One-Daughter-ebook/dp/B0CYW6XLJT/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=mFPa0&content-id=amzn1.sym.3a079c4e-f938-40c9-a0ed-01ef0e9528e9&pf_rd_p=3a079c4e-f938-40c9-a0ed-01ef0e9528e9&pf_rd_r=146-4590805-2145945&pd_rd_wg=CMgCY&pd_rd_r=d74aa1d8-b984-4ce1-a2d4-597f1415c94c _____________________________________________ Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ _____________________________________________ Shop Locked In Merch: http://www.ianbick.com/shop _____________________________________________ Timestamps: 00:00 Thrown Into a Polish Prison — What Happened 00:30 Ian Bryson’s Story — From Father to Prisoner 01:02 Early Life & Upbringing 02:56 College, Career Goals & Future Plans 04:57 Marriage, Life Changes & Red Flags 06:27 Moving to Poland — Warning Signs 07:40 Marriage Struggles & Mental Health Issues 09:47 Becoming a Father & Family Life 10:55 Signs of Abuse — Something Was Wrong 13:00 Separation & Daughter Taken by a Cult 14:47 Desperate Search for Help 17:18 Running Out of Options 18:36 Plan to Rescue His Daughter 20:58 Confrontation in Poland — Everything Changes 23:34 Arrested in Poland & Harsh Jail Conditions 27:41 Language Barrier & Legal Confusion 29:49 First Months Inside a Polish Prison 31:36 Daily Life in Polish Prison 34:05 Cellmates, Survival & Prison Culture 37:22 Learning Polish & Adapting 40:43 Polish Court System & Trial Process 45:14 Psychiatrists, Charges & Mental Evaluations 49:07 Sent to a Psychiatric Hospital 51:41 Forced Medication & Losing Control 54:31 Transfer From Max to Minimum Security 58:28 Prison Hustles, Guards & Survival Tactics 01:04:44 Release From Prison & Starting Over 01:09:03 Fighting to Regain Parental Rights 01:14:08 Finding Purpose & Advocacy Work 01:18:54 Writing the Book & Sharing His Story 01:24:01 Contact With Family & Daughter Updates 01:27:18 The Bigger Fight Against Abuse 01:33:02 Life After Prison — Reflections & Purpose Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	An engineer round the corner whenever you need.
0:03.0	British gas have over 6,000 on route at speed.
0:06.0	Fixing lights that won't light or have started to blink,
0:10.0	a pipe with a leak and that weird smell under the sink.
0:13.0	If your boilers kaput and your blue fur needs a rinse,
0:17.0	we've got your back to stop that cold water wince.
0:20.0	You don't need to be a customer. We can help you too
0:23.3	taking care of things. It's what British gas do. T's and C supply 6,000 engineers correct as of Jan
0:29.2	2026. They put me in jail for two nights and I had never been in jail for two nights before.
0:35.2	There was no toilet, no toilet paper. Just like the
0:37.6	conditions were horrible. They brought me before the judge. The judge was in the court where my father-in-law's best friend is also a judge. I asked for a change of venue. They didn't give it to me. It was like, the whole reason I'm here is because I've been trying to get the child abuse investigation. No one's listening to me. I need a child abuse investigation. The judge is like, well, that's something else. I'm not going to do that, but we're going to charge you with attempted murder.
0:57.6	And so then, No one's listening to me. I need a child abuse investigation. The judge is like, well, that's
0:54.4	something else. I'm not going to do that, but we're going to charge you with attempted murder.
0:57.6	And so then from there, I went to prison. Imagine finding out your young daughter has been taken
1:03.0	overseas and you may never see her again. That's exactly what happened to Ian Bryson. What started
1:08.7	as a desperate mission to rescue his child from what he
1:11.7	believes was a cult turned into a nightmare that landed him locked inside a prison in Poland for over
1:17.4	four years. In this episode, Ian breaks down how his daughter was taken, the dangerous journey
1:22.7	he went on to try to get her back, and what it was really like surviving a foreign prison while fighting
1:28.2	to expose the truth.
1:32.6	Where'd you grow up?
1:34.2	In Oregon, up until my sophomore year in high school, we had a ranch.
	...

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