Biography

Mary-Ellen Sullivan Barrett has been Deputy District Attorney at the San Diego District Attorney's Office for 25 years, and has extensive experience in sexual assault cases, drug-endangered children investigations and border-related drug enforcement, informant management, search warrants, 4th Amendment issues, Miranda Issues, litigations and trials. Currently, Mary-Ellen has been assigned to the Human Trafficking Task Force, working in concert with federal, state, and local agents. She received the State Prosecutor of the Year Award from the California Narcotics Officers' Association in 2011 and received a Human Trafficking Angel Award. She is a member of the San Diego County Bar Association, the National District Attorneys Association, California Women Lawyers, the San Diego Women Prosecutors' Association, San Diego Law Enforcement Emerald Society, Lawyers Club of San Diego, the Irish American Bar Association, Law Enforcement Emerald Society, and is also Lifetime Member of the California Narcotics Officers' Association. In addition, Mary-Ellen serves on the Board of Directors as Second Vice President of The San Diego Downtown Lions Club and is the Vice Chair of the San Diego County Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children Board. Growing up in a family of law enforcement professionals, she was naturally drawn to this field. Mary-Ellen received a Juris Doctorate from The University of Connecticut School of Law in 1988; she received a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service and International Politics from Georgetown University in 1985. She attributes her success in this field to taking on new challenges and always remembering that victims didn't ask to be where they are. Going forward, she wants to see human trafficking as an issue at the forefront of political conversation in all 50 states. Mary-Ellen does a tremendous amount of public speaking on human trafficking and recently addressed a state-wide conference on this topic. She is dedicated to driving the conversation into a national level.