Eight people have been arrested in a human trafficking investigation following the disappearance of a 15-year-old girl from a Dallas Mavericks game with her father last month in Texas.
The victim’s lawyer and family, Zeke Fortenberry of Fortenberry PLLC, said in a press release that the boy was found with his family and at a hotel in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on April 18, eleven days after his disappearance. Fortenberry did not name the customers.
Fox News reports:
Oklahoma City Police Department [OKCPD] arrested Sanya Alexander, Melissa Wheeler, Chevon Gibson, Kenneth Nelson, Sarah Hayes, Karen Gonzalez, Talia Gibson and Stephen Hill in connection with the human trafficking case. Gibson was accused of prostitution; Nelson, Hayes and Gonzalez were accused of trafficking and distributing child pornography; Hill was charged with rape; Gibson and Alexander have felony arrests; and Wheeler has a robbery order.
Victims Nelson, Gonzalez, and Hayes were not found when they were arrested, OKCPD Captain Valerie Littlejohn told KDFW. After the victim was discovered, “five more people were arrested in one way or another connected with the investigation,” he added.
Fortenberry’s press release said that the girl and her father attended the Mavericks game on April 8 at the American Airlines Center (AAC) in Dallas, Texas. When the first half of the game was over, the girl went to the bathroom but never returned to her seat and asked her father to start looking for her. According to the report, her daughter was nowhere to be found, so she alerted arena security and Dallas police that the girl had disappeared and was sent home without being found at the end of the play.
Security footage shows a man allegedly leaving the arena with a woman, according to KDFW.
Fortenberry said the man, who was identified by the basketball organization and arena as a fake ticket seller, is believed to have sold fake tickets to a man who allegedly seduced the teenager by contacting him on a part of the court. . don’t miss it. give it access
In the days that followed, the family repeatedly approached the Dallas Police Department (DPD) to locate the 15-year-old, but Fortenberry said the department had not launched an investigation.
According to Fox News:
DPD told Fox News Digital that an official at the Mavericks game on April 8 was informed that a 15-year-old boy had disappeared and was investigating the area and location of the event that night. In addition, the department referred to the Texas Family Code (51.03 b. 3), which mandates that missing minors be investigated as fugitives unless circumstances such as kidnapping or kidnapping appear unintentional. ”
“Cases under this law must be filed at the minor’s place of residence,” the ministry said. “The report was produced by Dallas Police, and Dallas Police assisted the North Richland Hills Police Department (the youth’s leading agency) and a missing teen bulletin was compiled and sent to the department on April 11, 2022.”
“My daughter went missing in Dallas city, it was a case in Dallas but they refused to file a lawsuit against her,” the father said in a statement.
Fortenberry said the family contacted the nonprofit Texas Anti-Trafficking Initiative (TXCTI) to help locate the teenager who was frustrated by DPD’s “lack of effort.” According to Fortenberry, the nonprofit helped found a website in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma that featured obscene photos of the victim that showed her being promoted as a prostitute. TXCTI has notified the Oklahoma City Police Department (OKCPD), which has promptly launched an investigation into the matter. According to Fortenberry, the OKCPD investigation resulted in a 15-year-old girl hiding out at the city’s Extended Stay America Hotel, where she recovered and was reunited with her family.
The lawyer added that the Extended Stay America hotel did not recognize obvious signs of trafficking and claimed that the registered sex offender had rented several hotel rooms using false documents.
“We are grateful to the Oklahoma City Police Department for our daughter’s work and recovery,” the boy’s mother said. “I’m heartbroken by the unimaginable things my son went through in the 11 days he was removed, and I’m glad he’s safe as he works to get better.”
“The systems and organizations involved in this case continue to neglect the victim,” Fortenberry said in a statement.
He continued:
She should never interact with a man in a Mavericks game. Dallas police must act fast, investigate the culprits and find the teenager before he is brought to Oklahoma. Extended Stay America in Oklahoma City puts profit in front of people by blinding sexual exploitation that happens right in front of people. This victim’s life will be changed forever.
“We hope to bring those responsible to justice and make changes in these organizations so that it doesn’t happen to other children.”
Source: Breitbart
