NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) – More disturbing details are emerging from the story of a 15-year-old North Texas teenager who went missing during a Dallas Mavericks game on April 8.
A total of eight suspects are in jail after police say three of them lured the North Richland Hills teen from the American Airlines Center in Dallas to a motel in Oklahoma City.
The girl was found 10 days later but not before nude photos of her were posted on a website promoting prostitution.
Kenneth Nelson, 43, Sarah Hayes, 32, and 20-year-old Karen Gonzales are all facing charges for human trafficking and distributing child pornography. Steven Hill, 35, has been charged with second degree rape.
Local agencies that work with child sex trafficking victims say there are a number of red flags that parents can look for if their child is being groomed.
Caroline Roberts is an attorney for Children At Risk who says victims often are lured with expensive gifts. “I think it makes those girls feel special and loved but then really it’s a trap,” she said. “Almost it’s like blackmail [with them saying] ‘I did this for you now you owe me.'”
Roberts says parents should also make not when their children have extra phones that they are not aware of or in control of, when a significantly older girlfriend or boyfriend comes into the picture, and if things like motel or hotel keys are found.
The victim in this case, who we are no longer identifying because of her age and the crime, is back in Texas.
Other warning signs of teens at risk are depression, sleep disorders, and trying to avoid monitoring of their internet and phone activity.
“I know it’s not popular. I have teens at home myself and there is debate about privacy and I understand that, but the exposure and the risk is so great,” said Chelsea Robertson, who works at POETIC, an organization in Dallas that offers therapy and schooling to as many as a 100 child sex trafficking victims at a time.
The other four people arrested in connecting with the Dallas case face charges including robbery, promoting prostitution, and receiving, possessing or concealing stolen property.