The family of the teenage girl who went missing after going to the bathroom during a Dallas Mavericks game has filed a lawsuit last week against several organizations that could have prevented the sexual exploitation the child experienced.
According to CBN News, the 15-year-old girl from North Richland Hills, Texas was watching the Dallas Mavericks game in the American Airlines Center on April 8 with her father. The girl excused herself before halftime to go to the bathroom and never made it back to her seat again. The girl was seen in surveillance footage leaving the American Airlines Center with an unknown man that night.
It took 11 days later, April 19, before the girl's parents saw her again. Police found her 200 miles from where she disappeared, particularly in an Oklahoma City hotel room on April 18.
The family had to seek the help of a non-profit organization based in Houston, the Texas Counter-Trafficking Initiative, to locate their daughter within a day. The Texas Counter-Trafficking Initiative presented nude photos posted online to the girl's parents who identified them as their daughter. The said photos were used in an advertisement where the girl was being sold for sex.
Who's At Fault For A Texas Girl's Abduction?
In a May 6 statement released on social media, anti-human trafficking lawyer Zeke Fortenberry announced that the family of the teenage victim has chosen his company, Fortenberry Firm, to represent them in the legal case against several organizations and institutions that could have prevented the sexual exploitation.
The American Airlines Center, Dallas Mavericks, Dallas Police Department, and Oklahoma City Hotel are the parties being sued by the family, as per KVUE. While FanNation explained that the family filed the case because the Dallas Police, the AAC, and the Mavs did not act swiftly enough on the crime.
Fortenberry has already sent a letter to the said parties last week out of his belief that the said organizations and institutions could have handled the situation differently. Fortenberry raised that the letters were meant to notify the said organizations and institutions of the claims against them for their negligence and other causes of action.
"The systems and organizations involved in this case continually failed the victim. She should never have had contact with the man at the Mavericks game. The Dallas Police should have worked quickly to investigate leads and locate the teenager before she was trafficked to Oklahoma. The Extended Stay America hotel in Oklahoma City put profits ahead of people by turning a blind eye to the sexual exploitation occurring right before their eyes," Fortenberry said.
"This victim's life will forever be changed. We hope to hold accountable those responsible and create change within these organizations so that this never happens to any other child," he stressed.
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How An Institution's Negligence Added Up To A Texas Girl's Abduction
In interview with WFAA on Tuesday, Fortenberry disclosed that the teenager's father immediately notified the Dallas Police present in the AAC that his child was missing. But the police told him that they would have to file the matter with the North Richland Hills Police since that is where they live. The Dallas Police, which never asked for the girl's photo, instructed him to go home thereafter.
The father then called the North Richland Hills Police that same night but was told he could not be assisted since the incident took place in Dallas.
Fortenberry stressed that the situation frustrated the family. It took several hours before the North Richland Hills Police Department updated the national missing person database with the girl's name. The said law enforcement took another two days after, April 11, before they coordinated the matter with the Dallas Police Department. Fortenberry raised that the said actions were too little and too late.
In addition to that frustration, the family also did not receive any information from the police for days regarding their daughter. This then prompted them to seek the help of TCTI.
The lawyer also revealed that the man who abducted the teenager gained access to the game reportedly through a fake ticket sold to him by an individual known to the Dallas Mavericks. Thus, both AAC and the Dallas Mavericks are included in the case for pawning phony game tickets. He raised that the hotel should have seen red flags when a 40-year-old man came in with a 15-year-old girl but didn't.
Prior to the lawsuit, The Dallas Morning News reported that eight people were arrested by the Oklahoma City Police in line with the case and charged with human trafficking. Those arrested were 43-year-old Kenneth Nelson, 32-year-old Sarah Hayes, 20-year-old Karen Gonzales, 46-year-old Melissa Wheeler, 20-year-old Thalia Gibson, 35-year-old Steven Hill, Saniya Alexander, and Chevaun Gibsion.
Of those arrested, Hill's charges included rape in the second degree. Gibsion's charge particularly involved offering to engage in prostitution and Alexander's was on a felony warrant. Nelson's jail records show previous involvement with human trafficking, particularly child pornography and failure to comply with the sex offenders registration act.
Related News: 'Dirty Dozen List' Reveals Names Of Companies Benefiting From Sexual Exploitation
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