Lawyer for teen ‘lured from NBA game and trafficked’ criticizes police ‘policy’

THE attorney for the 15-year-old girl who was lured out of the American Airlines Center during an NBA game last month is calling for a change in Dallas police policy.

Zeke Fortenberry represents the teen, who was later found in a hotel in Oklahoma City after nude photos of her and her family surfaced in online sex ads.

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The teen disappeared from a Dallas Mavericks game on April 8, but Dallas police “made no effort to locate the teen” as she was not from Dallas, Fortenberry said in a news release.

Speaking to The US Sun, Fortenberry said he has been told repeatedly that it is the policy of the Dallas Police Department “not to receive a report of a missing child.”

“It doesn’t make any sense,” Fortenberry said. “I’m not convinced it’s their policy.”

The Dallas Police Department has a Missing Persons Squad to handle cases like this. Their website says, “To report a runaway minor, the minor’s legal address must be in the City of Dallas.”

The Dallas Police Department has not yet returned The US Sun’s request for comment.

“If that’s the policy that needs to change,” Fortenberry said. “And if it’s not politics, then those people who make those decisions to categorize them need to be held accountable.”

‘PROTECTING THE COMMUNITY’

In the aftermath of the incident, Fortenberry sent formal letters to the American Airlines Center and the Dallas Mavericks, as well as the Dallas Police Department and the Extended Stay America Oklahoma City hotel, saying they could have done more to prevent the teen’s abduction.

Fortenberry said that while these organizations and others may have trainings to handle potential human trafficking, more can be done to ensure their policies are carried out correctly.

“We can have policies and procedures, but what we want is some sense of security that they’re really happening,” Fortenberry said.

“We really just wanted to make sure this didn’t happen to another girl.”

So far, only Extended Stay America has responded to Fortenberry’s letter. However, the lawyer points out that there has not yet been a “substantive conversation”.

“Whether they are willing to do anything to compensate her for their failures remains to be determined,” he said.

“This is not about money. It’s really about protecting the community, protecting the next girl, and making sure some kind of change can happen.”

‘IMAGINABLE THINGS’ SUPPORTED

The identities of the teen and her family are being withheld for protection. However, the family released statements through Fortenberry.

“My daughter disappeared in the city of Dallas, this is a Dallas case, but they refused to open a case for her,” the girl’s father said.

“We are grateful for the work of the Oklahoma City Police Department and the recovery of our daughter,” the girl’s mother said.

“My heart breaks for the unimaginable things my daughter had to endure during the 11 days she was taken away, and I am so glad she is safe as we work towards her recovery.”

Fortenberry echoed those sentiments, telling The US Sun: “Our main goal is for her to [the victim] to make a full recovery.”

‘SOPHISTICATED’ TACTICS

Fortenberry was unable to comment on the exact tactics used by the man to lure the victim out of the arena.

However, he noted that “these human traffickers are sophisticated and good at what they do.”

“They targeted a young teenager.”

“Whatever he said to this 15-year-old girl got her attention.”

“He said something to her to get her attention that convinced her she should go. She dated him, and that means she was able to talk her into something.”

CHARGES OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING

Eight people have now been arrested in connection with the teen’s disappearance on a variety of charges, including Kenneth Nelson, Sarah Hayes and Karen Gonzales.

Nelson, Hayes and Gonzales have been charged with human trafficking, conspiracy and computer crimes. fox25 informed.

Nelson, a known sex offender, had an ID card in a different name that he was using to rent Oklahoma City hotel rooms. Reports KIII-TV.

Gonzales is accused of taking illicit photographs of the teen.

Hayes reportedly admitted to investigators that he saw the photos being taken and then posted them in the online sex ads.

But Fortenberry believes the person who took her out of the game was not one of those eight people.

“We think there are still criminals out there who need to be stopped, particularly the original type,” Fortenberry said.

“We trust the criminal justice system to take care of it.”

Surveillance footage showed the teen leaving the American Airlines Center, but not with her father.

Police found her 11 days later, on April 18, at an Extended Stay America hotel in Oklahoma City.

Fortenberry praised the efforts of the Texas Counter-Trafficking Initiative, a Houston-based human trafficking agency, for its work in finding the teen.

It was the agency’s facial recognition technology that helped locate the nude photos of the teen, leading Oklahoma City police to find her and arrest all eight people.