Girl rescued from human trafficking

Search for local runaway leads to women’s arrest

The girl posing provocatively in the online sex ad resembled a runaway teen from Harris County, so undercover investigators arranged a “date” on Thursday afternoon.

At the north Houston motel, however, they found a 14-year-old runaway from the Chicago area and what they say was a human trafficking operation believed to have lured her to Texas.

By Thursday night, the girl was in state custody, and two women were charged with human trafficking and promoting prostitution of a minor.

Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman said the incident is just the beginning of an investigation that could further connect the dots in Houston, one of the nation’s top hubs for human trafficking.

“Our investigation is not finished by any means,” he said. “We do feel like there is going to be more to this story.”

Authorities are not sure whether they dismantled a startup enterprise or stumbled onto a larger human trafficking operation.

Teresa Henry, 20, is charged with human trafficking of a minor and with compelling prostitution of a minor. She is being held on $100,000 bail.

Centurrie Deshunn Garrett, 24, is charged with compelling prostitution of a minor and has a $50,000 bail. Both women remain in the Harris County jail.

The advertisement

Authorities had been looking for the local runaway for several weeks, scouring online ads. They spotted a young woman who appeared to be the missing teen around 3:30 p.m. Thursday.

The girl was advertised as a “two-for-one special” with an adult woman, whom investigators identified as Henry, said Cpl. Cinthya Umanzor, a community relations officer with the Precinct 4 Constable’s Office.

“Anybody we find had dealings with this 14-yearold will be prosecuted,” Herman said. “I do anticipate more charges being filed and possibly on other folks.”

The teen and Henry met through the Kik messaging app and developed a “dating relationship,” according to authorities.

The young woman told investigators that she lied about her age, saying she was 19, then 16, but finally admitted that she was 14, so Henry was informed that the teen was a minor, Umanzor said.

The teen bought a bus ticket to Houston and began living with Henry, who introduced her to Backpage.com — an online platform for legal adult entertainment as well as illegal solicitations.

Garrett was teaching her “what to say and what to do when the johns get over here,” Umanzor said.

The women also are accused of having the teen solicit sex in public.

“They had tried to put her out on the street a couple of times, and she tried not to pick anyone up because she didn’t want to,” Umanzor said.

The name of the rescued girl was not released.

“Our goal is to get her back to her parents as soon as we can,” Umanzor said.

Authorities also found Garrett’s 6-week-old infant in an adjoining room; Child Protective Services released the baby to relatives who came to the scene, Herman said.

The motel

According to staff at the North Villa Inn in the 16500 block of the North Freeway, Garrett had been renting a room for three weeks. Employees presumed she and Henry were a couple with a baby. They said they never saw the teen girl.

The inn sits in a commercial stretch of I-45 near FM 1960 known for prostitution, where low-cost, bythe-week lodging blends into cramped shopping centers and car dealerships. The Harris County Attorney’s Office has sought injunctions against area motels, and a Precinct 4 raid in June netted more than a dozen arrests.

The North Villa Inn has a 10 p.m. curfew for guests, meaning they must be inside or en route to or from their rooms. The rule is posted in the lobby and enforced by security to prevent the property from being used for illegal commerce, according to hotel staff.

Backpage.com hit Houston headlines last October when CEO Carl Ferrer was arrested after his international flight landed at Bush Intercontinental Airport. The controversial website is described as the world’s largest marketplace for buying and selling sex. The platform posts ads for escort services, erotic massages and other sexual services for sale.

A criminal case is pending in California against Ferrer and Backpage.com founders Michael Lacey and James Larkin accusing them of pimping, conspiracy to commit pimping and money laundering.