The Dallas Mavericks have been named by an attorney as a party that could have prevented the sex trafficking of a teenage girl, KVUE reports.
The NBA team, American Airlines Center, the Dallas Police Department, and an Oklahoma City hotel were all listed by attorney Zeke Fortenberry as parties that could have prevented the situation, after the 15-year-old went to the bathroom during an April 8 game and never made it back to her seat.
Surveillance footage showed the teen girl leaving the arena with a man on April 8 after her trip to the restroom and when her father told police at the game his daughter was missing, he was told to report it to North Richland Hills Police, per Fortenberry. The father reportedly claims he was told to return home, and the North Richland Hills Police claimed they couldn’t help because the girl went missing in Dallas. He then sought out assistance from the Houston human trafficking agency Texas Counter-Trafficking Initiative, which located the girl’s photos online.
“The family was frustrated,” Fortenberry said. “After days of not getting any information from the Dallas Police Department and Dallas Police not taking any action, the family sought out the help of this agency in Houston.”
The Mavs were specifically listed because the man who allegedly left with the girl used counterfeit tickets to enter American Airlines Center, despite the fact that he was on the radars of both the Mavs and the arena.
The girl, who had gone missing for a total of 11 days was found at the Oklahoma City hotel on April 18, after her parents had identified her and her nude photos being used in an online advertisement.
“Our intent is to put [these organizations] on notice that we’re pursuing claims against them for their negligence and other causes of action,” Fortenberry said.
The teen was found by Oklahoma City Police and eight people were arrested in connection to the case. The Dallas Police Department confirmed, via WFFA, that an off-duty officer was notified about the girl going missing on April 8 at the arena, and shared that “Texas Family Code(51.03 b. 3) dictates that missing juveniles are investigated as runaways unless there are circumstances which appear as involuntary such as a kidnapping or abduction” and that “those cases per code are to be filed where the juvenile resides.”
“This girl was being sexually assaulted in a hotel room multiple nights,” Fortenberry said. “Any time she could have been rescued from that sooner would have been better.”
On April 20, after the teen was found, the organization shared that “the American Airlines Center (and the Dallas Mavericks) are grateful that the teenager has been found. Both entities will continue to cooperate with local and regional law enforcement on this case.”
