Police have arrested one woman accused of coercing a Dallas teen into prostitution. The girl’s mother is calling for accountability from police and her daughter’s school, saying more urgency could have made a difference. NBC 5’s Maria Guerrero has more on the search, the arrest and what advocates say needs to change.
Dallas police made an arrest in the weeklong disappearance of a 13-year-old girl that has raised concerns about how authorities handled the case.
On Thursday, DPD confirmed the arrest of Jordyn Davidson, 25.
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WATCH HEREThe woman is charged with compelling prostitution of someone under the age of 18.
In the day following the girl’s disappearance, family members pleaded for help and together they managed to find and rescue her Tuesday night near Harry Hines Boulevard in Dallas.
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SIGN UP They called police to report the discovery.
The department’s specialized missing persons unit had been investigating the case since April 1.
Telemundo 39 was there as officers responded to the scene and questioned two individuals.
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The girl was examined at the hospital, underwent a forensic interview for children, and spoke with police before being released to her family.
The child’s mother came forward on Thursday, disheartened, she said, by how the case has been handled.
NBC 5 is no longer naming the mother of the child, given new developments in the case.
“God forbid anyone be in a situation like mine,” said the girl’s mother on Thursday.
It is something this mother wishes on no one, compounded by a failure by authorities to act with more urgency, she said.
“I think it would have been a little different if there had been more support, beginning with the school and then police,” she said.
According to the mother, she made sure her daughter walked into Thomas C. Marsh Academy before driving away.
Her daughter appeared to be in a good mood, she recalled, and excited for the day’s scheduled activities.
Dallas ISD has not yet said when or how the child left the campus, directing questions to the Dallas Police Department.
“The child left from the grounds; we don’t know if she left voluntarily or was she taken, the school doesn’t even know,” said Hilda Duarte with the local LULAC chapter.
In the days following the child’s disappearance, LULAC and the Guatemalan Consulate in Dallas raised concerns about whether authorities were doing enough to find the girl.
It is a family member who spotted the teen Tuesday night walking in Northwest Dallas.
The girl’s family rushed to the area and gave chase, rescuing the girl after confronting the suspects themselves.
Davidson is in the Dallas County Jail on a $100,000 bond.
According to the arrest affidavit, the teen admitted to police she got into a car with an unknown suspect and ended up at a homeless encampment off Harry Hines.
The child told detectives, "She felt stuck not knowing how to return home safely."
She went on to say she slept in a tent and met Davidson, who taught her how to be street smart before convincing the child it would be "beneficial to combine their money from performing sexual acts."
The money was used to buy food and a motel room, according to the documents.
At one point, the girl said she was refused shelter if she did not comply.
It is not exactly clear why the girl’s disappearance did not prompt an AMBER Alert.
Dallas police said it didn’t meet the criteria, which include:
- Disappearance determined by police to be against their will
- 13 and Younger: regardless of willingness, taken without permission from a legal guardian
- Child is immediately in danger of sexual assault, death or serious bodily injury
- Abduction verified; alternative explanations eliminated
- Sufficient information: suspect or vehicle
Over the past week, we’ve reached out to police and Dallas ISD for any information in the case, although federal privacy laws prevent schools or police from releasing certain information related to minors.
When asked via email whether there’s an investigation into how the girl was able to leave campus, the district directed NBC 5 and sister station Telemundo 39 to contact the Dallas Police Department, which is leading the investigation.
DPD said the investigation is ongoing.
Duarte said she will help the family seek transparency and changes to ensure this doesn’t happen to anyone else.
The mother is shielding her daughter from further exposure and says she does not want her returning to the same school.
“We have the responsibility to help children who can’t help themselves,” she said.
Bianca Davis is CEO of New Friends New Life, a nonprofit for exploited women and girls. She said time is of the essence when a young girl goes missing.
"Traffickers are master manipulators. They study victims, they study trends and behaviors. We have studies that show within 48 hours a runaway can be approached by a trafficker," said Davis.
