HOUSTON – A 17-year-old girl is facing sex crime charges after investigators said she coached other girls on how to commit prostitution.
On Jan. 18, Houston police said, they arrested the teen on Bissonnet Street near the Southwest Freeway.
An undercover officer said he witnessed Ashley Galvan coaching a juvenile on how to engage in prostitution.
Court documents show the two agreed to perform a sex act on an undercover officer for $100.
Galvan and the other girl were arrested.
Galvan is accused of promoting prostitution among girls younger than 18.
Galvan is a clerk at a local store and is a college student.
The prosecutor explained the case.
"The defendant stated that the girl needed help getting some money and she wanted to help because she had done prostitution in the past," he said.
Aly Jacobs is the manager of counseling advocacy at the Houston Area Women's Center.
"Research, and statistically, there is an estimated 79,000 child survivors of sex trafficking here in the state of Texas," she said.
She said her agency works with the Harris County District Attorney's Office, with a program called Project 180, to help get young prostitutes into help and out of trouble.
"What we can do through community-based services, we can connect with one of the individuals who is charged with prostitution and recognizing that they are trafficking survivors, we can get their charges eliminated," she said.