HOUSTON – A 21-year-old man is behind bars after court documents allege he sexually assaulted and trafficked a 12-year-old girl.
Hector Ramirez Martinez has since been charged with sexual assault of a child under the age of 14.
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On Feb. 2, 2021, the mother of the 12-year-old girl contacted the police, saying her daughter had run away and was prostituted while she was gone in Dallas, San Antonio and Texas City.
A search warrant, which was issued for Martinez’s Instagram account, provided disturbing details about the assault.
According to the warrant, Martinez contacted the teen on Instagram under the alias “ktrappbaaby.” After communicating for a short while, the teen told police Martinez asked her to go to a car show with him. She said she asked her mother, but her mother said no, so she decided to run away.
The teen said Martinez picked her up, along with five other men, and took her to an apartment located in the 4600 block of Sherwood Lane.
She said she went to the restroom and Martinez followed behind her and started kissing her. She said when she tried to get him to stop, he pushed her, making her fall to the ground. While she was on the ground, she told officers two more men entered the bathroom, grabbed her, and took her to a bedroom where they each took turns sexually assaulting her.
On or around Dec. 22, 2020, the teen said she was contacted by Martinez again. This time, she said he threatened to shoot her family if she did not run away with him.
The teen said she complied and was taken to a motel in the Greenspoint area, where she was assaulted by Martinez and two other men multiple times while being held at gunpoint.
The warrant alleges Martinez then took the teen to Dallas and San Antonio for two and a half weeks, where he charged men to sexually assault her. She told police that Martinez made a flyer on social media, advertising sex with her for $1,000 to $5,000, depending on the time.
Martinez was charged on June 12, 2021. He is currently in jail on a $250,000 bond. His next court appearance is Nov. 2.
Does Houston have a sex trafficking problem?
This isn’t the first case of sex trafficking trafficking or prostitution that we’ve heard about in the Houston area, and unfortunately, it won’t be the last.
According to Luke Baty, the Chief of Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation at the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, sex trafficking is a problem in Harris County and Houston.
“It always has been. It’s one of the things that Houston and Harris County are known for around the country,” said Luke.
Most people have heard of the Bissonnet Track, located on Houston’s southwest side, but that’s not the only place traffickers are located. Luke said much of the business has migrated online or other areas in Houston.
“I think that the uniqueness of Houston is that it has both. We have areas in our city that are physical locations that are well known... you can drive up and down the street and you can see it in your face. But the reality of that is, as much as we see it on the streets, it is also present online,” Baty said.
KPRC 2 Investigates also spoke with Hope Over Hurt, a global outreach and missionary ministry, that helps people stuck in prostitution get off the streets. They took us to an area that they say is the new “hotspot” for prostitution and trafficking in Houston.
Houston Crime Stoppers provided a list of ways traffickers target students or underage victims:
- Grooming by providing expensive items
- Grooming by fulfilling emotional needs (spending time, listening, giving compliments)
- Peer pressure
- Pressure of entering a relationship or meeting face-to-face
- Online recruitment through social media (comments on posts, sends private message, etc.)
- Offering help such as a place to stay or a job
- Blackmail (threatening to share photo and personal information, or anything else that might elicit fear, cause embarrassment, or lead to legal consequences)