Dallas police busted a Plano short-term rental was busted for alleged sex trafficking on September 23. Several arrests were made during the operation.
Assistant Director Public Information Officer Kristen Lowman told Local Profile that 41-year-old Brandy Clift was arrested for alleged aggravated promotion of prostitution in the first degree, and 22-year-old Madison Hatcher was arrested on a warrant for alleged assault out of Hays County. There were other individuals questioned at the home and were released.
Dallas police first became aware of an issue regarding a possible sex trafficking ring, and upon further investigation discovered a brothel of sorts located on the 2900 block of Las Palmas Lane in Plano. Detectives with the Dallas Special Investigations Unit and the Plano Police Department executed the search warrant and arrests on September 23.
Sex trafficking is nothing new to Texas and Local Profile previously covered the issue and explained that in December 2016, The University of Texas at Austin (UT), School of Social Work, Institute on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault released a report on human trafficking in Texas. The report explained that in Texas there are at least 79,000 children in Texas who are victims of human trafficking and 300,000 victims in the state, at any given time.
“Trafficking is the exploitation of vulnerability,” Lindsey Speed, president of Traffick 911, said.“The reality is there’s a lot of vulnerable kids out there. It’s not the snatch and grab thing, it’s not these stories that get circulated on Facebook. It’s smart and manipulative traffickers that are both men and women and even older teenage kids who are recruiting and selling them something, or be a part of this, and a lot of times they what they’re selling is belonging.”
The Blue Campaign works to end human trafficking operations like this one and hopes to spread awareness about the issue. Indicators of possible human trafficking situations can look different, but it is important to watch for indicators such as confusion, disorientation, submissive and timid behavior, bruising or other sign of abuse and often with adults that do not appear to be relatives.
Dallas police have confirmed this is still an ongoing investigation and more information will be released at a later time.
