HOUSTON – A Pasadena mom and her 47-year-old boyfriend are accused of forcing the woman’s teenage daughter into a life of prostitution.
According to court documents, the 14-year-old victim was living with her mother and grandpa at a Pasadena apartment complex in the summer of 2011 when she was forced to have sex with numerous adult men.
Investigators said it started when the mother would take the victim with her while the mother prostituted herself at several nearby apartment complexes.
But eventually, the victim told investigators that the mother’s clients wanted to have sex with the teen. The victim said her mother would drop her off at the apartments, collect between $20 and $50, and then leave her there to be sexually assaulted.
"She told me that I had to go with them, and that’s it," the victim told a forensic interviewer at the Children’s Assessment Center.
The victim said sometimes her mother would be gone a long time, and she’d have to sit and wait with the men after the assaults.
According to court documents, the victim’s aunt confronted the mother about the alleged activities, and the mother admitted to prostituting her daughter.
The mother reportedly called herself a "monster" and said she knows she "did wrong."
Around the time those incidents allegedly occurred, the victim said she and her mother moved in with her mother’s boyfriend, Reynaldo Alaniz, in another apartment at the complex.
She said in September of 2011, her mother went to the store and never returned.
The victim said Alaniz told her she could stay there, as long as she’d cook and have sex with him.
Alaniz reportedly told the teen that she was not allowed the leave the apartment without his permission, and on the occasions that she tried to flee, he threatened and assaulted her.
After one of the sexual assaults, the victim said Alaniz told her he didn’t have any money to give her, but he could take her somewhere that she could make a lot of cash.
The victim said Alaniz coached her on how to prostitute herself at local truck stops, telling her what to say and what to charge.
The teen said Alaniz would take her to two local truck stops – Trucker’s Paradise and Texas Truck Plaza, where she was forced to sell herself for $60 to $70.
According to the victim, each time Alaniz took her to the truck stops, he would wait nearby in his pickup truck. After she solicited five or six clients, he would take all of the money she made to buy drugs, cigarettes and alcohol.
The victim said she had to hide some of the cash on her body so she could buy food for herself.
Investigators interviewed a neighbor of the victim, who said she met the teen when she saw her walking without shoes and needing food.
"The 14-year-old girl was seen wandering around a street by a neighbor. She appeared hungry and didn’t have proper clothing on for the temperature. The little girl talked to the neighbor about what was going on, and the police were notified," Assistant District Attorney Donna Hawkins said.
The neighbor told police that she confronted Alaniz about the allegations, but Alaniz denied anything had happened.
Investigators said they found a witness at one of the truck stops who saw Alaniz’s truck there, and witnessed the victim prostituting herself.
Charges of compelling prostitution were filed against the mother and Alaniz on January 26, 2012.
KHOU.com withheld the mother’s name to protect the victim’s identity.
