CROSBY – It took over a year to get Human Trafficking charges confirmed against three local suspects in Montgomery County although three young women had been liberated almost immediately once the investigation began by a special task force.
Harris County Precinct 3 Constable Sherman Eagleton is making every effort to find and liberate victims of human trafficking locally. Constable’s Deputy Johnson was the lead deputy to investigate what would become a case that continues to grow as he was instrumental in finding two of the women in Crosby and pointed to another in Fort Bend County that was rescued by the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office.
The women were being kept in deplorable housing conditions (void of running water and electricity) and forced into prostitution. The deputy upon hearing of the suspicious descriptions related to keeping two underaged females locally began an investigation that may lead to even more arrests of career criminals. He sought after and located the young females and learned that they were being kept against their will and being used for prostitution.
The Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance (HTRA) is the task force that was initiated based on a Federal Grant it includes Homeland Security, the U.S. Federal Marshal’s Office, Houston Police, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Harris County Sheriff’s Office, Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office and Harris County Precinct 3 Constable’s Office – generally with the F.B.I, although not so much in this particular case.
The three suspects had business associations with much larger organized crime syndicates operating within the Greater Houston Area.
Law Enforcement was able to track some of the operations on SnapChat and other social media sites.
Augustin Emmanuel Smith 18, Jennifer Walker, 37 and Denzel Clifton Taylor 18 were arrested on July 4 by Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputies in Crosby on charges of Human Trafficking. They face a $70,000 bond. All three are facing one count of trafficking in persons and were taken for processing to Harris County jail.