Texas police and federal law enforcement have arrested a man in connection with the sexual assault of a teenager who was abducted from a Dallas Mavericks game during an alleged trafficking scheme nearly 10 months ago, authorities recently announced.
US Marshals Service agents arrested Emanuel Cartagena, 33, on a felony warrant for sexual assault of a child in Dallas, Texas, Thursday, the Dallas Police Department said Friday.
According to police, the victim was 15 years old on April 8, 2022 when she attended a Dallas Mavericks NBA game at the American Airlines Center in Texas City, police said. Her family’s lawyer previously told reporters that the girl went to the game with her father and she had gotten up from her seat to go to the bathroom when, according to police, she met Cartagena outside of the sand.
TEXAS GIRL TREATED FROM DALLAS MAVERICKS GAME LISTED AS ‘RUNWAY’ BEFORE NUDE PHOTOS EMERGED
Emanuel José Cartagena was arrested on January 26, 2023 on a felony warrant for allegedly sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl.
Cartagena then took the teen to an “unknown house” in Dallas, where he sexually assaulted her, police said.
The victim, now 16, was tracked 10 days later, on April 18, to an Oklahoma City Extended Stay America where she was “detained,” family attorney Zeke Fortenberry said in a statement from May press.
TEXAS GIRL, 15, TREATED SINCE MAVERICKS GAME IN DALLAS; 8 ARRESTED IN OKLAHOMA: POLICE
Fortenberry further said that the hotel room, and many others, were booked by “a registered sex offender” who “used a false name and false identification cards.”
TEXAS GIRL, 15, TREATED SINCE MAVERICKS GAME IN DALLAS; 8 ARRESTED IN OKLAHOMA: POLICE
The victim was again sexually assaulted at the Oklahoma City hotel. She was initially reported as a runaway, police said, before the Oklahoma City Police Department discovered “postings online with recent photos of the missing child.”
The Oklahoma City Police Department arrested Saniya Alexander, Melissa Wheeler, Chevaun Gibson, Kenneth Nelson, Sarah Hayes, Karen Gonzales, Thalia Gibson and Steven Hill in connection with the trafficking case of a 15-year-old girl from a game of the Dallas Mavericks.
(Oklahoma City Detention Center)
She was supposedly naked in the photographs.
In May of that year, the Oklahoma City Police Department arrested eight people, who were charged with various charges ranging from rape to soliciting prostitution, human trafficking, and distribution of child pornography.
An Extended Stay spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital that he was “appalled to learn of this incident.”
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“We require our franchisees to have policies, procedures, and training in place to help hotel employees identify and report any suspected cases of human trafficking. As soon as local hotel staff found out about this crime, they helped local police in this investigation and will continue to do so,” the spokesperson said.
Fox News Digital’s Audrey Conklin and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
