A Las Vegas, Nevada man is going to prison for life in Texas for a human trafficking conviction.
Ellis County District Attorney Ann Montgomery says this was the county's first-ever human trafficking jury trial. The jury convicted Deandre DeSuza of taking a 14-year-old girl to an Ellis County motel where he raped her and took explicit photos.
After hospital testing, DNA proved DeSuza sexually assaulted her. Motel surveillance video and records then led to DeSuza and detectives tracked him to Las Vegas where he was arrested and brought back to Texas for the trial.
The DA's office says DeSuza started following the teen on TikTok, and they began to chat on Discord, an instant messaging and VOIP social platform. DeSuza groomed the child, asking her to confide in him about her mental health issues and complimenting her appearance. DeSuza flew to the metroplex and drove to Ellis County specifically for the purpose of sexually assaulting the child.
“Human trafficking has been a target for law enforcement and prosecutors across the state of Texas because it can be deadly for our most vulnerable: our children. Trafficking adds an additional element of power for child abusers: the physical removal of a child from a safe environment for the specific purpose of violating their innocence. In this case, a predator boarded a plane with the intent to isolate and abuse one of our Texas children, and our jury could not allow him to remain free,” stated Montgomery.
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