How did a known pimp walk free in Dallas sex trafficking case?

The family of a girl who disappeared from a Dallas Mavericks game and was later found forced into prostitution rightfully has many questions about why the man she left with that night was cleared by a grand jury.

We have questions, too. And they’re compounded by our discovery that the man, Emanuel Jose Cartagena, 34, has twice before been charged in similar cases. A 2015 Harris County case of compelling prostitution of an underage person was dismissed, records show. But that was only after his conviction in a 2016 case of promotion of prostitution of a person under the age of 18, a second-degree felony.

Records show Cartagena was placed on two years’ probation in 2018 for that case; that was extended for one year at least once. The details weren’t immediately available, but the case was closed in February 2022, just two months before the North Richland Hills girl went missing from American Airlines Center while watching the basketball game with her father.

He reported her disappearance after she went to the bathroom and didn’t return. Surveillance video showed her leaving with Cartagena, and police later said he took her to a Dallas home and sexually assaulted her. She was found 10 days later in an Oklahoma City hotel after illicit photos advertising her for sex were found online.

Others involved in her trafficking have since been convicted on various charges in that state. But only Cartagena was charged locally, and he faced just one charge of sexual assault of a child. He was no-billed on Oct. 30.

Her family’s attorney, Zeke Fortenberry, understandably outraged, makes a compelling point for local justice: “A 15-year-old girl with no phone, wallet, ID or car doesn’t end up in Oklahoma unless she’s trafficked. And the first domino of that event … occurs in Dallas.” He said the family believes both police and prosecutors botched the case.

Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot told us “this office reviewed all of the evidence that was presented to the grand jury, and we are confident that any possible criminal offenses were presented.” But the family and the public deserve a fuller explanation in this high-profile case, which is every parent’s nightmare. More could be said without treading on laws preserving grand jury secrecy.

Creuzot also said that prosecutors followed his general policy of not recommending an indictment to a grand juriy. We can’t help but wonder if that was a mistake.

We know a suspect’s prior offenses typically aren’t admissible before grand juries. But prosecutors surely would have known of Cartagena’s criminal background and could have pushed for an indictment.

The victim by law was too young to consent to sex with Cartagena. How not even a sexual assault case, let alone a trafficking one, moved forward is at once both heartbreaking and troubling — and deserves more explanation.

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