Headline Houston

Several stories from the past week.

Woman Accused of Prostituting a Minor

HOUSTON - A west Houston woman was charged with felony prostitution of a minor.
Tranh Trang Trounge-Lee, 37, was arrested Friday on accusations she knowingly caused a person under the age of 18 to commit prostitution.
Trounge-Lee has two prior convictions for misdemeanor prostitution.
She is being held in Harris County Jail on $10,000 bond.
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Mother/Grandmother Prostitute 14 Year Old

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A Houston woman and her mother are in custody, accused of forcing her 14-year-old daughter into prostitution.
According to police, the 14-year-old, her mother and her grandmother were all caught in or near the Josephine Motel on Telephone Road. Now, the mother and grandmother are both charged with compelling the prostitution of a minor.
The charging documents against the girl's mother and grandmother are brief, only they are both accused of forcing the girl into prostitution here along Telephone Road in southeast Houston.
But the lead prosecutor in the new case says officers caught the 14-year-old in an act of prostitution the night before last.
"She told the officers that her mother and grandmother were assisting her in doing prostitution," Harris County Assistant District Attorney Ryan Mitchell said. "The officers then noticed one of the defendants -- her mother -- performing prostitution."
From there, officers learned the grandmother was at the Josephine Motel. Prosecutors say they also found a syringe of heroin in the grandmother's possession.
Eyewitness News is not identifying the mother and grandmother in order to protect the teenager's identity. Both the mother and the grandmother have extensive criminal histories that include multiple prostitution convictions.
The prosecutor says the young girl may have been put out on the streets in order to help pay for the trio's living expenses.
"The probable cause indicated that they had the hotel room," Mitchell said, "I'm not sure if they had been living there or if they had just rented it."
The mother and grandmother were brought in and charged on Thursday morning. The charge of compelling the prostitution of a minor can come with some serious jail time.
"It's a second-degree felony -- 2 to 20 (years) at this point in time," Mitchell said.
The mother was being processed through the court system on Thursday morning. The grandmother could be in court Friday.
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Sex Trafficking Suspect in Federal Custody

HOUSTON - An illegal immigrant accused of conducting a sex trafficking operation in Houston and Pasadena is in federal custody pending a bond hearing.
Pedro Corporan Cedano, 38, is a citizen of the Dominican Republic and charged with conspiring to commit sex trafficking.
He was arrested during a traffic stop near his home in Deer Park on Monday.
He is accused of using several apartments in and around Houston and Pasadena to promote and provide commercial sex, according to a statement from the Texas Attorney General's Office.
A criminal complaint states the operation involved harboring women illegally in the country, some of whom had to pay off their smuggling fees through prostitution.
Another person was arrested for allegedly operating one of those apartments on Wednesday.
Carmen Angeles, 33, is also a citizen of the Dominican Republic, but is living in the U.S. legally.
She was arrested in Houston at one of the apartments on Goodson Drive.
A criminal complaint states Angeles harbored two illegal immigrants at the apartment and used them to provide commercial sex.
Nine women illegally in the U.S. were found in the apartments named in the criminal complaint filed against Cedano, according to the statement.
They are currently in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and may be witnesses in the case against Cedano and Angeles.
Cedano's next court appearance will be on Aug. 23 while Angeles will be making her first court appearance on Friday.
Cedano's charge of conspiracy carries a maximum punishment of 10 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. Angeles could face up to 5 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine if convicted.