A Houston man on May 12 pleaded guilty to continuous trafficking of a minor and was sentenced to 25 years in state prison in a plea agreement, according a press release from the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office.
Dewayne Cook, 33, lived in the part of Houston known as Fort Bend Houston. He appeared in the 240th District Court.
According to Assistant District Attorney Ashley Harkness, a 15 year-old girl was reported as a runaway by her mother in the fall of 2019. The Houston Police Department conducted a welfare check at a house where she was believed to be living, with a man who was possibly trafficking her.
Cook met officers outside of his home and claimed that he didn’t know anyone by the girl’s name and no one was in the house. He allowed officers to search his house and the girl was found hiding under a blanket in the closet. The girl told officers that Cook had sex with her within the previous three weeks. Cook was arrested for harboring a runaway and being a felon in possession of body armor.
The following day, the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office began investigating the case and secured a search warrant for the defendant’s cell phone.
During the continuing investigation, the FBCDA investigators discovered sex ads online depicting the 15-year-old victim. The investigators contacted the number on the sex ads and the person texting from that number told them to come to the same address where the girl was previously found.
Based on this information and information gathered from the defendant’s cell phone, the FBCDA investigators secured an arrest warrant for sexual assault of a child and trafficking of a child, and a search warrant for Cook’s house. When officers executed the warrants, they again found the victim at the defendant’s house. The FBCDA’s investigators got additional search warrants for social media and discovered the human trafficking had been going on for roughly four months.
“The survivor, now 19 years-old, continued to stay strong throughout this case,”
lead prosecutor Ashley Harkness said in the release. “Her input, alongside the hard work of the Houston Police Department and our investigators, made it possible to hold Dewayne Cook accountable for perpetuating human trafficking and taking advantage of our most vulnerable.”
“The detection, investigation, and prosecution of human trafficking cases can be arduous, but our efforts are necessary to rescue victims and protect our community from predators. I am grateful for the efforts of the Houston Police Department and our prosecutors in bringing Dewayne Cook to justice,” District Attorney Middleton said.
Continuous trafficking of a minor is a first-degree felony punishable by 25 to 99 years, or life, in prison. Under Texas law, Cook must serve his entire sentence day for day without parole. The remaining charges were dismissed.
