This story was today’s Dallas Morning News and Speaks For Itself. I was unable to find much about Diamond Cabaret. When you Google Diamond Cabaret, several Dallas Myspace pages do come up. What a shock!
By TANYA EISERER / The Dallas Morning News
teiserer@dallasnews.com
The mere fact that a 12-year-old girl danced nude at a northwest Dallas strip club isn’t enough to close its doors.
That’s because the city ordinance that regulates sexually oriented businesses does not allow authorities to revoke the license of such a business for employing someone under the age of 18.
The sixth-grader danced at Diamonds Cabaret over a two-week period late last year, authorities say. They also say they found a 17-year-old girl working in the club in January.
Diamonds Cabaret
“If they’re not shut down, it’s like they’re giving them permission to have underage girls dancing and working in that club,” said the mother of the 12-year-old. The mother is not being named because her daughter, a runaway at the time of the incident, is considered a sexual assault victim.
Operators of the Diamonds Cabaret at 2444 Walnut Ridge Street did not return calls for comment. Their sexually oriented business license expires in November.
Demonica Abron, 27, who worked as a stripper in the club, and David Bell, 22, are facing charges in connection with the 12-year-old girl’s dancing in the club. Mr. Bell does not appear to have been employed by the club.
Police officials are continuing to investigate whether the club’s management knew she was underage.
The 23-page city ordinance does allow revocation of a club’s license if, for example, the club knowingly allows prostitution, the sale or use of drugs at the club, or if there are two convictions for sex-related crimes at the club within a 12-month period.
The department also can suspend, but not revoke, the license of an escort agency for up to 30 days if it has employed anyone under 18.
But the ordinance does not give the department similar power over adult cabarets such as Diamonds Cabaret.
“There’s a laundry list of things we can use to deny or revoke a license, but having a 12-year-old dancing in their establishment is not one of the things that automatically enables us to revoke their license,” said Lt. Christina Smith, a vice unit commander who oversees licensing of such establishments.
The mother of the 12-year-old girl said her daughter ran away in early November. She said the family frantically began looking and her husband finally found their daughter in late November. She was then interviewed by police.
According to court records, the runaway gave the following account:
Mr. Bell and Ms. Abron, who went by the stage name ‘Jewel,’ offered the runaway shelter. Mr. Bell told her that she would be stripping at a club called “Diamonds.”
Mr. Bell dropped them off at the club one day and introduced her to a man named “David” in the club’s office.
“Suspect David asked complainant if she had ever danced before, she said no,” the court records state. “David” then gave her an application, which she filled out with a fake name. She also told him that she was 19.
When “David” asked to see her identification, she told him that she didn’t have one. He told her to bring one when she came to work as a dancer.
“Complainant couldn’t think of a fake birthday, so she told suspect ‘David’ she forgot her birthday,” the records state. “Suspect ‘David’ gave her a funny look and told her she would have been born in 1988 if she was 19.”
A couple of days later, Mr. Bell drove Ms. Abron and the victim back to the club where Ms. Abron introduced her to a man named “Steve.”
“Suspect ‘Steve’ told” the girl “to take her clothes off to see if she was too shy to dance nude,” the records state. He told her she would have to pay a fee ranging from $10 to $30 each time she danced nude.
She danced that night and made about $100, of which she gave $30 to “Steve,” the records state.
The court documents are unclear on how many nights she danced.
The mother of the 12-year-old says she believes the club must have known her daughter was underage.
“I think they just didn’t care,” her mother said. “She’s 12, but she’s got the body of a 20-year-old. All they were thinking about was the money she could bring in.”
She said her daughter is now living with her grandmother in Arlington and again attending school.
Ms. Abron and Mr. Bell were indicted in late February on one count of felony sexual performance of the child in connection with making the 12-year-old work at the club. Both are also accused of engaging in organized crime.
Mr. Bell is accused of two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and aggravated kidnapping. He is still being held in the Dallas County Jail in lieu of $450,000 bail.
Ms. Abron, who also faces a prostitution charge, has been released on bail from jail.
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March 27th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
That is absolutely ridiculous, is this really America? I could understand seeing this in Thailand but not Dallas!
March 28th, 2008 at 1:16 am
Very sad and heartbreaking…and of course disturbing. I want to know what that poor girls home life must be like?? I didn’t even know what a stripper was when I was 12! Of couse times were much different 20 years ago…lol
March 28th, 2008 at 2:14 am
Now that we know it can happen, we need to change the law.
March 28th, 2008 at 5:25 am
Shouldn’t acts like that, grand the court the authority to be able to force punishment no matter how stupid a law is?
July 1st, 2008 at 10:17 am
Her parents gotta get some of da blame for her being so freaky and out of control. Playas gotta check id. Da law dont want us to make money. Gotta b smarter than that.
July 15th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
It’s kind of crazy…
But it seems to me that it’s strange in US that a girl of fourteen is sexual active… is that a strange thing in the US?
I’m from Sweden and I have been sexually active since I was thirteen. It’s ten years of sex next year…
Then of course it’s legal to have sex here from the age of fifteen.
January 8th, 2009 at 3:02 am
I believe that the girl knew just what she was doing and all she was doing was trying to piss her parents off. those ppl should have to spend time in jail. she's a runaway for one so that shows you that her parents were doing something wrong so that shows the girl knew just what she was doing.. i think its wrong that girls can do this and get away with anything but the ppl around them go down. its wrong. when i was 12 i knew just what i was doing and i knew if it was wrong or right.
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February 7th, 2010 at 2:49 am
this might sound somewhat strange but true, why is everyone making a big deal out of feeling sexually active at the age of thirteen fourteen and fifteen, most teenagers at that age feel sexually aroused very often,its a very popular thing, but yes what those girls are doing is over the limit. theyre taking it too far beyond all morals.
June 13th, 2010 at 7:54 am
Wtf is this girl thinking. I meen relly. I’m 13 and that this sorta crap is wrong.
September 30th, 2010 at 6:16 pm
Honestly, this doesn't surprise me. There is actually an underlying problem that goes well beyond what most people are aware. In an experiment done on Flies which normally have a fixed life span of 24 hours it was shown that the rate at which that grow into adults and survive as adults are determined when the individual's parents reproduced. Flies have been bred to lived for 72 hours, and others to live for 6. The point here is that, because many people have children before the age of 18 nature says "uh oh. Off Spring needs to grow up faster to compensate" and so you the next generation growing up much faster to physical maturity. Allot of people blame it on the hormones in milk, but I am lactose intolerant and I looked to be 20 by the time I was 10. No joke. And on the flip side, parents who have children in their 30's have slow to develop children. Which is why some people around 20 can look to be 12…… The reason this is an underlying problem is because it isn't just in appearance. It is in hormones. When you have children at a young age your children are going to sexually develop even younger. Because the laws are based on a specific age it cannot really protect either extreme: People who grow up fast are inclined to run away when restricted and people who grow up slow physically should not even drink when they are old enough to…. This all may sound unbelievable, but consider this: A few thousand years ago it was common to Marry at the age of 12 and die by the mid 20s which would have actually been middle aged if people had medical help to live longer. It is an important adaptive trait to determine life span by the time you have children…. and all this means you should wait until your 30s to have children if you want a child to not grow up so quickly.
July 9th, 2011 at 11:43 pm
What in the world is that girl thinking! A 12 year old stripper! I’m 12 and I’m male and I’ve never even been near a strip club let alone in one. That girl must have one messed up mind.