Here is a follow-up story in the Dallas Morning News. Maybe two good things have come out of this:
1. The girls living situation with her family will be reviewed by Texas Family and Protective Services.
2. The law will be changed so it is less likely for this to be repeated and more of these scummy business’s will be subject to closure.
City Council to weigh ordinance change
12:14 AM CDT on Friday, March 28, 2008
Dallas city officials are looking into ways to revise an ordinance regulating sexually oriented businesses after it was reported that employing someone under the age of 18 isn’t enough to shut down a strip club.
WFAA-TV and The Dallas Morning News reported the existence of the loophole this week after it came to light that a 12-year-old girl had danced nude at a northwest Dallas strip club.
“We have to protect the safety of minors,” Mayor Pro Tem Elba Garcia said Thursday. “Who would have thought that we would find a 12-year-old in one of those places?”
City attorneys are exploring ways to revise the ordinance and will report back to the City Council.
The sixth-grader danced at Diamonds Cabaret over a two-week period late last year, police said. They also say they found a 17-year-old girl working in the club in January.
Operators of the Diamonds Cabaret at 2444 Walnut Ridge St. have not returned 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.
According to court documents, the 12-year-old told club employees that she was 19, but couldn’t give them identification and didn’t know what year she was born if she were that age. Still, she was allowed to dance in the club, records show.
The 23-page city ordinance allows the 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 city also can suspend, but not revoke, the license of an escort agency for up to 30 days if it has employed anyone younger than 18. But the ordinance does not give the city similar power over adult cabarets such as Diamonds Cabaret.
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