Police find teenager in Lake Worth hotel room; man with her accused of sex trafficking
A 50-year-old man found last week with a teenage girl inside a Lake Worth hotel room was sex trafficking her and sexually assaulted her himself, police said Tuesday.
Police discovered the 14-year-old girl and man, Jesse Manuel Jr., on June 9 at the Great Western Inn in the 5900 block of Lake Worth Boulevard. In Dallas, the girl was reported missing on June 5.
Once separated from Manuel, the girl said she had been trafficked, drugged with methamphetamine and sexually assaulted, Lake Worth police said.
The girl was reunited with her relatives and received medical treatment at a hospital.
Manuel was taken to a Lake Worth police office for questioning while police sought a search warrant for the hotel room.
Manuel was booked at the Tarrant County Jail on suspicion of trafficking a child to engage in sexual conduct, delivery of a controlled substance to a minor and sexual assault of a child. He was being held on $90,000 bond.
This story was originally published June 15, 2021 at 5:32 PM.
