Katy Sex Trafficking Update: One suspect in U.S. illegally, other out on multiple bonds
KATY, Texas - Last month, FOX26 posted an exclusive report on a duo who were arrested and charged with trafficking two teenage girls out of a Katy Motel.
Many viewers had questions, so we requested records to answer them.
Background
Pedro Gonzalez and Brandon Andrews are both charged in a Harris County child sex trafficking case.
Andrews was out on bond for another human trafficking charge when he was arrested in this case, according to records.
Gonzales is also charged with sexual assault of a child and Andrews is charged with promoting child sexual material.
New Info: Brandon Andrews
Andrews, we told you, was out on bond for another trafficking charge in February out of Dallas County when he was arrested for this new charge in Harris County. Now, we know that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Records show that's just one of three bonds he was out on at the time.
In March, he posted bond in Dallas County for DWI, records show. While on bond for that case, he was charged with evading in Harris County, according to documents. Records show he posted bond in Harris County for the evading and went on to be charged with human trafficking in Dallas County in July.
Once again, Andrews was granted bond and walked free - until he was charged with this most recent trafficking charge in Harris County.
New records obtained in the Dallas County case say that Andrews victimized a 16-year-old runaway from Houston.
The affidavit in the case says that the girl described Andrews as her "pimp" who she met in Houston.
The documents say Andrews taught the victim to make money from sex over the course of a few weeks in Houston then brought her to a Comfort Suits in Dallas.
It says that the girl was only in Dallas for a day, but performed five "dates" in that time, telling investigators she made approximately $400 that day.
The documents say investigators found the 16-year-old "scantily clad' walking in a ‘high prostitution area’ on the 10000 block of Shady Trail in Dallas.
The documents say the room she was living and "working" out of was in Andrews' name.
Kathy Givens is a trafficking overcomerr who says she was trafficked as a young adult.
Hearing the details of the case, Givens says it's a typical trafficking relationship. She says offenders prey on "vulnerable" young females, work to isolate them and then traffic them.
"I think I'm in a relationship with this person, I think I'm his girlfriend," she said remembering her own experience.
He also wants me to work with him. How cool is that? But, his intention was to traffic me. And that's exactly what happened, his plan worked," she said.
Givens sits on the board of RedM, an anti-human trafficking non-profit.
Their website has resources for the public to learn, advocate and act.
"Have the conversations with our children, normalize talking about uncomfortable topics such as trafficking. and that's how we can end it," said Givens.
New Info: Pedro Gonzalez
We told you Gonzalez was a Venezuelan national who was put on an ICE hold upon his arrest in October 2024.
We requested his background from the Houston ICE field office, and now know that he was in the U.S. illegally when he was accused of committing this offense.
"Pedro Pablo Gonzalez Penalver, a 40-year-old illegally present Venezuelan national, was admitted into the United States Jan. 23, 2017, at the Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida, but failed to depart according to the terms of his admission," the field office said in a statement.
It goes on, "An immigration judge with the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review ordered Gonzalez removed from the United States in absentia Aug. 27, 2019."
What is an ICE hold?
An ICE hold, or immigration detainer is a request from ICE to the arresting agency to notify ICE before a suspect is released from custody. They request that the suspect is held for 48 hours beyond the time the individual would otherwise be released, allowing ERO (Enforcement Removal Operations) to take the individual into ICE custody.
The ICE Houston Field office said this in a statement concerning immigration detainers:
"Detainers are critical public safety tools because they focus enforcement resources on removable noncitizens who have been arrested for criminal activity. Detainers increase the safety of all parties involved — ERO personnel, law enforcement officials, the removable noncitizens and the public — by allowing an arrest to be made in a secure and controlled custodial setting as opposed to at-large within the community. Since detainers result in the direct transfer of a noncitizen from state or local custody to ERO custody, they also minimize the potential that an individual will reoffend. Additionally, detainers conserve scarce government resources by allowing ERO to take criminal noncitizens into custody directly rather than expending resources locating these individuals at-large."
Dig Deeper: For more information on sex trafficking here in Hosuton, visit these sites: