"She was brought here without her mother's knowledge and she was smuggled into this country," said Jacinto City Police Chief Joe Ayala.
Police told us Gregoria Vazquez and her son, David Salazar, paid smugglers $2,700 for the teenage girl about two months ago. The pair then locked up the girl in a home and forced her to have sex with men for money. The girl also said that Salazar raped her.
"Of course, that was against her will and she did allege that she was physically abused," said Ayala. "She was whipped with a belt."
The girl managed to called 911 from a cell phone, but police could not find her, even after searching the neighborhood and going door to door.
"It's an uncomfortable feeling," said Ayala. "It's just that somebody's calling for help that we can't find."
Officers finally managed to locate the house and found her in a padlocked room.
"She was locked up," Ayala continued. "They didn't allow her to leave and when we did go into the residence, we did find a room with a padlock on it."
Police took the girl into protective custody and arrested Vazquez and Salazar.
"I'm thankful she's alive," said Ayala. "I'm thankful she's gonna be OK."
The mother and son are jailed on aggravated kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault charges. The girl is in protective custody.
