Mother-daughter team accused of pimping

HOUSTON According to police, the 14-year-old, her mother and her grandmother were all caught in or near the Josephine Motel on Telephone Road. Now, the mother and grandmother are both charged with compelling the prostitution of a minor.

The charging documents against the girl's mother and grandmother are brief, only they are both accused of forcing the girl into prostitution here along Telephone Road in southeast Houston.

But the lead prosecutor in the new case says officers caught the 14-year-old in an act of prostitution the night before last.

"She told the officers that her mother and grandmother were assisting her in doing prostitution," Harris County Assistant District Attorney Ryan Mitchell said. "The officers then noticed one of the defendants -- her mother -- performing prostitution."

From there, officers learned the grandmother was at the Josephine Motel. Prosecutors say they also found a syringe of heroin in the grandmother's possession.

Eyewitness News is not identifying the mother and grandmother in order to protect the teenager's identity. Both the mother and the grandmother have extensive criminal histories that include multiple prostitution convictions.

The prosecutor says the young girl may have been put out on the streets in order to help pay for the trio's living expenses.

"The probable cause indicated that they had the hotel room," Mitchell said, "I'm not sure if they had been living there or if they had just rented it."

The mother and grandmother were brought in and charged on Thursday morning. The charge of compelling the prostitution of a minor can come with some serious jail time.

"It's a second-degree felony -- 2 to 20 (years) at this point in time," Mitchell said.

The mother was being processed through the court system on Thursday morning. The grandmother could be in court Friday.