These children were sold for sex. Then the system failed them again

A Dallas Morning News investigation into child sex trafficking cases reveals that Dallas-Fort Worth has the most uncompensated victims in the nation.

A 12-year-old Dallas middle-schooler ended up on the streets, where a pimp discovered her. For as little as $50, he sold her for sex. He withheld food unless she worked. She later disappeared into the state's foster care system after suffering from depression. She attempted suicide.

A 13-year-old seventh- grader was forced to have sex with men in Houston by a pimp who hooked her on drugs. She died shortly after turning 18 from a fentanyl overdose — a few months before her abuser was sentenced to prison.

A 17-year-old Lubbock runaway was required to have sex with men in hotels and truck stops until she earned her pimp $1,000 daily. That quota meant seeing up to 20 “clients” per day. She spiraled into drug addiction.

These children have more in common than the abuse they endured — and the lifelong trauma that comes with it. Each was mandated by federal law to receive financial compensation from the pimps and pedophiles who abused them.

You can read more in-depth reporting from our media partner, The Dallas Morning News.