The Dallas Police Department (DPD) is searching for one of its most wanted suspects.
Christopher Jamal Oten, 32, is wanted by the DPD, accused of compelling prostitution and continuously trafficking persons.
Oten allegedly forced persons into prostitution by threatening and beating them, police said.
The Dallas Express spoke to the DPD about Oten and was told that the offenses occurred in the Northeast and Southwest parts of Dallas.
The City of Dallas has seen several high-profile instances of human trafficking. In 2019, Texas ranked second in reported cases of human trafficking, with Houston being the top-ranking city in the country.
In Dallas, there are several key areas that are hotbeds for human trafficking.
“There are several spots,” Senior Corporal Brian Martinez of the Dallas Police Department told The Dallas Express in an interview back in October. “Off Harry Hines from Lombardy to Royal is the biggest spot. Others are I-35E/Walnut Hill, Forest/Webb Chapel, I-75/Esperanza, and Independence Dr. (I-20/Cockrell Hill). It’s in various other spots around Dallas as well,” said Martinez.
A 2014 study by the Department of Justice’s Urban Institute estimated that the illicit sex industry comprised a cash-based economy of nearly $100 million in Dallas in 2007.
Anyone with information as to Oten’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Dallas Police Department’s Fugitive Unit at 214-671-4193.
Tips can also be submitted on the iWatch Dallas app. To download the app for iOS click here and for Android click here.
