Strip club won't lose license after 12-year-old dances nude

A Dallas cop says: "There's a laundry list of things we can use to deny or revoke a license, but having a 12-year-old dancing in their establishment is not one of the things that automatically enables us to revoke their license." (Associated Press | Dallas Morning News)

Comments

[chris n cali]

that musta been one mature 12 year old

[arthurtwoshedsjackson]

They might want to put committee together to investigate the possibilty of putting forward an effort to introduce legislation to change that ordinance.

[elchampino]

There seems to be one of those truck-sized holes in their legislation/rules & regs.

[twerp]

yet another example of complete idiots running the government...

[twerp]

Ok, this officially "grinds my gears."

It just ain't right.

[Lois Lane]

When is it EVER ok for a 12-year-old to dance in a strip club? This is messed up.

[Sigh]

Where do they say it's ok? I think they are doing plenty. In fact, I am more glad that they are going to try to put these clowns into prison -- than pulling the license of the club ownners, when they are "continuing to investigate whether the club's management knew that the girl ... was underage".

They are charging them with felony exploitation, engaging in organized crime?, aggavated sexual assault, and kidnapping.

[sometimesilie]

so, let me oversimplify and get this right: guy puts rattlesnakes in cheap vodka and he's public enemy number 1. Strip Club employs hard working twelve year old to dance NUDE and that's not necessarily a major, gigantic, and night ending party foul? It seems almost trite to ask, but WTF?

[Pug Mahone]

Future American Idol contestant?

[sometimesilie]

"I think they just didn't care," her mother said. "She's 12, but she's got the body of a 20-year-old. All they were thinking about was the money she could bring in."

...hmmmmm... don't know if I'd've put it quite that way if I was describing my daughter...

[tfangel]

Couldn't they just describe it as promoting child pornography or something like that, and that should be enough i'd think.

I'm guessing a LOT of the people in power in that area were fans of her's or the club, just a guess.

[The Asshole Guy]

I know some girls bloom early but I've never seen a 12yr old with the body of a 20yr old woman. I've seen some 12yr old girls with big boobs but that does not equate to a 20yr old womans body.

I know you can doll a young girl up to add years to her but I just can't see making a 12yr old pass for an 18yr old. I'd like to think I would be able to tell the difference and if I could not, then that is scary.

[WellThen]

"The city ordinance that regulates sexually oriented businesses does not allow authorities to revoke the license of such a business for employing someone younger than 18."

Wait just a minute. This is TEXAS we're talking about here. If Texas police can't be more creative than this in their interpretation of the law, than the world I once knew is gone.

Besides, isn't this some sort of violation of laws outside of that particular ordinance? Child labor laws, for instance. Seems to me that they could get that club on some charge.

[Mitch]

First of all, who ever was in charge of hireing women to dance nude, is really retarted for hireing this twelve year old girl, second, that should constitute as child pornography, which all parties involved should face crimnal charges (FELONY). As for the twelve year old girl, take her to church and get her saved!!! If she gets into a BIBLE BASED CHURCH, she will more likely grow up to be a good christian, and help people get out of this sort of mess.

[Dick C Normas]

Wow... I need to tell my buddy about this. Now instead of staying home to watch his 13 year old daughter and her 1st boyfriend he coud get her a nice safe job. Plus look at the extra household income.

[SteveO]

A long time ago I accompanied a sales guy from our company on a call to the kitchen in a topless place. On the wall on the way in were about 50 pictures of topless girls with the heading above: "DO NOT HIRE! UNDERAGE!" and yet there were their nipples staring at me from the wall.

[GWB]

Hey Mitch...you should have spent more time in a real school than thumpin' bibles...you might have been able to learn how to SPELL!!! You are a complete idiot!!

[jdotglenn]

Is there some reason that strip clubs have that allow them to not keep records like those required of pornographers? I think those readers in Dallas need to contact a congressperson or two.

[Phranqlin]

If getting busted with a 12-year old nude dancer isn't enough to shut down a strip club, what the hell is?

I'm not against strip clubs in general, just those run by slimeballs who exploit little girls. This was clearly child pornography. The authorities run elaborate stings to nail guys with pictures of naked 12-year old girls, but apparently are doing nothing to shut down a strip club that has an actual naked 12-year old girl gyrating on stage.

Then again, this is Texas, the third most screwed-up state in the union (after Florida and Wisconsin).

[fermata]

Yeah, I'm not getting the legal explanation here. Where are our resident JD commenters?

I'm thinking Jon-Benet had it easy.

[jbrecken]

When your real name is "Demonica", why would you use a boring fake stripper name like "Jewel"?

[jdotglenn]

On the wall on the way in were about 50 pictures of topless girls with the heading above: "DO NOT HIRE! UNDERAGE!" and yet there were their nipples staring at me from the wall.

What a bunch of idiots. Asking for a SSN card, birth certificate, state ID/license and another document that verifies the address on the license (High school transcript, perhaps?) would prevent such things from occuring. Hell, this is what I needed to take to the sec'y of state office this week (internet bill instead of transcripts, thanks Republicans!)I guess the authorities are more interested in drugs, prostitution and RICO charges than reeeeeally underage girls stripping. Like I said, any Texans around who care should call their representatives in Congress.

[A.V.]

"I know you can doll a young girl up to add years to her but"

TAG, do you have any pics?

[G-Man]

Do you think the club owners put a reminder on their calendar for 2014 to give the girl a call when she turns 18?

[beavis]

The real problem is with a portion of society that has a hunger for this kind of thing. He was trying to profit off the people (monsters) that are all too eager to watch an underage girl like that. With that being said, my question then becomes,

Will his business suffer over this, or will it increase?

Sadly, I think I know the answer.

[ULTRA]

FANTASTIC !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GREAT MOVE FOR SURE

[twerp]

jdotglenn, you really need to read the front and back of a Form I-9. The IDs must "appear to be genuine and relate to the employee named." Key word is "appear." The employer can always lie and say, "well, it looked real." Also, many of the "acceptable" documents used to establish identity do not include age.

yeah, I know ALL the loop-holes. I used to work for a VERY corrupt company.

[twerp]

"I've never seen a 12yr old with the body of a 20yr old woman."

I've been looking like a 20 yr. old woman for almost 15 years now and it started when I was 12.

I'm carded ALL the time for alcohol but when I was 12 I was rarely carded when I went to buy cigarettes.

Before any of ya'll ride my butt about my dislike of tobacco, I have to admit that I used to like it A LOT. I liked the expensive stuff too, like djarum blacks.

[David]

Give the club the benefit of the doubt.

The story states that two people, one of whom was a stripper at the club at the time were the ones who told the girl to dance at the club. I'm betting there was a sob story involved about how she lost her ID fleeing from an abusive boyfriend or something.

I don't know about Texas, but many of the clubs where I am from the dancers rent the ability to dance at the club for a certain amount of money per week. Rather than being employees of the club, they are contractors who deal with their own taxes and social security.

[lawdog]

"Where are our resident JD commenters?"

Right here, but I stupefied. I do not see how this is not, at the very least, child endangerment. The fact that she looks 20 is irrelevant, she is a child, and she was dancing nude in a club. That, in my opinion, is child pornography, which should be enough to strip a license from the club. If a bar can get its licensed revoked (for a period of time) when an underage person is in the bar, I would think than an adult establishment should be able to get their license revoked while an investigation is being conducted.

Texas law is all fracked up in my opinion.

[lawdog]

Twerp: You may have looked 20 when you were 12, but you were not standing there butt nekkid.
I'm with TAG on this one, you can gussy them up to make them look older, but not by 8 years. For chrissakes, 12 year-old girls don't even have hips!

BTW, in the above post, I meant to say "I am stupefied"

[Sigh]

I don't think that there is a state law* for licensing these establishments. There are laws against abusing minors, and those laws are being enforced (sounds like 3 Class A felonies and a class C felony). I think 50-90 years in prison is plenty for this crime.

It's the city of Dallas' laws don't allow for pulling the license on these grounds.
The licensing requirements are local statutes (not Texas laws).

* The state has liquor licenses, and the threat of losing the liquor license is used to keep the establishments from being 'bottomless'.

[Farmer Bob]

WTF?

[David]

Just as an aside, although I fully support people going to strip clubs to watch people over 18 strip I do not now or ever support watching underage people doing anything.

[Cherie]

Of course they knew, it wouldn't surprise me if they were in the Sex Trafficing biz. Maybe less worrying about taking their license and a bit more investigating may lead to some bigger busts (damn NO PUN)
This is plain sick and that poor kid needs a home. Where the hell are/were the parents?

They should get them on Child Pornography and endangerment. Assholes.

[Dave]

So she's got the body of a twenty year-old? Then what's the point? Just hire a twenty year-old.

[Anonymous]

IDIOTS!! And not just the club owners either!

[wtc]

so sad its the world we live in

[Jeff Vachon]

The poor girl! If she looks that old at 12 imagine what she'lllook like at 30!

[Vegeta]

Did anyone miss the fact that the dad found the daughter? "hey honey, I'm going to the strip club to look at girls, I mean look for our daughter."

[Marae]

Strip Clubs aren't exactly concerned with I.D.'s.
Most pay cash to the dancers. That aside, the people whom the club employees are considered to be like a "sub contractor" or like a cosmotologist that pays for space at a salon. That also means most dancers don't pay taxes, and the owner is also being paid.
So, it doesn't surprise me in the least that a 12 year old was hired. You know that some clubs hire REALLY ugly people, so they really don't care about anything but the money.

[pojrmgq edxzycb]

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[zachary]

id like to see that