There is nothing sadder than seeing your children hurt. When they have a fever or break a bone, you feel helpless watching them suffer. During the last 10 months, my two teenage children have been sitting in Texas jails after being sex trafficked. I do not have time to feel hopeless or cry. I have to fight for their lives. That is what a mother does.
Before Jessica was even in junior high, my brother molested her and forced her to use meth to stay quiet. The police never arrested him even though I tried to stop it. By the time she was 14, she was so far into the pain that she met a guy online who lured her to Colorado where he beat her, tried to set a car on fire with her in it and sold her to hundreds of men. She was found in an FBI raid and placed in a treatment program that is now under investigation for abusing the very trafficked children they were there to help. Soon, Jessica was sent to Los Angeles where she was lured into running away with another teenage girl. She was trafficked by multiple gang members and missing for 10 months. We had no idea where she was which was torture for me. Finally, she came home. There was no “how to” guide for a mom whose daughter was raped by hundreds of men.
At 18, Jessica met another woman at her new job who quickly gained her trust. This woman was trafficked, too. She was likely hurting, too. But, she took her shared trauma and used it to get Jessica back hooked on meth and then sell her. That wasn’t even enough for this woman. She is 24 years old and she convinced my then 14 year old son that they were in a romantic relationship. She then sexually abused and sold him, too.
The man who they are accused of killing came to meet them with the intent to purchase them for sex. I learned later he’s been arrested before for purchasing sex. No one deserves to be killed but buying children for sex is wrong. Jordan and Jessica were in a horrible situation but instead of being seen as victims, they were arrested along with their trafficker.
Photo by Emiliano Bar on Unsplash
What really hurts me is that now there are all these people – police, lawyers, even friends and family – who blame Jessica for the sexual abuse she has endured. This blame could lead to Jessica’s death. Right now, she’s in the very jail where her trafficker is. Her trafficker is threatening her, touching her and organizing other inmates against her. Jessica also has acute asthma that is life threatening if combined with COVID.
Sex trafficking is a big problem in Killeen, Texas. A lot of people are poor and there are hardly any jobs. Then, you have Ft. Hood and the military. The vulnerable meet those who have money and power. It’s a toxic combination. As a woman, I’ve witnessed and experienced abuse at the hands of men. I had wanted to break that pattern before it pulled my children in. I never wanted to see Jessica go through this. I also never in a million years thought a grown woman would traffic my teenage son.
Jessica is a beautiful girl full of life. She has a family who loves her. Jordan felt like he had to protect his big sister when she came home. He even felt like he had to protect me. His little brother looks up to him. Jordan is just full of sunshine. He was also really great at football. When I close my eyes, I can see him playing with his siblings in the yard. Now, he’s stuck in a room and only allowed out an hour or less a day. He has been losing weight, they put him in choke holds and verbally abuse him daily. He’s sinking in that jail and I am seeing my sweet little boy fade behind those bars.
As a mother, I’m asking you to please help. Sign Jessica and Jordan’s petition. We need your help so that they can be free and no other mother has to watch her children suffer behind bars as mine are now.
Written By Amy Cage:
Amy Cage is the mother of Jessica and Jordan Hampton, two teenage siblings who are charged with capital murder in connection with the murder of the man who was intent of buying them from sex. Karana Rising currently provides social support and legal advocacy to Jessica and Jordan and works closely with Amy to help protect her incarcerated children and advocate for their freedom.
