Alabama mom allegedly sex trafficked teen daughter to men in Pensacola
Four people had their first court date Wednesday in Escambia County on charges of sex trafficking a child, including three Pensacola men and the teen victim's own mother.
The Office of the State Attorney charged 26-year-old Kilman Flores-Ardon, 25-year-old Edwin Martinez-Cruz and 49-year-old Manuel Ardon-Martinez with human trafficking charges along with a host of other felonies related to trafficking a 14-year-old girl, according to court records. Also arrested was 38-year-old Melissa Martinez-Ordonez, the mother of the child.
Records indicate that the Alabama girl was allegedly held against her will in Pensacola while Flores-Ardon, Martinez-Cruz and Ardon-Martinez took turns raping her over a three-day period in January 2023.
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Charging documents for the three men allege they "knowingly engage(d) in human trafficking, or attempt(ed) to engage in human trafficking, or benefit financially by receiving anything of value from participation ... that has subjected a person to human trafficking."
Court records say that "all suspects in this investigation appear to be undocumented aliens," but records did not say from which country they came.
What are the individual charges?
Here are the charges for each person involved in the alleged trafficking:
Flores-Ardon: Human trafficking for commercial sexual activity, sexual battery, using two-way device to facilitate a felony, child abuse without great bodily harm and failing to report suspected child abuse.
Martinez-Cruz: Human trafficking for commercial sexual activity, two counts of sexual battery, using two-way device to facilitate a felony, child abuse without great bodily harm and failing to report suspected child abuse.
Ardon-Martinez: Human trafficking for commercial sexual activity, two counts of sexual battery, using two-way device to facilitate a felony, child abuse without great bodily harm and failing to report suspected child abuse.
Martinez-Ordonez: Selling/transferring custody of a minor for human trafficking, selling a minor for involvement in pornography, using a two-way device to facilitate a felony and failing to report child abuse within the home.
What happened between Jan. 29 and Jan. 31, 2023, in Pensacola?
The girl told a special agent with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, who is also a Homeland Securities Investigations agent with the Department of Homeland Security, that she was messaging Flores-Ardon to pick her up from her home on Jan. 29. She said she knew Flores-Ardon through her ex-boyfriend.
After telling her mother, Martinez-Ordonez, she was leaving to get food, she and Flores-Ardon drove to Elberta, Alabama, to purchase alcohol, which the girl began drinking, according to court documents. Once they made it to a Pensacola apartment, the girl told law enforcement she could not remember anything except waking up without any clothing.
The 14-year-old told law enforcement she "feels it was probable that she was sexually assaulted at the apartment with her clothing on the floor."
After putting her clothes back on, she found Flores-Ardon and they drove to another apartment where Martinez-Cruz and Ardon-Martinez were located. There were also two people she only identified as "Selvin" and an "Older Guy."
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The girl told Flores-Ardon she asked to go home, but he left and said he would eventually return. The child spent the night at the apartment drinking alcohol and said she woke up the next morning without any clothing.
On Jan. 30, she went with Martinez-Cruz to another home on West Cervantes Street where everyone was using illegal narcotics and drinking alcohol, according to a report. Later that night, Martinez-Cruz allegedly forced the girl into a bedroom.
The report says Martinez-Cruz and Ardon-Martinez would take turns holding her down and raping her while "Selvin" watched and "Older Guy" recorded the alleged incident. The girl told law enforcement the bedroom door could be locked from the outside with a "rope and nail locking system."
The following morning on Jan. 31, she was taken back to Martinez-Cruz's home where she was told her mother would come to get her.
How did the 14-year-old girl and her mother Melissa Martinez-Ordonez reunite?
Over the three-day period, court documents say that Flores-Ardon had been texting Martinez-Ordonez with the teen's phone.
"The texter eventually told (the mother) that her daughter was being sold for $500 for purposes of sex," documents say.
While the teen was at the Cervantes Street home, she told law enforcement she briefly saw her ex-boyfriend known as "Junior." A report says that "Junior" contacted Martinez-Ordonez, telling her where in Pensacola her daughter was located.
By the time Martinez-Ordonez drove from Alabama to Pensacola, her daughter had already left with Martinez-Cruz.
After Martinez-Ordonez called law enforcement, Flores-Ardon said he would give an address to pick up the girl if she canceled the 911 call. When she canceled the call, Flores-Ardon told the mother to pick up her daughter on Ward Avenue.
How is mother Melissa Martinez-Ordonez involved in the trafficking?
Court records say that Martinez-Ordonez's daughter was on juvenile probation for an undisclosed reason during the period the girl was in Pensacola. On Jan. 31, the teen's juvenile probation officer contacted Martinez-Ordonez about her daughter missing the last few days of school.
A report says, "Martinez lied to the JPO and told the JPO that (her daughter) was fine and had Covid. At the time of this report, (the girl) was still in Pensacola, Florida, with suspects." The probation officer recommended Alabama police interview the mother after the girl returned from Pensacola and disclosed the sexual abuse.
In an interview with police officers, Martinez-Ordonez reportedly disclosed the abuse her daughter allegedly suffered in Pensacola. After her disclosure, investigators found she allegedly contacted the men who raped her daughter and threatened to turn them in if she did not receive payment.
Further investigation found the girl's mother had allegedly been trafficking her to Pensacola for a year and receiving payments for people to have sex with the 14-year-old.
"Interviews with suspects in this matter have revealed allegations that Melissa Martinez accepted payments of cash to transport (her daughter) to Florida to meet the suspects in this matter," a report says. "Interviews with suspects have shown that prior to this incident, Melissa Martinez has brought (her daughter) to Florida to engage in intimate (sexual) activities with suspects and other persons of interest in this investigation within the past 12 months."
Where is everyone now?
All four of the suspects had their first court appearance Wednesday after pleading not guilty to their charges during arraignment hearings in August. All are being held in Escambia County Jail with large monetary bonds.
Here is the listed bond for each suspect, according to jail records:
Flores-Ardon: $2.1 million
Martinez-Cruz: $3.1 million
Ardon-Martinez: $2.05 million
Martinez-Ordonez: $770,000
Martinez-Ordonez's next court date is scheduled for Dec. 6 and Flores-Ardon's next court date is Dec. 7. Both Martinez-Cruz and Ardon-Martinez's court dates are scheduled for Feb. 28.
The whereabouts of the 14-year-old are unknown, but at the time of investigators' reports she was in juvenile detention custody in Alabama.
Benjamin Johnson can be reached at bjohnson@pnj.com or 850-435-8578.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Melissa Martinez-Ordonez arrested for sex trafficking teen daughter
