Teen Human Trafficking Victim Spent 2 Weeks ‘In Hell:’ Pasco Sheriff

NEW PORT RICHEY, FL — A 16-year-old New Port Richey girl is now receiving counseling at a center for victims of human trafficking after a two-week ordeal in which at least 12 men and a woman had sex with her, plied her with drugs and arranged for her to perform at men's strip clubs in Hernando and Pasco counties.

Joined by Florida State Attorney Ashley Moody and Hernando County Sheriff Al Nienhuis, president of the Florida Sheriff's Association, Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said during a news conference Wednesday that this one girl's story shows how quickly predators will jump at the opportunity to victimize a child.

During the two weeks that the 16-year-old was at the mercy of a series of sexual predators, Moody said the girl encountered “dozens of people who could have reported this to our hotline at any time. It is your business and you do have a duty to report it.”

Nocco said the girl's victimization began in June when a pool cleaner named Steven Graham, 43, who was hired in November 2021 to clean the pool at the New Port Richey home where the girl lived with aunt, began grooming her for a sexual relationship when she was only 15 years old.

On Nov. 21, Nocco said the girl got into a fight with her aunt and ran away from home. She was walking down Ridge Road at 3 a.m., heading to Graham's home, when she was picked up by convicted sex predator Mark Poore, 60, who bought her breakfast and then paid her $40 for sex, Nocco said.

Afterward, he dropped the girl off at a Wawa at U.S. 19 and State Road 54 where John Malley, 57, encountered her and offered to take her to his home to have a shower. Nocco said Malley then had sex with the teen.

Nocco said he drove her to a 7-Eleven at U.S. 19 and Moog Road around 3 p.m. where Graham agreed to pick her up.

While waiting for Graham, Nocco said the girl caught the attention of Deontre Poole, 37, who gave her his contact information.

When Graham arrived at the 7-Eleven, Nocco said he took the teen to the parking lot of an abandoned Golden Corral restaurant on U.S. 19 where he had sex with her and then left her there.

The teen reached out to Malley for a ride and he picked her up from the same 7-Eleven and took her to the Walmart at U.S. 19 and Ridge Road, where he bought her makeup and clothing before taking her back to his house and having sex with her. After she told Malley she was 16 years old, he told her she can't stay at his house.

At that point, she pulled out the contact information Poole had given her and called him to pick her up. Nocco said Poole took her to the Rodeway Inn at 6826 U.S. 19 in New Port Richey on Nov. 22, gave her ecstasy and other drugs, and had sex with her.

Poole left her at the motel where she wandered the halls, high on drugs, and was approached by Alan Schiavo, 38, and Branden Dunn, 29, who had sex with her at the motel, the sheriff said.

She then encountered Timothy Colon, 38, at the motel. Nienhuis said the Hernando sheriff's office is familiar with Colon who has a long history of run-ins with the law including a recent arrest for conspiracy to commit armed robbery.

“This is a 16-year-old girl who's totally wasted, wandering around a hotel,” said Nocco. “Instead of doing the right thing, he has sex with her in his car. When she tells him she's 16 years old, he tells her, ‘From now on, say you're 20 years old.' The evil pit she's in gets deeper and deeper and deeper.”

Around 2 a.m. on Nov. 23, Colon drove the teen to a bottle club in Hudson and then to his house in Hernando County, where they use drugs and have sex.

Candice Tekdogan, 41, an acquaintance of Colon's, met Colon and the survivor at Colon's house where the three of them had sex, Nocco said.

Colon and Tekdogan then took the girl to Colon's secondary residence in the Seven Springs area of New Port Richey where they videotaped the three of them having sex.

Next, Tekdogan took the girl to her house in the Spring Hill area of Hernando County. Between Nov. 23 and Dec. 4, Nocco said the teen largely lived at Tekdogan's home where the woman gave her wigs, provocative clothing and the stage name, “Sassy,” and then arranged for her to work at strip clubs in Pasco and Pinellas counties.

While the girl was working at one of these clubs, she met Jaimi Manning, 36, who had sex with her in the club's VIP area.

Manning and the teen exchanged contact information and Manning later traveled to Tekdogan's house to have sex with the teen in Manning's car.

The teen also met Jeremy Francis, 27, at a strip club, and they exchanged contact information. Francis then went to Tekdogan's home to have sex with the teen.

Graham also met the teen at a strip club and paid her $80 for a lap dance and then had sex with her, said Nocco.

At a bar, the teen overheard Jeremy Nanos-Sky, 30, claim to be a record producer and she told him that she was a singer. They exchanged contact information and, the next day, Nanos-Sky went to Tekdogan's home and picked up the teen. He drove her to his house in Port Richey home where they had sex and she stayed the night.

On Dec. 2, Tekdogan held a party at her Spring Hill home attended by Pierre Williams, 30, who had just been released from prison. He expressed an interest in the girl to Colon who told the teen to have sex with Williams, and she complied.

Nocco said her nightmare would have continued if an acquaintance hadn't approached Tekdogan on Dec. 3 while she was working as an exotic dancer and showed her the missing persons poster of the teen that the sheriff's office placed on its Facebook page.

Tekdogan called Graham and told him to get the teen out of her house. Graham, the man accused of originally victimizing the girl, took the teen to the La Vista Inn at 11736 U.S. 19 in Port Richey on Dec. 4 and Tekdogan contacted the sheriff's office and reported where they could find the girl. Deputies arrived to find the teen passed out naked on a bed at the hotel.

“She was only missing for two weeks and all this happened to her,” Nocco said. “This wasn't a movie. This was a sad reality for this girl, a living nightmare of sex, drugs and coercion.”

When detectives interviewed the teen, she told them that she went along with everything adults told her to do because she needed food and shelter.

Nienhuis said, just because a teen isn't fighting or resisting those victimizing her doesn't mean he or she is a willing participant.

“They may just be in survival mode and aren't sure who they can trust,” he said.

Moody said prosecutors are still piecing together the case against all those involved in victimizing the girl. The most recent arrest was made on Monday.

“There are a lot of independent threads that led to the victimization of this child,” she said.

The 11 men and one woman arrested in the case face charges including unlawful sex with a minor, use of a child in sexual performance, traveling to meet a minor for sex and possession of child pornography. Nocco said more charges and arrests are pending.

When talking to the deputies and detectives from different jurisdictions involved in piecing together the two weeks of the teen's life, “You could feel their passion and sense of purpose. As a mother of a young school-age child, knowing you're protecting our kids — who aren't always the best at making decisions — safe is reassuring,” Moody said.

While the state commemorated January as National Human Trafficking Month, Moody noted that combating the crime “is a year-round effort.”

“Today's case shows us that it takes one person noticing something out of place and reporting it to take dangerous predators off the streets,” she said. “Many people came in contact with her and could have reported it. She's now receiving the services she has long needed. Cases don't always end this way. Many children and young adults live for long periods of time with sexual torture and abuse.”

She said that's one of the reasons she and Gov. Ron DeSantis have proposed new legislation to increase penalties for sexual predators, sentencing them to up to life in prison.

“Florida has zero tolerance,” she said. “We will catch you and you will be put behind bars for a very long time.”

“These people are deviants. They do not belong back in society again,” said Nocco. “They're evil.”

He asked that residents be diligent about sharing flyers of runaways distributed by the sheriff's office and urged them to call 855-FLA-SAFE if they have the slightest indication that a child is being victimized.

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