Club Sues 14-Year-Old After Hiring Her As Stripper

A Texas strip club that hired a seventh-grader as an exotic dancer is now suing the teenager, saying she conned them into employing her.

This after Jeffery Shawn Martinez, a manager at the club, was arrested on charges of employment harmful to a minor and sexual performance of a child.

But a lawyer for the Cheetah Club in Corpus Christi, Texas says managers didn't know the girl was a minor when she exposed her breasts, a violation of state law.

"She came into the club with 6-inch stiletto heels and a miniskirt and looked just like a model from a Miss America contest," lawyer Alan Jaffe tells the 'San Antonio Express News'. "We're the victims here."

"They flimflammed us. That's an old term for being swindled through chicanery and deception."

It turns out the girl had been kidnapped, police say, and forced to work at the club. A 48-year-old man, Leslie Campbell, is accused of snatching the girl from her San Antonio home, taking her to Corpus Christi, where he sexually assaulted her for a week, gave her a false identification card and forced her to strip at the club.

Police say the unidentified girl managed to escape while her captor was taking a shower. She is now reunited with her parents back in San Antonio.

The club's lawsuit also names her parents and the kidnap suspect as co-defendants. The parents, according to the suit, failed to "properly supervise" their daughter.

Campbell has also been arrested and remains in jail on charges of aggravated sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping.

However, Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission Sgt. John Mann scoffed at the club's contention that they are the victims: "I've seen this young lady's picture, and I assure you she is a 14-year-old seventh-grader. I personally think any reasonable and prudent person could tell you that is an underage girl."

"It's against state law for a person under 18 years old to expose her breasts. The club may be culpable in allowing this young lady to get onstage and dance."

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