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A 50-year-old Galveston man was indicted this week for allegedly bringing a 15-year-old female to a hotel for sex that he met on social media.  The female reportedly got free from the man by running down Intestate 10 while screaming for help.  Authorities contend Damon Dewayne Porter committed the offense of child trafficking in June against a juvenile victim.

On June 21, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office received a call of a juvenile female running down Interstate 10 screaming “he is trying to rape me.” Two witnesses were able to get the female from the roadway to their vehicle and contacted law enforcement, according to the probable cause affidavit.  Law enforcement met with witnesses and the juvenile at a convenience store at 9861 Texas 124, Beaumont.

The juvenile female was said to be wearing a t-shirt and a pair of thong underwear and appeared to be under the influence of a substance due to her slurred speech, low to closed eyes and being in and out of consciousness. She was taken directly to Christus St. Elizabeth Hospital in Beaumont.  The juvenile said she met a man on Facebook under the name Rich Porter and she began texting him on the Facebook Messenger App. The man reportedly gave the juvenile his cell phone number.

Authorities later identified him as Damon Porter by the Texas Identification card used at Scottish Inn and Suites in Beaumont. A front desk clerk was able to describe Porter and give his license plate information to law enforcement.  The victim said she told Porter she was 15-years-old and he told her he as 24, the document read. Porter reportedly agreed to get a hotel room and pay the female $1,000 to have sex with him.  She was picked up from an apartment complex in Port Arthur and brought to Scottish Inn and Suites during which time Porter allegedly gave her a shot of alcohol.

Porter reportedly touched her inappropriately but she refused to take her clothes off, according to the document.  The man gave her three shots of tequila to “help loosen her up,” but she felt uncomfortable and shared her location with a friend via cell phone. The friend contacted Beaumont Police Department who then called the juvenile. Porter reportedly had her put the phone on speaker and tell them she was ok.

Afterward he told her they were going to check out of the hotel and get a room in Houston.  The man reportedly dropped her off at the Exxpress Mart Convenience Store, 2210 I-10 access road, Beaumont while he got his belongings and checked out of the hotel. The female tried to get a friend to pick her up while the man was checking out of the hotel but the person was unable to do so.  According to the document, she asked to be brought to a friend’s house in Port Arthur but Porter refused and said they were going to Houston. 

The juvenile allegedly became ill from the alcohol and threw up in Porter’s car, which angered him, and he took her phone. She asked him to pull over on the highway so she could use the restroom and was able to run away with Porter running after her. From there she ran to a store where the two witnesses called authorities.  Porter was arrested June 25. He remains in the Jefferson County Corrections Facility on a $150,000 bond.