DALLAS — Four people, including a North Texas school district teacher, have been arrested in connection with the sex trafficking of a child in Dallas, police announced.
According to the Dallas Police Department (DPD), officers arrested:
- Amber Gords, 30, for compelling prostitution under 18 and trafficking of a child
- Adairus Staples, 33, for aggravated sexual assault of a child, trafficking of a child and compelling prostitution under 18
- Gershon Caston, 38, for aggravated sexual assault of a child, trafficking of child and compelling prostitution under 18
- Lamorris Hudspeth, 47, for aggravated sexual assault of a child
DPD said the crimes by the suspects were committed in June and July of this year.
The department helped solve the case as part of a joint investigation with HSI Dallas, North Texas Trafficking Task Force partners and the Dallas Police Special Investigation Division.
According to the arrest affidavits, the young victim encountered Hudspeth at a Dallas hotel in June. Hudspeth told the victim that if she wanted to stay inside his room, she had to have sex with him, the documents said.
Hudspeth and Staples, who stayed in the room next to Hudspeth at the hotel, sexually assaulted and trafficked the child at the hotel.
The victim told police that she left the hotel in early July and ran into Caston at a local gas station.
After being taken to Caston's home, the victim said Caston told her he was a teacher before sexually assaulting her multiple times, giving her drugs and alcohol and eventually forcing her to engage in commercial sex, according to the arrest affidavits.
The documents also state that Gords took photos of the victim to create commercial sex advertisements.
The victim had been missing for weeks and was initially reported as a runaway, according to the arrest affidavits. The documents say she called a family member in distress -- which sparked the investigation, leading to the arrests of the four suspects.
Red Oak ISD said Caston was recently hired as an employee and was set to start teaching and coaching in the fall of 2023.
The district told WFAA that Caston "has been in several other area ISDs and met the hiring criteria when the process happened in May before this incident."
WFAA’s Investigates team put in a public information request with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to get a list of Texas school’s where Caston has worked. The TEA said from 2014 to 2023, Caston has taught at multiple middle and high schools in Dallas, DeSoto, Duncanville, Garland, Irving and Lancaster ISDs.
The Red Oak ISD confirmed he recently "assisted some" with summer strength and conditioning camps in the area, but has never worked at any other schools in the district.
Caston has been placed on leave and Red Oak ISD said it "has not received any record of reports related to any Red Oak ISD students involving this allegation," in a letter to parents.
Gords' bond amount has been set at $5,000, Hudspeth's bond amount has been set at $250,000 and Caston's bond has been set at $150,000, according to court records.