BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – Two men accused of human trafficking a 13-year-old girl and two others to Ascension Parish have been convicted.
According to District Attorney Ricky Babin’s office, an Ascension Parish jury found both Jayden Hodge, 21, of Dallas, Texas, and Antonio Jackson, 23, of Phoenix, Ariz., guilty on Thursday night, March 5. They were each convicted of two counts of human trafficking with a victim under the age of 21 and one count of human trafficking with a victim under the age of 18.
Antonio Jackson(Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office)
Jayden Hodge(Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office)
The charges stem from an investigation into a missing 13-year-old girl from Texas in September 2024.
According to the district attorney’s office, investigators found the girl at a hotel in Gonzales after learning about online posts that indicated she was in that area.
Officials said investigators learned that the girl was transported from Texas for the purpose of prostitution with two other females who were under the age of 21.
Hodge and Jackson were taken into custody and booked into the Ascension Parish Jail.
Their sentencing was deferred to a later date, but Babin’s office stated that the charge of human trafficking of a victim under the age of 18 alone carries a mandatory life sentence.
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