On Monday, March 1, 2021, The Beaumont Police Department received a tip from the National Human Trafficking Hotline in reference to two 16 year old females being commercially sexually exploited in Beaumont.
BPD’s Special Crimes Unit began investigating information given through the tip and were able to identify the teen victims as well as locate them via websites used for sexual exploitation. With assistance from BPD’s Narcotics Division, Nederland P.D., Groves P.D. and other area Law Enforcement, the victims were safely recovered on Wednesday, March 3, 2021 at a residence in Groves, Texas. The investigation continued and on Friday, March 5, 2021 two arrest warrants for Trafficking of a Person under the age of 18, were issued for Jake Knight Jones, a 39 year old Port Arthur, Texas resident (pictured below). On Monday, March 8, 2021 The Jefferson County Warrant Division and the US Marshall Service took Jones into custody on his two trafficking warrants. He was transported to the Jefferson County Jail where his bonds for these offenses total 1 million dollars.
The Beaumont Police Department would like to thank the many Law Enforcement agencies listed above for their assistance and collaboration in this quickly evolving case. We would also like to thank the anonymous citizen who had the courage to submit the information they had about this crime to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, which ultimately led to the recovery of two minors and the arrest of a trafficker! Thank you!
