It’s been nearly two months since a 14-year-old girl disappeared from her Spring Valley home and more than a month since she was found inside Camp Pendleton barracks.
Her aunt wants to know why nobody is being held accountable.
Cassaundra Perez spoke to reporters Monday to express her frustration at what she called the lack of transparency of the investigation now being conducted by NCIS and to demand more be done to protect Native American children from sex traffickers.
In early June, the unidentified 14-year-old ran away from home. Days later her guardian reported her missing, but it wasn’t until late June that she was found in the barracks at Camp Pendleton.
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Perez said the teen was sex-trafficked and raped by a Marine.
Military Police took a Marine into custody for questioning, but no charges have been filed. Perez claims her niece was interrogated by Military Police, even though they knew she was a minor and did not have her guardian present.
“The information illegally obtained in that interrogation was handed over to the NCIS investigator who then accused the minor of lying about the evidence,” said Perez.
When asked about whether investigators could have been unclear about the teen’s age, Perez stated that “she looks like a little kid.”
Perez also told reporters that she’s learned from investigators that her niece was taken to Camp Pendleton the day before she was discovered there. When asked where she’d been prior, Perez said, “Perpetrators of sex trafficking tend to coerce the child, intimidate them or promise them things and it’s like a long game, a long psychological game to get the child to, in a way, kind of consent to going and being taken by these individuals and then finding out that they’re gonna be sold to individuals for sex.”
The news conference was hosted by a group called COMMUNITYx, whose founder demanded transparency from investigators and said a Military Protective Order should have been issued long ago to protect the victim.
“Because that MPO has not been issued and formally given to the family, the minor continues to live in fear and continues to go over this trauma over and over again,” said Chloe Cheyenne, the group’s founder and CEO.
Cheyenne said an MPO would not only act as a restraining order to keep the accused Marine from contacting the teen, it would also provide resources to the victim, who is now getting counseling from her tribe.
Perez said a law enforcement source told her the investigation just began last week, although NCIS told NBC 7 it began the day the teen was found at Camp Pendleton and continues today. A spokesperson for NCIS sent this response:
“I can confirm that NCIS launched an investigation on June 28 upon notification that a minor who had been reported missing was found aboard Camp Pendleton. The investigation, which is being conducted with the San Diego Sheriff’s Department and the San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force, remains active and ongoing. Out of respect for the investigative process, NCIS will not comment further while the investigation continues. As always, NCIS is committed to fully investigating any allegation of criminal behavior that threatens Department of the Navy readiness and the safety of children in the communities where our DON family live and work.”
The San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force has confirmed it is involved in the investigation.
Perez and Cheyenne have created a website Justice4NativeKids.com. More than 7,000 people have signed a petition demanding “a prompt, thorough and impartial investigation” and other measures to keep children safe.
