Former Child Prostitute: 'I Got Caught Up'

HOUSTON - A Houston teenager who was forced into prostitution is talking only to FOX 26 about her ordeal after a viewer helped find her alleged torturer.

Christopher Deonn Crawford, 24, is charged with aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury.

He's accused of beating the teen for two years if she didn't do exactly as she was told.

Shellysia Milton, now 19, says the abuse took place from about 2006 until 2008.

The excitement of the streets was too much for the then 15-year-old to resist.

"Once they draw you in, they got you. Some people can't get out of that," said Shellysia Milton.

Milton dropped out of school, met Christopher Crawford and ran away from her grandparents' home.

"I got caught up, met the wrong dude, was young, didn't know any better and thought I was in love," she said.

So in love, Milton says, she had the name 'Chris' tattooed on her arm.

"It wasn't until he got her alone that everything started changing," said Officer Kerry Bray, Houston Police Department.

Ofc. Bray says Crawford forced Milton into prostitution almost every night of the week.

The FBI is now looking into the allegations of child prostitution. For that reason Milton didn't want to discuss specifics of the case.

"She was to make at least $100. If she didn't make $100 the consequences were severe," Ofc. Bray said.

For two years, Milton says Crawford beat her so much she no longer recognized herself.

"He made me think that what I was going through was normal, that it was nothing wrong with how he was treating me and I believed it," she said.

HPD took two reports in 2007 and 2008 when Milton was hospitalized. But the teen never told police Crawford's real name and lied to her family about him, too.

"Her fear of him was more powerful than our love for her," said Miltoria Milton, Shellysia's mother.

Milton says she felt stuck until her eyes literally opened at age 17.

"He beat me until my eyes were shut closed. I couldn't see for three days, and when they opened barely enough for me to see I left," she said.

Milton says she hasn't seen Crawford in about two years but knows he's been looking for her.

In March she says she finally went to police thinking Crawford was locked up on a parole violation.

She was frightened to learn he was still on the streets. A warrant was issued for Crawford's arrest, and on Monday a tip generated from a FOX 26 story led to his capture in Brenham.

"I have to thank you all FOX 26 because you have eased a certain burden off me because now I don't have to wonder what if," she said.

Milton is now enjoying rare moments with her mother after living in and out of shelters so Crawford wouldn't find her.

"It's hard not really having a stable place. I was young so I didn't know how to get a job. I've never had a job before. I would like one," she said.

Milton just got her driver's license and social security card, major accomplishments when you've hit rock bottom.

Her focus is on helping other young women along with going back to school and finding a doctor willing to donate time to treat her facial scarring and other injuries.

In Houston Children At Risk reports 600 girls are forced into prostitution every night of the week.

Right now the Houston area doesn't have a safe house for girls like Milton. Children At Risk is working on the funding for one.