NEW ORLEANS (Louisiana Illuminator) – The mother of a child sex trafficking survivor who has pressed authorities for years to bring her alleged pimp to justice learned from a reporter Thursday that he was mistakenly released from jail and was out for months before authorities were aware.
David A. Jones, 32, was released from the Orleans Justice Center in December after a mixup involving his bond paperwork, The Times-Picayune first reported. A judge had ordered Jones held without bond in May 2024 after he violated conditions of his release for an arrest separate from his charges for child sex trafficking and kidnapping in 2018.
The Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, which operates the city jail, did not disclose Jones’ release to the public until April, when Jones turned himself in, and said he was on an ankle monitor through the entire four-month period.
District Attorney Jason Williams also didn’t share information with the survivor’s mother about Jones’ release, she said. The woman’s name is being withheld to protect the identity of her daughter, who was 13 when Jones allegedly sold her for sex with other men.
“I did not find out until a few hours ago,” she said in an interview Thursday afternoon. “I had no knowledge of this at all, and I’ve been in contact with the (victim) advocate over at the DAs office. No one notified me of this incident at all.”
In a text message sent to our news partners at WVUE-TV Fox 8 News, the district attorney’s office said it became aware of Jones’ release when he walked into court March 27. The judge was informed he should not have been released, and the prosecution asked the court for an arrest warrant April 4. Jones’ attorney emailed the DA’s office April 8 to say he would turn himself in, which he did April 14 according to the DA’s statement.
The Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office disputes that it made a mistake with Jones’ release. It provided a recap of Jones’ recent court dates to Fox 8 News that said a prosecutor was present for the April 8 court date when the record noted Jones was out on bond and on an ankle monitor. Jones appeared before a judge six days later and was returned to jail 134 days after his release.
“What occurred was part of an internal cleanup of administrative records. Specifically, the closure of one of Mr. Jones’ other case folders,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. “This action was taken for record-keeping clarity and did not cause a change in his physical custody or legal status.”
The sheriff’s office said “any suggestion that Mr. Jones was mistakenly released, including those made by the Office of the Orleans Parish District Attorney, is factually incorrect.”
However, Jones’ attorney, William Boggs, told The Times-Picayune his client’s release was an “error” and that ““he shouldn’t have been allowed to bond out.”
Following another mistaken release last week, the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office fired two of its deputies and suspended five others Thursday. Khalil Bryan was let out of jail July 25 after guards failed to follow identification protocol and confused Bryan with another incarcerated person with the same last name. He remains at large.
Sheriff Susan Hutson, who’s seeking re-election, has been under intense scrutiny since 10 inmates organized and executed a mass escape in May. Six of the escapees face murder or attempted murders charges. One man, convicted killer Derrick Groves, 28, has yet to be caught.
An investigation into the May 16 breakout has led to 16 arrests, including charges against two jail employees accused of aiding the escapees.
Jones’ arrest affidavit details how the victim’s mother learned in August 2018 her daughter was being exploited for sex. She received a phone call from an unknown woman who informed her streaming live video posted on Twitter showed her 13-year-old “engaging in sexual intercourse with several men.”
The affidavit said Jones allegedly kept the girl in a downtown New Orleans hotel room for several days and she was forced to have sex for paying clients. He reportedly would attack the girl when she disclosed her actual age to the men, having instructed her to say she was 18 years old.
Jones was indicted in November 2018 and formally charged a month later. His case would stretch out for months through a series of continuances and rescheduled hearings. The public defender assigned to his case was changed three times in 16 months before Jones was released on $75,000 bond in October 2020.
He was arrested again in May 2024 for domestic abuse, and his bond was revoked, court records show. Back in jail, Jones was charged a month later when was allegedly found with a 7-inch shank.
It was for that contraband charge that Jones was allowed to post bond in December and released. His trial is set to begin Aug. 18.
Over the years of seeking justice, the survivor’s mother has become active in statewide efforts to prevent sex trafficking. She told reporters she now feels officials at every level have disappointed her.
“This case has been pushed back time after time after time,” she said. “This happened when my child was 13 years old; she will now be 21. So how do you make sense of something like that? You don’t. You just don’t.”
