DONALDSONVILLE — An Ascension Parish jury found two men guilty of human trafficking of a victim under the age of 18.

According to the 23rd Judicial District of Louisiana, on Sept. 19, 2024, investigators with the Texas Department of Public Safety, searching for a missing 13-year-old girl, located online postings indicating that the teen was being prostituted in the city of Gonzales.

Federal agents, along with the Louisiana State Police and the Gonzales Police Department, located the 13-year-old girl in a Gonzales hotel.

Investigators learned that the teen, along with two other females under the age of 21, was transported from Texas for prostitution. 

Jayden Hodge, a 21-year-old from Dallas, Texas, and Antonio Jackson, a 23-year-old from Phoenix, Arizona, were found guilty on two counts of human trafficking of a victim under the age of 21 and one count of human trafficking of a victim under the age of 18.

Human trafficking of a victim under the age of 18 carries a mandatory life sentence.