SAN ANTONIO – When police arrived at a North Side motel in the winter of 2017 to arrest Steven Sumlin, they got a surprise.
They found a 16-year-old runaway girl in Sumlin's room.
"The detectives, when they went in there, they found her naked in the shower," a San Antonio Police Department detective testified Wednesday during Sumlin's trial on sex-trafficking charges.
The detective, who KSAT 12 News is not identifying at his request because he is working undercover in an unrelated case, testified that he was familiar with the teen.
"I had interviewed her before, so she knew who I was. So I said, you know, 'Really?' because she had been a runway, and now she was a runaway again," he testified.
According to prosecutors, the teen was among females that Sumlin advertised for sex-for-pay on the internet.
Sumlin, 40, forced the teen and at least one other victim into prostitution through coercion and threats, prosecutors said.
If Sumlin is convicted, he could face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Testimony is expected to continue Thursday before District Judge Dick Alcala in Felony Impact Court.