An underage girl found dancing at a strip bar earlier this year was caught dancing at another topless club on the same day the first establishment was padlocked, police said Tuesday.
Officers went to Club Onyx in Detroit on Monday night after getting a tip that an underage girl was dancing, police spokesman John Roach said. The 15-year-old they found was the same girl who at age 14 was performing at All Stars Lounge in April, he said.
Police arrested a manager at Club Onyx, Roach said. Roach said the club could be shuttered and the manager could be charged with child sexually abusive activity.
"It says a lot about the girl's situation but also it says a lot about the way some of these clubs operate," Roach said of the discovery.
Messages seeking comment were left Tuesday at phone listings for the club.
'Disrespectful'
A friend of the teenager's family described the girl as "disrespectful of her mother," the Detroit News reported.
"She would pull a garbage can up to the window and jump out of the house," Tay Giles, 39, told the newspaper. "If you sat down ... had a conversation with her, you would know she's underage because she's not capable of having a grown-up conversation."
The arrest came on the same day that All Stars Lounge was padlocked following an order from a judge. That club is to remain closed for a year. Timothy P. Murphy, a lawyer for All Stars, said he's appealing. He said the Club Onyx bust makes him suspicious about what circumstances drew police to both clubs.
"I think she's working for the Detroit Police Department," Murphy said. "I think it's obvious."
Roach denied that claim.
Truancy issue
Andrew Hutson, a manager at All Stars in April, was ordered to stand trial Tuesday following a preliminary hearing in 36th District Court. He was arrested and charged with child sexually abusive activity after the girl's mother told police she pulled her daughter from the club. He's due back in court on July 27.
A message was left Tuesday with Hutson's lawyer Marc Hart, who has said his client had nothing to do with girl's hiring. Under questioning from Hart, the girl said in court she had danced at two other clubs before All Stars.
The girl, whose name was not released because of her age, was being held at a youth home on a probation violation from a prior truancy issue, he said.