A treasure trove of crime?

Reporter stripper Sarah Tressler says Treasures "has it coming," but strip clubcalls human trafficking charges "ridiculous"

"Treasures has it coming, 'bout time," former Houston Chronicle reporter stripper Sarah Tressler tweeted late Wednesday night on her Angry Stripper account, hours after city and county attorneys filed a suit against the prominent Galleria-area gentlemen's club.

Tressler also tweeted a sarcastic "Riiight" next to a quote about Treasures denying that prostitution, human trafficking and narcotics violations are taking place at the club.

Harris County attorney Vince Ryan and Houston city attorney David Feldman are attempting to close the strip club for its alleged promotion of drugs and prostitution. "Treasures knowingly tolerates the activity and fails to make reasonable attempts to abate the activities," they charged in court documents.

The attorneys list more that 40 reported crimes that occurred at the club since 2008 and allege that the strip club's owners and employees "are engaged in gang related organized criminal activities" and that "human trafficking regularly occurs." The constant criminal activity, they claim, creates a public nuisance for the surrounding communities.

"It's common knowledge that the dancers travel around the country to events like the OTC and Mardi Gras," club attorney Al Van Huff said. "There's a sort of circuit, but that's not human trafficking."

"There's no human trafficking at Treasures . . . That's absolutely ridiculous," the club's lawyer Al Van Huff told CultureMap in a phone interview. "It's common knowledge that the dancers travel around the country to events like the OTC [Offshore Technology Conference] and Mardi Gras.

"There's a sort of circuit, but that's not human trafficking."

He brushed aside allegations of gang-related activity, as well, saying Treasures "is a nice, upscale club and the owners would never tolerate gangs at the place."

The city's view is much different.

"They masquerade as legitimate businesses, but these high-end strip clubs like Treasures really are hubs of human trafficking," city attorney David Feldman told the Houston Chronicle. "We are hopeful that with this action, we serve notice not only on Treasures, but the other clubs out there that Houston-Harris County is not going to put up with this type of criminal activity."

Van Huff says that the 40-plus crimes listed by city and country attorneys have led to very few convictions, adding that the nightclub generates more than $20 million a year in taxable revenue and employs 1,000 dancers as well as 100 waitresses and bartenders.

"Let's just say that 40 alleged violations in four years — that's 10 annually or less than one a month — does not a nuisance make," Van Huff said. "One violation a month would mean that any club in town, regardless of whether it's a gentlemen's club or not, would be shut down if that were the case."

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”