CORPUS CHRISTI, Tx — A Nueces County Grand Jury has indicted an 80-year-old man accused of taking part in an alleged sex trafficking ring involving minors.
On Thursday, Nov. 21, a grand jury indicted Noraier George Manassian, of Dripping Springs, Texas on five counts of sexual assault of a child, one count of sex trafficking of a child, one count of online solicitation of a minor, and one count of solicitation or prostitution of a person under 18 years of age.
He is a co-defendant in the case against Amanda Talbert, the owner of Talbert's Tavern in Annaville.
As KRIS 6 News first reported, the Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission (T.A.B.C.) began its investigation into Talbert and Manassian last year,after a woman made an outcry at the Coastal Bend Wellness Foundation office. She told a T.A.B.C. investigator in the presence of that advocate about an incident involving both defendants.
The victim told investigators that when she was 15 years old and a freshman at Tuloso-Midway High School, she met Talbert through a mutual friend, who was also a freshman at T.M.H.S. The woman stated Talbert was "communicating and arranging dates with several other freshmen at Tuloso-Midway High School for the purposes of having sexual intercourse with a male friend of Talbert's."
That teen said on or around September 2007, she met Talbert's friend, Noraier George Manassian. The victim claimed Talbert picked her and another minor up at the old Chicken Shack located at 10137 Leopard Street and took them to the Omni Corpus Christi Hotel at 900 Shoreline Boulevard.
The victim stated she, Talbert, and other other minor victim arrived at Manassian's hotel room. Once inside, Talbert asked both minors to take off their clothes while she took off hers. Then, they all made their way to the bed, where Manassian had sex with one minor and Talbert touched another victim's private areas.
Soon after, the victim saw Manassian hand Talbert a large amount of money. According to the report, Talbert gave both minors $700 each, and then Talbert placed an undisclosed amount of money in her purse.
At the time, the Texas Attorney General's Office had launched an investigation into Manassian on August 1, 2023, where a witness told the state agency that Manassian was attempting to pay a female for sex. That witness said Manassian asked them to find him a female to have sex with. At that point, an investigator with the Texas Attorney General's Office Human Trafficking Unit created an online profile and posed as a 16-year-old girl, offering a phone number to Manassian. On February 14, 2024, the undercover officer posing as a minor messaged Manassian online. He began communicating with the officer via text messaging. He agreed to meet with the "young girl" for sex even after she provided him information via text message that she was a 16-year-old high school student.
Two days later, the undercover officer sent a text asking Manassian to meet her at the Omni. Manassian advised her to "wait in the lobby for him and not to speak with anyone until he called with a specific location." That evening, investigators with the Texas Attorney General's Office saw Manassian pull into the parking garage and immediately arrested him. When Manassian exited his vehicle, a 3-pack of condoms were on the ground near his feet, and he had $2,000 in his front left pocket.
He was taken into custody and charged with Soliciting Prostitution from someone under 18 years old and sexual assault of a child.
Manassian bonded out just days after his arrest.
As for Talbert, she was arrested on April 9. She's now facing a total of six charges including two counts of indecency with a child with sexual assault and four counts of continuous trafficking of persons.
Her trial date isset to begin in March.
As for Manassian, he is currently out on $275,000 bond on two charges, which include solicitation of prostitution and one count of sexual assault of a child. His bond was posted by his attorney J.A. "Tony" Canales.
Manassian is scheduled to be arraigned in the 347th District Court on Dec. 3rd at 1:15pm.
