Mayor Turner under fire for accepting political cash from strip club owners

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - During his three years as mayor, Sylvester Turner has taken political contributions from some of Houston's most reputable citizens - Richard Kinder, John Nau and the late Robert McNair, to name a few.

But it appears Turner has also accepted campaign money from multiple donors who run sexually oriented businesses.

Wednesday afternoon, mayoral challenger Bill King announced a press conference for Thursday morning on the subject of human trafficking and what he calls "questionable political donors" sending cash to the mayor.

A cross check by FOX 26 of Turner's publicly available list of donors turned up the names of financial supporters known to operate most of Houston's best known topless clubs.

Back in 2013, prior to a controversial legal settlement with the city, many of the establishments came under heavy fire from advocates battling human trafficking who claimed the clubs exploited underage women.

The settlement between 16 topless clubs and the city under former Mayor Annise Parker included a collective $1 million annual payment by the sexually oriented businesses to fund an anti-human trafficking unit within the Houston Police Department.

The deal has continued uninterrupted during the Turner administration.

FOX 26 reached out to the Turner campaign for a response, but has yet to receive comment.