On Wednesday night, Mexican pop star Gloria Trevi will perform at the Don Haskins Center on UTEP’s campus as part of the Gloria Trevi vs. Alejandra Guzman Tour.

Ten hours away, former Telemundo El Paso multimedia journalist Karina Yapor will probably be preparing for work the next day at Univision 45 in Houston.

Both Trevi and Yapor have come a long way from the home of Sergio Andrade, Trevi’s former manager and ex-husband, in Mexico City.

After building a reputation as a champion of women’s rights and equality in the late-80’s and early-90’s, Trevi had a majestic fall from grace when it was revealed that she was a recruiter of sorts for a “sex cult” run by Andrade. Yapor was one of their victims.

Yapor was only 12 years old and living in Chihuahua when she left home to join the music school run by Andrade in Mexico City. Trevi had recruited her after noticing her at a concert and bringing her backstage. It wasn’t long before Yapor was being abused by Andrade in many ways, including sexually, while Trevi stood idly by.

Yapor’s parents took notice when Trevi and Yapor came to Chihuahua to visit and warn her about a book that was about to come out. “To Glory Through Hell,” by Aline Hernandez was an expose of Andrade and Trevi’s lifestyle of child sex abuse, written by one of Andrade’s former child brides. Yapor’s mother was told not to believe any of it.

Soon after, Yapor’s mother was informed that her daughter was now living in Spain with Andrade and Trevi and at least 12 other young girls—and that Karina had a son that needed caring for. She had become pregnant with Andrade’s child at 15.

Eventually Trevi, Andrade and their harem would be caught up with in Brazil and the two would be jailed while Mexico and Brazil fought over where their trial would take place. Somehow while in prison, Trevi became pregnant with Andrade’s child, another of Andrade’s children. There is no definitive word on how many children were impregnated by Andrade through the years after being recruited by Trevi to join his “music academy.”

Eventually Trevi left Brazilian prison and had her charges in Mexico dropped. The biggest pop star in all of Mexico was somehow able to have her charges of human trafficking, child endangerment, prostitution, etc. completely dismissed despite overwhelming proof, including numerous eyewitnesses and victims. Why? Because of lack of evidence, of course.

Now we come to Wednesday. Trevi is performing at UTEP. Our campus. In an arena built by the tax dollars of the people of the great state of Texas. She continues to tour, while 30-40 young girls have grown into women after possibly having had babies, or forced abortions, while in Andrade and Trevi’s care.

Somewhere in Mexico, or Houston by way of El Paso in Yapor’s case there are women trying to move on with their lives with the emotional scars of having been forced to have sex with a man as old as their father, being locked in closets for hours on end, being starved and beaten—all while Trevi did absolutely nothing.

If you have tickets to her show, I hope you think about them a little while you watch Trevi singing, dancing and having fun still making a living doing what she loves. I hope that in the era of #MeToo, you can listen to her sing lyrics of empowerment that she wrote in the early-90’s from “Pelo Suelto” like “Voy a traer el pelo suelto, voy hacer siempre como quiero, voy a olvidarme de complejos, a nadie voy a tener miedo;” and still feel empowered like you did back then, instead of thinking that it’s her way of saying “screw what’s right, if Sergio wants more young girls, I will get him more young girls!”

Tell yourself that she was caught in his web and it wasn’t really her, that she’s a great person despite the fact that she recently paid out a lawsuit for having a housekeeper at her home in McAllen, Texas who was basically enslaved. She and her husband took the woman’s passport, worked her 120 hours a week and paid her $385 every two weeks. But, that was Andrade’s fault too, right?

Do what you want. Insult the victims even further by giving her more money despite what an evil human being she is. But, whatever you do, don’t go backstage and audition for her.