DALLAS — It doesn't matter that underage teens are selling their bodies and dancing without clothes in some Dallas nightclubs; those businesses are protected by law.

Investigators say their hands are tied because the city's ordinance is written in such a way that it's virtually impossible to force them to close their doors.

News 8 has been looking into those rules, and has also been examining court documents that detail what a 12-year-old stripper says happened to her.

"It breaks my heart for the simple fact that she's 12," said a woman who told us that her runaway daughter came into contact with 22-year-old David Bell within a month.

Police said it was Bell who took her to Diamond's Cabaret to strip.

"We are just sick," said the girl's mother.

According to court documents, the 12-year-old said that before giving her the job, a club employee asked her to "take off her clothes to see if she was too shy to dance nude."

"You know, she looks like an adult body-wise, but she's 12," the girl's mother said.

The court records say the girl gave a fake name, said she forgot her birthday, and the club didn't get an ID.

That was in November — four months ago.

"I don't know why it's taking them so long to do something about it or shut it down being as they have minors working in their club," said the girl's mother.

But police say closing the club is difficult because the city's ordinance on sexually oriented businesses doesn't let them revoke a license for hiring someone under 18.

Police say they have to get two convictions for sex-related crimes within a year at the club before something can be done. "It can be difficult because you have to have convictions — we're not just talking about arrests," said Deputy Chief Julian Bernal.

Investigators hope they can get that conviction with Bell and a club employee who are charged with seven felonies.

"If they don't do something about it. they're going to continue to have underage girls working in their clubs," said the 12-year-old's mother.

Earlier this week, we also told you about Club Metroplois, where Dallas police found 13-year-old prostitutes. That nightspot operates as a bar, so the city says it has to treat it like any other business and has to prove a pattern of crime before it can be closed — unless they find a loophole.

E-mail rlopez@wfaa.com