Sex TraffickingArchive 2008–2016

Sex Trafficking in Denver (exact location unknown) (2010)

A sex trafficking case from 2010 in Denver (exact location unknown), United States.

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Documented on the original SlaveryMap (2008–2016). We don’t have a verifiable source on file yet. Know one?

What happened

A teen from Colorado Springs was kidnapped and forced into prostitution in Denver. The 17-year-old girl was suspended from school in May 2010, and instead of going home, she went to her ex-boyfriend’s house. He arranged to take her to Denver to “make money.” There, she was taken to a house where she was taught how to be a prostitute and how to identify undercover policemen. She performed numerous sex acts on local Denver men, and she was advertised online as an escort. Of those arrested, one of the 19-year-old men was the victim’s ex-boyfriend, and he arranged for the victim to go to Denver. The 32-year-old man drove the victim, as well as another 19-year-old woman to Denver. There, the 28-year-old woman taught the victim and the 19-year-old woman how to be prostitutes, and posted nude or semi-nude pictures of them online to advertise them to johns. At the time of the source articles, there three were all in custody. The other 19-year-old man aided the traffickers by providing rides for the girls to hotels, where the sex acts occurred. At the time of the articles, he had failed to appear in court, and a warrant had been issued for his arrest.

Response and intervention

received a tip and began an undercover investigation, which led to the arrests. No information Law enforcement received a tip

Nearby cases

All 892 in the United States →

Sex Trafficking2012

Denver, Colorado, United States, 2012

United States US

Patrick Lloyd McGowan, 22; Chad Armand Gow, 20; Roy Manuel Ibarra-Gonzales, 20; and Bryan Steven Burns, 20, allegedly oversaw a human trafficking ring that involved the prostitution of children as well as the sale of methamphetamine and cocaine, according to a 70-count indictment. The indictment names 14 individuals suspected of running and patronizing a human-trafficking ring that used children for sex at locations ranging from Denver to Grand Junction, Colorado. McGowan, Gow, Ibarra-Gonzales and Burns are suspected of arranging "out calls" for the child victims through the Internet and coercing their victims through the use of drugs and threats of violence, Colorado Attorney General John Suthers said. The three are suspected of transporting children to locations in Denver, Boulder, Glenwood Springs, Grand Junction and Lakewood for sex, he said. The indictments also accuse McGowan of selling methamphetamine to an undercover officer at Casa Bonita in Lakewood on Dec. 21, 2011. Nearly 2 grams of meth was recovered from McGowan, according to the indictment. In addition, another 15 grams of meth was recovered when McGowan was booked into the Jefferson County Jail, the indictment stated. On one occasion, one girl was held down on a hotel bed in Boulder and "subjected ... to sexual contact without her consent," the indictment alleged. The ring advertised the girls as prostitutes on the Internet, according to the indictment.

Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016

Bonded Labor2005

Denver, Colorado, United States, 2005

United States US

Young Jo Kwon and his wife Jessie, owners of Osaka Sushi in Denver, Colorado were accused of forcing two South Korean immigrants to work without pay. They have also been linked to the Korean mafia. The two withheld payment from the workers and threatened to get rid of their greencards and have them deported if they tried to escape.

Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016

Sex Trafficking2023

Highlands Ranch, Colorado, United States, 2023

United States

A Denver-area man brought foreign nurses to the US under false pretenses via visa fraud, then collected much of their pay while threatening deportation if they complained. Accused: Kizzy Kalu of Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

1 source