By Katie Langford

Copyright denverpost

A 31-year-old Colorado man has been charged with human trafficking for sexual servitude and pimping after Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office investigators say he threatened, assaulted and forced women into prostitution.

The sheriff’s office launched Operation Rescue Rodeo in connection with the National Western Stock Show in January because major events are often linked to an increase in illicit activity, including commercial sex work and forced prostitution, investigators wrote in an arrest affidavit.

An undercover officer set up a meeting through an ad on Secret Hostess, a commercial sex website. Two women showed up to the meeting at a house in the 1600 block of South Golden Road on Jan. 22 and were met by sheriff’s officials and victim advocates.

They identified Cortez “Tez” D’Angelo Dennis as their pimp.

Investigators found that the women drove there in a car registered to Dennis’ romantic partner, but she is not a suspect in the case, the sheriff’s office said Wednesday.

One of the women told investigators she was “recruited” into prostitution when she was 14 years old, according to the affidavit.

The two victims described an environment of coercion and abuse where they were required to earn at least $1,000 a day through sex work or be “traded out” to another pimp.

If they asked questions or talked back, Dennis would physically or sexually assault them, they told sheriff’s officials.

One of the women told investigators she was afraid that if she didn’t go to the meet-up with the undercover officer, Dennis would beat her up, refuse to let her eat or stop paying for the hotel room in Aurora where she lived.

Dennis also used other tactics to control the women, including taking their clothes, belongings and phones so they could not leave. One of the women said she was afraid Dennis knew where her family lived and would hurt them if she tried to leave, investigators wrote.

Threatening the women was “his favorite sport,” one of the victims told investigators, including threatening to cut out their tongues or shoot them in the face.

Sheriff’s officials identified a house in the 4500 block of South Jebel Court in Centennial as a base for Dennis’ prostitution and drug operations, and the address was linked to his Venmo account, according to the affidavit.

Dennis was arrested Sept. 10 and is being held on a $500,000 cash bail in the Arapahoe County jail. He is set to appear in court Oct. 8 for a preliminary hearing.

Investigators believe Dennis was trafficking women from different locations across metro Denver and there may be additional victims in the case. Anyone with information can contact the sheriff’s office tip line at 303-271-5612.

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