A 19-year-old man has been charged with human trafficking in connection with an “out-call” prostitution service he allegedly operated in hotels and motels in Denver and Lakewood.
The man indicted by the Colorado state grand jury is identified as Dallas Colby Cardenas of Denver. He is charged with one count of trafficking in adults and one count of trafficking in children.
Cardenas is also charged with two counts of pimping — one related to the child, the other to the adult — as well as one count each of pandering of a child and inducement of child prostitution.
Also indicted by the state grand jury is Ryan Keith Jenkins, 23, who is charged with conspiring with Cardenas to commit pimping. Jenkins is also charged with one count of possession of a controlled substance, specifically Ecstasy.
According to the indictment, Cardenas in early May obtained photographs of a 17-year-old girl that were posted on Craigslist accompanied by a sexually suggestive advertisement.
The 17-year-old was allegedly forced by Cardenas to have sex with him to groom her for prostitution.
The indictment alleges that Cardenas told the 17-year-old, considered a child under Colorado law, to perform sex acts with clients and to charge $175 per hour, or $150 for a half hour.
The girl was told to give the money to Cardenas after the appointments, most of which Cardenas kept for himself, according to the indictment.
An 18-year-old, an adult under Colorado law, allegedly charged the same as the juvenile. But she not only worked “out-calls” in Denver and Lakewood hotels and motels but also engaged in prostitution in Cardenas’ Denver apartment, according to the indictment. Jenkins allegedly agreed to drive the 18-year-old woman to the hotels and motels for her appointments.
Jenkins has not yet been arrested.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
