A 24-year-old woman arrested as part of a joint federal and local is being held on six felony counts.
Leann Wyrick is accused of sex offenses against a child over several years spanning back to 2008, court records show. An investigation into Wyrick is ongoing, authorities said.
Police found that Wyrick was at one point running a prostitution business on Colfax Avenue in Aurora with her boyfriend, helping to facilitate the sale of the sexual services of at least one teen girl, court records show.
Wyrick faces charges of pimping a child, inducement of child prostitution, pandering of a child, procurement of a child, solicitation of a child for prostitution and contributing the delinquency of a minor.
Federal and local law enforcement officials recovered six child victims of domestic sex trafficking and arrested two alleged traffickers, including Wyrick, during the stock show.
The children — ranging in age from 14 to 17 — were victims of commercial sex exploitation, the FBI said Monday. The FBI worked with several Denver-area law enforcement departments and the Colorado State Patrol in the operation.
The stock show sting was initiated because federal agents said they have previously found that large events with a national draw bring an influx of people and money into the city. With that influx also comes an increase in child sex trafficking, the FBI said.
Special Agent Amy Sanders clarified on Wednesday that “arrests did not take place at or involve anyone affiliated with the stock show.” The other alleged trafficker arrested during the operation has not been identified.
Arrest records accuse Wyrick of recruiting at least one teen girl for prostitution, giving her condoms and then telling the teen to turn over the money she made. The records show investigators spent months, beginning in September 2014, researching Wyrick and her activities.
The law enforcement investigation into Wyrick included years of prior police records and several interviews.
Wyrick was arrested by police in Commerce City on Jan. 15 on charges out of Arapahoe County, Colorado Bureau of Investigation records show.
Wyrick is being held at the Arapahoe County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bond. She is next due in court on Feb. 11.
The FBI has declined to comment further on the stock show sting, citing an ongoing investigation.
Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or twitter.com/JesseAPaul
