CENTENNIAL, Colo. (CBS4) - A pimp who prostituted a 17-year-old girl and other women in Aurora last year was sentenced to 24 years in prison on Tuesday.

Carlos Stegall, 41, pleaded guilty on June 20 to pimping, a felony, and second-degree assault after seriously injuring a woman he pimped in 2012.

“Prison is the only place for these flesh peddlers who view kids as a form of profit rather than an individual who deserves protection and respect,” Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler said in a statement.

The victim’s father is credited with helping break open the case after he discovered sexually explicit messages on her cell phone. His daughter then admitted to being forced to work for sex.

“But for the father, I don’t know that we ever know this, that we ever find this bad, bad man who’s willing to turn kids into objects of sexual degradation,” Brauchler said.

The victim’s photo was posted on an escort ad, and she was prostituted to nine johns over five days, from Oct. 29 to Nov. 4, at a Motel 6 near E. Illiff Avenue and S. Abilene Street.

Carlos Stegall (credit: Arapahoe County)

The DA’s office is also prosecuting Colleen Maury, 26, for allegedly luring the girl into sex-trafficking. She’s accused of spotting the minor’s profile on a dating website called Plenty of Fish and convincing her to become a prostitute. Maury’s case is pending.

More than 30 people faced charges stemming from a bust that happened in June. The johns are also facing felony charges of patronizing and engaging in child prostitution.

RELATED: 30 Face Charges In Large Aurora Prostitution Bust

The DA’s office described the victim as a typical high school student.

“She was a successful student, involved in school activities, she had close relationship with her parents. She lived a life a normal teenager lived,” Deputy District Attorney Anne Kelly, who prosecuted the case, said. “The victims in this case showed a courage and maturity through this process that was truly remarkable.”

Investigators said Maury and Stegall kept the majority of the money the women earned.

“(The victim) was told she would get a lot of money from what she was doing. In the end, she got maybe a couple of hundred dollars,” Kelly said. “It highlights that this is happening every day in our community. It could happen to anyone.”

GARY, Ind. (AP/CBS4) – Police investigating the slayings of seven northwestern Indiana women whose bodies were found over the weekend said Monday it could be the work of a serial killer, and that the suspect has told them his victims might go back 20 years.

One of the victims is a woman from Aurora.

Darren Vann (credit: Gary Police Department)

Hammond Police Chief John Doughty said at a news conference that the suspect is 43-year-old Darren Vann of nearby Gary, Indiana, who was convicted of a sex offense in Texas in 2009. His confession to the slaying of one woman in Indiana led police to the grisly discovery of six other bodies, including three in on the same block, authorities said.

He said the Gary slayings appear to have happened recently, though Vann indicated there could be earlier victims. He said police are not actively looking for more bodies and have no indication that any murders have occurred in another state. He said Vann is cooperating with investigators in the hope of making a deal with prosecutors.

“It could go back as far as 20 years, based on some statements we have, but that has yet to be corroborated,” Doughty said.

Charges were expected to be filed later Monday in the death of 19-year-old Afrikka Hardy, from Aurora, whose body was found about 9:30 p.m. Friday at a Motel 6 in Hammond, Doughty said. The Lake County coroner’s office said she was strangled.

LINK: More From CBSNews.com

Doughty said Hardy was involved in prostitution and had arranged to meet Vann at the motel through a Chicago-area website. Police were called by someone who attempted to reach Hardy and “was provided suspicious text responses that she believed to be from the suspect while he was still inside the motel room.”

The discoveries began after Vann allegedly confessed to killing Hardy, then told investigators where more bodies could be found in abandoned homes in Gary, a deteriorating former steel town about 30 miles southeast of Chicago, police said.

A second body was found Saturday night in an abandoned home in Gary. The coroner said family members identified her as 35-year-old Anith Jones of Merrillville, Indiana, who had been missing since Oct. 8.

Anith Jones and Afrikka Hardy (credit: Facebook)

Five other bodies were found on Sunday in various Gary homes, said Doughty, who identified two of the women as Gary residents Teairra Batey, 28, and Christine Williams, 36. Police have not determined the identities of the other three women, including two whose bodies were found on the same block where Jones’ body was found on Saturday.

Police said they took Vann into custody Saturday afternoon after obtaining a search warrant for a home and vehicle in Gary,

Hardy’s mother, Lori Townsend, said police told her that Vann asked that she perform a certain sex act, and “when she said ‘no’ and put up a fight, he snapped and strangled her,” she said, speaking from her home in Colorado. “This man is sick.”

Hardy graduated from high school in late 2013 and planned to go on to college to study music, Townsend said.

“She was full of life. She lit up a room with her smile and her beauty,” she said. “And she had a voice like a songbird.”

Gary, once a thriving steel town of 178,000 where thousands worked in the mills, has been struggling for decades. Its population has shrunk to just over 78,000 and its poverty rate hovers around 40 percent. Thousands of homes are abandoned, many with weeds choking broken sidewalks – often on the same streets where other homes are tidy and well-kept.

One of the houses where police found a body was overgrown with trees in the front and there was trash strewn in the back of what looked like a falling down garage or shed.

On Monday, people in Gary tried to make sense of the tragedy.

“That’s devastating. That’s sick,” said Jay Jackson, 25, a health care worker visiting a woman a few houses from where one of the bodies was found. “All we can do is pray for the city and hope for recovery.”

- By Tom Coyne, Associated Press

Tarm reported from Chicago. Associated Press writers Tom Davies in Indianapolis and Tammy Webber in Chicago contributed to this report.

(TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) – The murder of a woman from Aurora by a suspected serial killer in Indiana may have helped investigators solve several other killings.

Afrikka Hardy, 19, attended community college in Denver. Her body was found in a Motel 6 in Hammond, Indiana. Police say what was left behind led investigators to their suspect, and he led them to six other bodies.

Afrikka Hardy (credit: Facebook)

A second body was found in an abandoned home in Gary, Indiana. The coroner said family members identified her as 35-year-old Anith Jones of Merrillville, Indiana, who had been missing since Oct. 8.

Anith Jones and Afrikka Hardy (credit: Facebook)

CBS4’s Karen Morfitt talked with Hardy’s aunt who says her niece, a former student at Hinkley High School in Aurora, was a beautiful young woman and a talented singer who will be greatly missed by her family and friends.

Hardy’s mother, Lori Townsend, shared dozens of heartbreaking messages about the loss of her daughter on a fundraising page. She says Afrikka was “the light of her life.”

Police say Hardy had arranged to meet someone at the Motel 6 in Hammond after meeting online.

“It’s our understanding that as a result of our investigation the two female adults were involved in a pay-for-service prostitution scheme that was being advertised on ChicagoBackPage.com,” Hammond Police Chief John Doughty said at a news conference.

After receiving suspicious text messages, one of Hardy’s friends went to the hotel room and found the teen had been strangled. Investigators say a phone number used to arrange the meeting led them to Darren Vann, 43, as their suspect.

Darren Vann (credit: Gary Police Department)

“During a subsequent interrogation of Mr. Vann he admitted his involvement in the Hammond incident and had expressed an interest in notifying police of other criminal incidents he was involved with,” Doughty said.

RELATED: Aurora Woman Among Victims Of Alleged Serial Killer In Indiana | More From CBSNews.com

Vann would then lead police to the bodies of at least six other women left in abandoned buildings throughout Gary.

On her Facebook page Hardy’s mother “thanked God” her daughter’s killer was in custody, but says that will never bring her baby back.

Vann, a registered sex offender out of Texas, is currently only charged with Hardy’s murder. His involvement in the other cases is still being investigated.

DENVER (AP) — A Jefferson County jury has found Robert Felix Gonzales guilty of prostituting a 14-year-old girl over a period of two years.

Authorities say Gonzales met the teen in 2011 through a foster home placement and began having sex with her, grooming her to believe that she was in love with him.

Authorities also say Gonzales provided her with methamphetamine and alcohol and forced her to have sex with other people for money or drugs.

Sentencing has been set for Jan. 7. Gonzales remains in custody on a $500,000 cash bond.

(© Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

DENVER (CBS4) – A man accused of bringing a teen from Arizona to Colorado and pimping the girl out for prostitution has been convicted on all counts against him.

According to Lynn Kimbrough with the district attorney’s office, Thomas White, 36, was found guilty of pimping of a child, pandering of a child, procurement of a child, keeping a place of child prostitution and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

“White met the 17-year-old victim in Arizona in July 2012 and brought her to Colorado to perform acts of prostitution from which he took all of the money. White and the victim were both arrested shortly after arriving in Denver,” Kimbrough said in a statement. “White was initially arrested for aggravated motor vehicle theft and the juvenile victim was taken into custody as a reported runaway. During the juvenile intake process, she disclosed that she had been prostituted, prompting an investigation by the Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force.”

Two of White’s additional victims testified against him during the trial.

White is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 5 for a habitual criminal trial and sentencing. He faces 48 mandatory 48 years in prison if convicted as a habitual criminal.

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (AP) – A Colorado man has been sentenced to more than three years in federal prison in a prostitution and online case linked to Texas and Wyoming.

Matthew Ross Cummings of Aurora was sentenced Monday in Wichita Falls. The 24-year-old Cummings pleaded guilty to transportation of an individual to engage in prostitution.

A Texas trooper in 2013 stopped a rental truck in Wilbarger County. Cummings was driving. The trooper reported finding drugs in the truck, which was accompanied by a car.

A search led to an iPad journal by a female who wrote that she was a prostitute and Cummings was her pimp. She was in a car stopped in Clay County.

Cummings told investigators that he earlier was in Casper, Wyoming, and created an online ad for prostitution services.

(© Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

GOLDEN, Colo. (CBS4) – An Arvada man who lured seven different young women into prostitution in exchange for meth will spend 30 years in prison.

Joe Avalos pleaded guilty to seven felonies and one misdemeanor and was sentenced on Friday at the Jefferson County Courthouse.

Avalos’s female victims were as young as 14, and some told CBS4 off-camera after the sentencing that they continue to struggle with what happened to them.

Prosecutors, detectives and some of the victims detailed in the hearing how Avalos manipulated and menaced the victims — some of whom were runaways– and in some cases threatened to kill them. He would take the victims to hotels in several metro Denver communities and pimp them out for methamphetamine.

“He degraded them and dehumanized them so much that they really felt like they had no choice,” prosecutor Katie Kurtz said.

Avalos spoke briefly at his hearing and apologized. He asked the judge to spare him from the maximum sentence.

“And I do take responsibility for the things I did. It was evil, demonic, and I just ask that you please have mercy on me,” he said.

The judge said the only mitigating factor is that he spared his victims a trial. First Judicial District Court Judge Randall Arp handed down a sentence that was not the maximum of 60 years, but threw the book at him with his words.

“You are not a just a predator, you’re a sexual predator,” Arp said. “Not only are you a sexual predator you prey on not just women but what I would consider to be nothing more than young girls.

One detective, who works undercover, got choked up while describing what he said were the horrific details of Avalos’s crimes.

“In my time as a peace officer, I have never had involvement in a case which turned my stomach, gave me sleepless nights or made me hug my children any harder than the case that Joe Avalos shows before this court today,” said the officer, whose identity was required to be kept private by the court.

Avalos’s mother wept as the sentence was being read. His brother also tried to appeal to the judge, saying “the Joe on paper is not the Joe that we know.”

DENVER (CBS4) – An FBI probe during the National Western Stock Show has led to an arrest of two alleged sex predators.

The suspects are in custody and accused of enslaving six girls.

His office wasn’t involved in the investigation, but Jefferson County District Attorney Pete Weir said child prostitution is always a concern at heavily attended events like the stock show or a major convention.

An image from this year’s National Western Stock Show (credit: CBS)

“Big events that draw a number of people from out of town … that’s going to lend itself to prostitution. It’s going to lend itself to people who profit from prostitution and unfortunately the exploitation of children is included that,” Weir said.

Weir’s office opened a human trafficking unit earlier this month. He says the victims usually come from homes where they were already abused.

“They think a life on the street is better than what they have. Unfortunately what they don’t know is that there are people out there waiting for them, looking for them, to lure then into this lifestyle,” Weir said.

The victims in the FBI’s case had been prostituted from anywhere between 2 weeks and a year. They were between 14 and 17 and had been living in foster care at group homes or had run away from their families before their predators got to them.

Investigators used online escort sites, classified ads and referrals to set up their sting operations.

Weir says cases like this can be found almost anywhere.

“This is the kind of activity and conduct that many of us don’t want to believe occurs in our community. Unfortunately, it does,” he said.

Officials with the FBI say they have not released some of the details of the case due to the fact some of the victims are minors. The identities of the suspects haven’t been released.

The National Western Stock Show ran from Jan. 28 to Jan. 25 this year.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story indicated some arrests were made at the stock show, which officials from the stock show later clarified was not the case. In a statement, they wrote: The FBI sting was in conjunction with the January Stock Show but the sting was not conducted at the Stock Show. Paul Andrews, President & CEO of the National Western Stock Show, also included a comment: “We appreciate law enforcement focusing on major events like ours to protect our staff, guests and visitors of Denver so that arrests are made to eliminate these horrific trafficking rings.”

DENVER (CBS4) – Undercover officers in Denver recently took part in a nationwide operation to crack down on men soliciting prostitutes.

The Denver Police Department is part of national coalition that aims to lessen the demand for purchasing sex. They say 20 men were arrested on and around East Colfax Avenue between mid January and Super Bowl Sunday.

“(The officers) are posing as a prostitute so they have individuals approaching them looking to buy sex,” Commander Mark Fleecs said.

The 20 men who were arrested are among 600 who now face charges across the country during what’s been dubbed the National Super Bowl Sex Sting Operation. A total of 36 jurisdictions in 16 different states participated.

“Human trafficking obviously is something we take very seriously,” Fleecs said.

Denver police say they perform similar stings nearly once a month and make an average of 20 arrests each time.

A week ago FBI agents in a separate police effort arrested two suspects for enslaving six girls. The probe took place while the National Western Stock Show was going on.

“I think that there are lot of large scale events throughout the country at certain times that, certainly, the demand for prostitution rises,” Fleecs said.

DENVER (CBS4) – A former corrections officer who was on probation for smuggling marijuana into the prisoners she was supposed to be guarding has now been busted again for allegedly acting as a prostitute while on probation.

Melinda Abruzzo was a guard at a private correctional facility in Adams County but was arrested in August 2012 and later convicted in 2013 of smuggling pot into inmates. She was placed on two years probation for the felony charge of introducing contraband, but a CBS4 investigation found that while she was regularly meeting with her probation officer, she was simultaneously acting as a prostitute, a charge Abruzzo now denies.

“I don’t know anything about that,” Abruzzo told CBS4 in a phone conversation. “I do massages … never did any weird stuff.”

Melinda Abruzzo (credit: CBS)

But the investigation found multiple online ads featuring pictures of a scantily clad Abruzzo in come hither poses offering “Sensual and Deep Tissue Massage” for “Singles, Couples, Fantasy and more.”

In the ads Abruzzo was called “Sexy Bella” and did not use her real name. One of the ads reads, “Let me show you the moon and stars blow your mind like no other … I can make your legs shake and head spin. You will be drunk from the sensation and have amazing pleasure.”

(credit: CBS)

Another ad read, “Hi I am Bella. I am open to anything and can show you a good time. I’m a very experienced massage therapist and also can leave you with a 5 star surprise …”

A price chart suggested her services cost $200 per hour.

In October 2014 the probation department somehow got wise to what Abruzzo was doing. In probation revocation documents, the department wrote, “The defendant violated (probation) … the defendant self-admitted to working as a prostitute. The defendant also self-admitted to posting advertisements on ‘Craigslist’ and ‘Backpage.’ ”

The cellphone contact number to reach Sexy Bella in all the online ads was apparently the same cellphone number she gave to the probation department, which apparently had no clue to what was going on.

Rob McCallum, a public information officer for the Colorado Judicial Department, told CBS4 the probation department “is prohibited from discussing specific cases and individual treatment programs for probationers with the public or media. Due to confidentiality requirements, no one in the probation department is able to discuss Ms. Abruzzo’s case, supervision or treatment.”

Melinda Abruzzo (credit: CBS)

In multiple conversations, Abruzzo’s story changed. She initially said, “I don’t remember those pictures.” She later said a friend had taken the pictures but then posted the online ads without Abruzzo’s knowledge or consent.

In yet another variation, Abruzzo admitted to posting the ads but said they were “not for sex.” And then in a later conversation, Abruzzo said she had done some “S and M” for extra money … it was nothing big,” she said. “Some would beat me. I like S and M. Doesn’t bother me.”

But she continued to maintain she was not having sex with clients and that “the probation officer had it out for me.”

Last month Abruzzo appeared in court to answer the latest charges. A Judge revoked her probation and then reinstated her probation for another two-year term.

CBS4 Investigator Brian Maass has been with the station more than 30 years uncovering waste, fraud and corruption. Follow him on Twitter @Briancbs4.

WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. – An Adams County man accused of using his website to promote prostitution has been taken into federal custody.

Two years ago FBI agents broke up a massage parlor in a Golden strip mall that neighbors suspected was essentially a brothel. Ads for the business, Happy Feet, displayed photos of Asian women and contained suggestive messages.

Happy Feet Foot & Body Reflexology (credit: CBS)

Authorities say the man making those ads was David Warmack.

Warmack ran the website sowet.com, according to the Department of Justice.

Warmack allegedly promoted Happy Feet and other massage parlors on the site. A message board on the site reviewed the prostitutes, there was advertising, and the parlors were shown how to evade law enforcement. The parlors allegedly paid Warmack monthly with cash and sex.

Investigators targeted six major advertisers on the site.

Sowet.com operated until last July but then — presumably because he was feeling pressure from federal investigators — Warmack launched a new website called 5280spas.com.

RELATED: Authorities Cracking Down On Prostitution, Human Trafficking In Colorado | FBI: Customers Offered More Than Massages At Happy Feet

On Facebook he posted a picture directing users to his new site where he essentially ran the same operation. The 5280spas site used the advertising banner Mile High Entertainment … The Power of Pleasure. A user on the site mentioned receiving a “light finish” at one spa, and Warmack’s picture appears again in reviews of women at the spas.

Investigators haven’t said if they are investigating the new site.

Warmack now faces 20 federal counts of promoting prostitution. Each of those charges carries a possible five year sentence and a $250,000 fine.

SHERIDAN, Colo. (CBS4) – A prostitution investigation prompted authorities to shut down a massage business in the Denver suburb of Sheridan.

Sheridan police worked with the Colorado Trafficking and Organized Crime Coalition in a five month investigation.

On Tuesday they searched the Happy Massage store on South Federal Boulevard.

(credit: CBS)

Three employees were arrested and and the store’s business license was suspended.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (CBS4) – Police in Colorado Springs hope what’s known as “John shaming” will cut down on prostitution.

The police department is publishing the names and mug shots of those convicted of soliciting a prostitute.

April Thompson was checking the site and found a familiar face — her ex-boyfriend and father of her child.

“Had that not happened I would not have known my son’s father was involved in something like this, and I find it wrong for a child to be around something like that,” Thompson said.

Several other law enforcement agencies across the country have been John shaming for some time.

LITTLETON, Colo. (AP) — Former Subway pitchman Jared Fogle has been moved to a low-security federal prison in Colorado where his attorneys had sought to have him serve out his more than 15-year sentence.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons’ inmate locator shows Fogle was moved from a facility in Oklahoma to suburban Denver’s Federal Correctional Institution Englewood.

Fogle was sentenced Nov. 19 to a 15-year, eight-month sentence after pleading guilty to trading in child pornography and having sex with underage prostitutes.

A judge recommended Fogle receive sex offender treatment in prison and agreed to his attorneys’ request to recommend he serve his time at the Colorado prison, which specializes in such treatment.

Fogle is appealing his sentence. His attorneys have until Jan. 25 to file a brief detailing the grounds for Fogle’s appeal.

(© Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

By Rick Sallinger

DENVER (CBS4) – The FBI-led Innocence Lost Task Force has revealed the recovery of five children and the arrest of nine adults for trafficking, and 26 adults for prostitution during operations during a week of pot smoking events in Denver.

That date 4/20 is known in Colorado as a day to celebrate marijuana. It brings in people from far and away. Like at other big events, some of the people are in search of sex with minors. That’s what James Brent Anderson, 60, is accused of seeking.

James Brent Anderson (credit: FBI)

Anderson’s arrest affidavit claims he contacted a chat room stating, “I’m looking for girls between the ages of 6 and 10 that date … I have dated 6- and 10-year-olds between those ages at the day care.”

Anderson then met with an undercover detective posing as a trafficker. He allegedly asked for “anything over 4 or 5 and a girl.”

FBI spokesperson Deborah Sherman says there was no actual child involved in the sting.

CBS4’s Rick Sallinger interviews Deborah Sherman with the FBI (credit: CBS)

“The undercover officer was acting as a trafficker, somebody who had access to the 7-year-old, and they showed Anderson pictures of (her) and he was very agreeable,” Sherman said.

During the 4/20 week investigators found a 35 percent increase in postings for escorts. Nine people in all were arrested on trafficking charges, including Pedro Davalos.

Pedro Davalos (credit: FBI)

The investigation was conducted by the Innocence Lost Task Force which last year at a news conference said it led the country in the number of rescued minors from sex trafficking. Among them was a girl who CBS4 Investigator Rick Sallinger met.

“They saved my life, really,” she said.

“Why are you crying?” Sallinger then asked.

“I just appreciate them so much,” she replied.

RELATED: Hotel Workers Get Trained To Spot Sex Trafficking As Stock Show Comes To Denver

It is not that human trafficking and marijuana celebrations go together. It’s any event that brings more people to town, such as the National Western Stock Show.

LINK: FBI – Innocence Lost

CBS4’s Rick Sallinger is a Peabody award winning reporter who has been with the station more than two decades doing hard news and investigative reporting. Follow him on Twitter @ricksallinger.

STERLING, Colo. (AP) — A rural Colorado sheriff is facing sexual assault and misconduct allegations.

Sedgwick County Sheriff Tom Hanna was arrested Tuesday at his office and is due to appear in court Wednesday afternoon in Sterling.

Thomas Hanna (credit: Logan County)

District Attorney Brittny Lewton said he was arrested on suspicion of first-degree official misconduct, sexual assault on an at risk person, sexual assault by a correctional officer and solicitation of prostitution. She declined to elaborate on what he’s accused of doing.

Hanna has not been charged and it’s not clear if he has a lawyer yet.

He was originally taken to the Logan County jail in Sterling, which houses some inmates arrested by Hanna’s department, but later moved to Weld County.

(© Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

JULESBURG, Colo. (CBS4)– The sheriff of Sedgwick County has been accused of sexually assaulting a developmentally disabled woman. Thomas Hanna is facing sexual assault and misconduct allegations.

Hanna, 43, was arrested at his office on Tuesday and appeared in court Wednesday afternoon in Sterling on charges of sexual assault of an at-risk adult, sexual conduct with a correctional inmate, official misconduct and soliciting a prostitute.

Thomas Hanna (credit: Logan County)

According to the arrest affidavit, Hanna allegedly took a developmentally disabled woman from the jail to his home in his personal truck. He said he was going to drop off the woman at the Logan County Jail on his way to Denver.

Deputy Larry Neugebauer noticed both the sheriff’s truck and his patrol vehicle parked at Hanna’s house shortly after that.

When investigators later questioned the woman at the Logan County Jail, she told them Hanna took her to his house, offered her $60 to strip and told her it had to stay between them. The woman said he used his fingers to assault her and that he took off his pants.

She told the investigator that she was worried because she was afraid she would be in trouble.

The affidavit states that $20 was put on her commissary account at the jail but she told investigators that she did not ask Hanna for the $60.

Tom Hanna in court on Wednesday (credit: CBS)

District Attorney Brittny Lewton said everyone involved in the investigation acted quickly.

“There was information given to me that I had to act on quickly and I did that and once I deemed it necessary I brought in the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and went from there and then made the decision that the 18th needed to take over so everything has happened rather quickly but I’ve done everything with as much transparency as possible,” said Lewton.

District Attorney George Brauchler of the 18th Judicial District and his office have been appointed special prosecutor in the case. Hanna’s case will continue to be tried in Logan County despite the 18th Judicial District taking over the case.

Both the woman and the investigator described her as being developmentally disabled. The victim’s advocate believes the woman is unable to function on her own.

She was in jail on harassment and domestic violence charges.

Tom Hanna in court on Wednesday (credit: CBS)

Hanna told investigators that he took the woman to his home because she said she wanted to share something with him in private and that he made a poor decision. He denied touching her in a sexual way and said he doesn’t know why she would make that up.

He said it’s a small town and he wanted to avoid being seen while she shared sensitive information with him.

“I was just really surprised,” said Hanna’s neighbor Alaine Rattigan. “If I nailed my head to the floor I wouldn’t be any more surprised.”

Rattigan lives across the street from Hanna and said she was surprised to learn of the charges.

“There’s all kinds of people that are respectable and above the law, and just would never do anything so egregious against anybody,” Rattigan said. “Low and behold, they’re on the news the next night.”

According to the affidavit, Hanna said he gave the woman $20 in her jail account because he has a big heart and wanted to make sure she could call her brother.

He was originally taken to the Logan County jail in Sterling, which houses some inmates arrested by Hanna’s department, but later moved to Weld County.

Hanna was elected to sheriff while serving as deputy sheriff in the fall of 2014. He took office in January 2015. Although Hanna is still the elected sheriff, the Sedgwick County coroner will fill in as the acting sheriff in the meantime.

Bond for Hanna was set at $250,000 on Wednesday. If he meets his bond, he has been ordered to wear a GPS device.

The judge also ordered Hanna to stay at least 100 yards from the Sedgwick County Courthouse, he is not allowed to have any contact with the victim or witnesses, he is not allowed to have contact with anyone under the age of 18– including his two foster children.

His next court date is Sept. 16.

By Kelly Werthmann

DENVER (CBS4) – A new coffee shop could soon be opening its doors in Denver that will also open doors to new opportunities for women in need.

It all began when Kristen Lanning moved to India, a trip that forever changed her life.

“While I was living there I was working for a NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) that specifically rescues minors who are coming out of the sex trade,” Lanning told CBS4.

Kristen Lanning (credit: CBS)

Her journey quickly turned into a mission to change the lives of others.

“One of the things that I saw there was that these women just needed a good job,” she said, “If you can get these women into a good job then they’re probably not going to be targeted for trafficking.”

(credit: Kristen Lanning)

That’s how Kristen got the idea to start a coffee shop, which would employ vulnerable women while also energizing their future. It’s a concept she and her husband, Mark, are now bringing to Denver with 8th Day Coffee.

“The 8th Day really symbolizes the idea of a new life,” Kristen said.

The couple hopes to bring new life to the old Rooster & Moon coffee shop on Bannock Street that closed its doors for good last summer.

(credit: Kristen Lanning)

Food items would be made in house with locally-sourced coffee from Kaladi Coffee Roasters. Then, by 2018, 8th Day Coffee would begin hiring at-risk women.

“For our first year in business, because we are a business and a nonprofit, we’re going to employ seasoned baristas to really get our customer base, programs and other things down,” Mark told CBS4’s Kelly Werthmann. “So summer of 2018 is when we’d start our first cohort of women that we would hire. Our first year fellows would just focus on learning the craft and then the second year fellows would focus on shift lead, management skills, getting their certifications, all the things other employers would love to see them have.”

CBS4’s Kelly Werthmann interviews Kristen and Mark Lanning (credit: CBS)

Some of the first women hired could be the teenage mothers Mark works with at a local school.

“We’ve seen that they have really supportive services there, but then once they graduate, they sometimes tend to struggle without the wraparound services,” he said. “So we want to provide a bridge for the moms that graduate, or women that graduate programs from shelters, and have a trauma-informed business that really knows about their situations and can really cater to them to build a bridge to the workforce out there.”

Lease negotiations are still in the works, but Mark and Kristen are confident they’ll be making coffee and changing the lives of many very soon.

Kristen and Mark Lanning (credit: CBS)

“To be able to give them a place in a community where they can thrive and be supported is so important,” Kristen said.

8th Day Coffee is holding a fundraising event on Jan. 28 at their potential location, 955 Bannock Street. For tickets, visit coffeeforfreedom.eventbrite.com.

Kelly Werthmann joined the CBS4 team in 2012 as the morning reporter, covering national stories like the Aurora Theater Shooting and devastating Colorado wildfires. She now anchors CBS4 Weekend Morning News and reports during the week. Connect with her on Facebook or Twitter @KellyCBS4.

By Jennifer Brice

With people moving into Colorado and conventions making a home in Denver, we are seeing the hospitality industry boom. With that comes another industry: the sex trade. It often finds a home within all types of hotels. CBS4’s Jennifer Brice sat down with a former madam who now works to educate hospitality staff about what to spot.

DENVER (CBS4) – You may not know Pasha Ripley, but you might remember the scandal she was part of back in early the 2000s. Ripley, a former Boulder-based madam, testified to a grand jury about providing prostitutes for University of Colorado Buffaloes football recruits during that timeframe.

(credit: CBS)

“I thought it was going to be discreet,” said Ripley. “I didn’t realize what a big deal this would turn into.”

The scandal rocked the community, bringing changes to the university and its football program.

Pasha Ripley, left, in the early 2000s (file photo credit: CBS)

“The grand jury, of course, had questions about CU and the business relationship we had there,” she said.

Ripley worked in the sex trade for about 15 years. At times, she worked as an escort and ran her own service.

“I kept the business very small, low key and few people working for me at any given time.”

Pasha Ripley (credit: CBS)

Ripley’s client list was exclusively men, off all professions.

“Construction workers up to police officers, magistrates, doctors, lawyers.”

Ripley says it is not usually the actual services that clients would pay for but rather the privacy.

“To walk away and not have to call, send flowers or enter into any relationship,” she said.

(credit: CBS)

Ripley no longer works in the sex trade. She runs a nonprofit, Red Light Resources International, an anti-human trafficking organization that specifically works to educate hospitality staff about sex and labor trafficking.

LINK: rlri.org

She encourages hotel staff to not chastise but rather give them information when they see the sex trade going on inside their businesses.

(credit: CBS)

“Rather than yell at them and kick them out of the hotel,” she said. “Maybe you slide them a business card across the counter to my nonprofit.”

She says the sex trade is alive, everywhere, at every kind of hotel.

“I used to have a deal with a head housekeeper. He would give me a free room and in exchange I would use that room to visit clients.”

(credit: CBS)

Ripley says many hotels know the sex trade is there, some employees even profiting from it.

“Oftentimes the manager or owner will up the rack rate, so they’ll up the rate of the room so they make more money.”

Ripley trains hospitality staff to spot the signs of trafficking:

– Rooms paid for in cash, one day at a time

– New “guests” coming and going from the room, especially men

– Continuous refusal of housekeeping and the “Do Not Disturb” sign up for days

Ripley believes as more people move and visit Denver, even hold conventions here, it will only grow the oldest profession around.

“It’s never going away, so what can we do, (what) steps can we take to make it safe for everyone involved?” she said.

Jennifer Brice is a reporter with CBS4 focusing on crime and courts. Follow her on Facebook or on Twitter @CBS4Jenn.

By Rick Sallinger

AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) – A body camera turned the tables on an Aurora code enforcement officer who was forced to resign from his job after the camera on him recorded him soliciting prostitutes.

Paul Thorne had been wearing the camera as part of a test the city was conducting for use in the field on calls similar to what police officers handle.

The video recordings are randomly checked by supervisors. But what was discovered on a tape from Dec. 18, 2016 looked more like breaking the law rather than enforcing the municipal codes for such things as zoning, building and plumbing violations.

According to an Aurora Police Department offense and summons document, Thorne “spoke to and arranged to meet with two separate unidentified female parties for the explicit purpose of having sex in exchange for a ‘donation.'”

The court document claims Thorne, on the tape, told the women he called that he located their contact information on the website Back Page.

When Thorne was contacted by police in January they say that he wished to take full responsibility for his actions. He resigned from his job with the City of Aurora in lieu of termination.

When reached by CBS4 investigator Rick Sallinger, Thorne told him, “Life happens and you don’t need anyone else to amplify your mistakes.”

CBS4 requested a copy of the body cam video through the Colorado Open Records Act, but the City of Aurora Municipal Records Supervisor Lisa Horton denied it, claiming in a letter it would not release it, “because the Aurora Police Department is balancing the privacy interests of individuals impacted by disclosure and the public purpose served by allowing the disclosure of the video.”

Thorne pleaded guilty to charges of soliciting a prostitute and was placed on six months probation. The case was prosecuted by the Arapahoe County District Attorney’s office.

CBS4’s Rick Sallinger is a Peabody award winning reporter who has been with the station more than two decades doing hard news and investigative reporting. Follow him on Twitter @ricksallinger.