JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — In honor of National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office (JCSO) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are working together to bring awareness to the crime.
“Human trafficking is when a person — per federal law — when a person is subjected to commercial sex, labor, forced services by means of force, control or coercion. When it involves a minor, somebody under 18 years of age, those elements of force, coercion and control aren't actually necessary, it's automatic. It's automatically a crime when they're subjected to commercial sex,” explained FBI Supervisory Special Agent Carey Cooper with FBI Denver's Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force.
Cooper said human traffickers often operate in plain sight and the crime typically goes unreported.
“So for law enforcement and the community, it's really hard to just identify what human trafficking is and why it's there. So we need all hands on deck to help combat these crimes,” Cooper said. “We use our partners, whether it's law enforcement agencies, nongovernmental agencies like social services, probation, juvenile assessment centers, hospitals, schools, and our service partners that help provide restorative services to our youth to help identify at-risk youth and adults that have been pulled into a life of human trafficking and help combat these crimes proactively instead of just reactively.”
- Denver7 sat down with investigators and prosecutors to discuss the complexity and prevalence of human trafficking in Colorado. Hear from them in this story or in the video player below
Last year, the FBI worked with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office on a trafficking investigation that resulted in an arrest.
In June 2024, Roman Bear Rivera was sentenced to 12 years in the Department of Corrections for trafficking for sexual servitude.
“The defendant was very charismatic and came across very, very caring and concerned for the well-being of his victim,” explained a JCSO investigator who worked on the case.
The investigator, who specializes in human trafficking, asked to remain anonymous due to the nature of their work. They were able to help the victim in the Rivera case.
“She, over time, had lost a sense of self-worth and felt that he was the only one that would really care about her in life. And getting to watch that transition from our time together and her kind of finding that sense of hope again was really special,” the investigator said.
But the investigator said it takes time to get to that point.
“Unfortunately, I think every one of us is at risk for this type of abuse. Unfortunately, there are vulnerabilities that these people prey upon, like a dysfunctional household, kids that frequently run away, really anybody that's in a position where they don't have a lot of support, that abuser can become that person very quickly,” the investigator said. “I think the everyday person might not understand that the lifestyle that these victims are pushed into, they haven't always chosen. It's taken lots of time, manipulation, coercion, and before they know it, they're kind of in so deep that they don't always have the chance to leave.”
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As of July 2024, the FBI had 1,600 pending human trafficking investigations across the country, according to Cooper.
“We call it power, abuse and control,” Cooper said. “They're so entwined and manipulated in this process that they see their offender, actually, as somebody that they owe something to, somebody that they love, somebody that they're trying to please."
The JCSO investigator said breaking that emotional control doesn’t always happen and not every case ends with an arrest.
“There are a lot of times where it can be pretty emotionally draining, and it's just unfair and you wish that you could do more. I think the key is, with these cases, you can't give up, and you have to remind yourself that if you're not doing something about it, nothing's being done,” the investigator said.
If you believe you may have information about a trafficking situation you can call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888. If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call 911.
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