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DENVER – A Colorado man was sentenced last week to 448 years in prison for human trafficking-related offenses. If the sentence given by Judge Kandace Gerdes holds up on appeal, it would qualify as the longest such sentence ever, Law&Crime reported.
The defendant, Robert Earl Hawkins, 44, was convicted in March by a Denver jury on 18 charges, including three counts of human trafficking — sexual servitude of an adult, one count of human trafficking — sexual servitude of a minor, four counts of pimping of an adult, one count of pimping of a child, one count of sexually assaulting a child, and two counts of assault in the first degree, as well as various other charges.
Between 2018 and 2021, Hawkins exploited four adult women and two children in Denver, preying on the victims’ vulnerabilities, using physical violence and threats to keep the victims under his control, and profiting from the sale of their bodies. Hawkins also shot a sex buyer after he dropped off one of the victims, according to a news release by the Denver District Attorney’s Office.
One victim described Hawkins as her “master” and said the girls he controlled “had to serve” him by “doing things like making him meals and making money for him through commercial sex acts,” according to a search warrant affidavit filed in the case.
An adult victim came forward in December 2019 — prompting a nearly two-year-long investigation before Hawkins was finally arrested, Law&Crime reported.
“[T]he girls were required to make a minimum of $500 per day,” the affidavit noted. “They were also required to make a $5,000 quota to gain Hawkins’ trust. This quota was intended to help pay for a fake identification and birth certificate in order for the girls to travel to and perform sex work in California.”
“Like most human traffickers, Robert Hawkins showed no regard for anybody but himself, taking advantage of six extremely vulnerable victims. This sentence should send the message that human trafficking of any kind will not be allowed in any way in Denver, and that those convicted of the crime will pay a significant price for it,” said District Attorney Beth McCann in a June 6 news release. “I want to thank the prosecutors and investigators in my office’s Human Trafficking Unit, as well as the detectives with the Denver Police Department and the agents with FBI, whose collaboration on this case resulted in today’s sentence.”
“It’s through collaboration as a community that we achieve the greatest impacts in preventing and enforcing against human trafficking, and this outcome serves as a great example of that,” said Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas. “We take a trauma-informed and victim centered approach to human trafficking investigations, encourage victims to come forward to receive support and ask our neighbors to submit tips to police if they suspect or know of these reprehensible crimes occurring in our community.”
“It takes a determined and empathetic team to support a human trafficking case, and it could not have been done without the partnership of the investigators, victim specialists, prosecutors, and our victim service providers,” said FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Mark Michalek. “The FBI’s commitment to combatting the threat of human trafficking will not waver, and we will continue to send our message that these atrocities will not be tolerated.”
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Source: www.lawofficer.com