Lakewood is a city of approximately , residents in the U. Prostitution and sex trafficking have been well-documented in the city, and produce numerous additional problems. Among the more serious issues associated with the local commercial sex market is child sex trafficking. For example, in May , a large-scale prostitution sweep in the Denver metro area confirmed the presence of child sex trafficking and exploitation networks in Lakewood.
In a separate incident, a traffic stop in February , uncovered a case involving three adults who sex trafficked a year-old girl in Lakewood. In addition, reports of targeted violence and homicide against prostituted persons has been documented.
For example, in the s, prostituted women were found murdered in the city, several of which are believed to be the victims of a prolific serial killer who specifically targeted prostituted persons in the greater Denver area.
In May , a man was sentenced to at least years in prison for kidnapping and brutally sexually assaulting multiple homeless women along Colfax Avenue, just west of Denver — including Lakeland.
A jury in Jefferson County found the man guilty on 12 criminal charges, including three counts of sexual assault, two counts of second-degree kidnapping, four counts of soliciting for prostitution, one count of attempted sex assault, one count of unlawful sexual contact, and one count of theft. To combat consumer-level demand for commercial sex, the Lakewood Police Department has been conducting street-level reverse stings since at least , if not earlier. At times, these street-level reversals have resulted in the culmination in the arrests of over 30 male sex buyers in a single operation.
