Man charged with trafficking woman in Las Vegas and Salt Lake City taken into custody
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The man accused of human trafficking and forcing a woman to work as a prostitute in Salt Lake City and along the Las Vegas Strip was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on Thursday, Oct. 19, two months after a warrant was issued for his arrest.
A Salt Lake County judge in the 3rd District Court issued a warrant for the arrest of Delquan Maurice Danford, 32, on Aug. 10 after a woman from Las Vegas spoke out against him. Danford was charged with one count of aggravated human trafficking, a first-degree felony, and ordered to be held without bail.
The woman, who is from Las Vegas and has not been identified, said she was forced to go into prostitution by Danford both at the strip and in Salt Lake City.
“He beat me up on a regular basis…pulled out guns on me. Did anything violent that you can think of,” she told 8 News Now. When the woman tried to leave, Danford would violently retaliate, she said.
“Danford sent her to Utah on a one-way ticket,” claim Utah prosecutors in court documents. “She never knew how long she would be here.”
According to court documents, Danford allegedly sent the woman to Utah, saying he heard it was “good for business.”
On one occasion, she reported Danford “threw her across” a hotel room and punched her repeatedly until she lost consciousness. Police said they obtained medical records in Las Vegas that verified her story.
While she was “working” in Utah, Danford allegedly had her children with him in Las Vegas. Danford would call the woman and, while on speaker phone, would tell her children they’ll never see their mom again.
According to the court documents, the woman was in Utah from December 2014 until May 2015, where they allege she had a “quota” to make at least $800 a day. An investigation reportedly revealed the woman had sent Danford 19 transactions totaling nearly $13,000. She reported to 8 News Now, she gave him much more than that.
Details of Danford’s arrest have not been made publically available. An initial appearance has not yet been scheduled as of the morning of Friday, Oct. 20.
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