A man wanted in a strangulation case in Virginia was arrested this week in Utah. He has been charged with human trafficking for making a woman he was with do sex work in return for money, food, and hotel stays.
Washington County deputies began searching for Denzel Waddy, 33, on March 8 when they were informed by authorities in Wyoming that he might be in the area with a potential kidnapping victim. KSL reported.
“The information provided that a female was possibly abducted out of Virginia and the male that she was with was identified as Denzel Waddy,” a police booking affidavit said. “It was reported that Denzel also had a full extradition warrant for his arrest out of Virginia.”
Deputies saw Waddy’s vehicle at the Coronada Inn & Suites at around 10 p.m. Thursday. KUTV reported. They found Waddy and the endangered woman and arrested Waddy based on the Virginia warrant.
Investigators later found out that Waddy was making the woman have sex, telling her “she was going to need to work for it,” court documents say. The documents also say he physically attacked the woman, strangling her and burning her with a cigarette a few weeks earlier when they were in Las Vegas.
According to the Gephardt Daily, the woman told officers “that she was being forced to engage in sex work by Waddy, that he had been physically assaulting her, and that he had strangled her while they were in Las Vegas. She explained that Waddy would arrange for her to perform sex acts so they could get money, food, or rooms. She said that Waddy told her that he had found a room for them for the night but that she was going to need to work for it.”
The woman also showed the officers “pictures of marks on her neck, a cigarette burn on her chest, and a black eye from an incident that occurred in Las Vegas a few weeks prior. She explained that he did that to her when she expressed she didn’t want to keep having sex with other men because she felt Waddy would treat her differently. When I asked if she felt in danger, she stated that Waddy told her, ‘If I can’t have you, no one will.’”
She also showed the officer photos of her that “were used in sex work advertisements.”
Waddy has now been charged with aggravated human trafficking and human trafficking for sexual exploitation, KUTV said. He is being held without bond, the Daily reported.
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