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ST. GEORGE — A Virginia man arrested a week ago in southern Utah for investigation of misdemeanor drug charges is now facing more serious charges involving human trafficking.
Denzel Jerome Waddy, 33, of Kents Store, Virgina, was charged Friday in Utah's 5th District Court with aggravated human trafficking, a first-degree felony, and aggravated exploitation of prostitution, a second-degree felony.
On March 8, emergency dispatchers in St. George received information from dispatchers in Wyoming to be on the lookout for a possible kidnapping victim.
"The information provided that a female was possibly abducted out of Virginia and the male that she was with was identified as Denzel Waddy," according to a police booking affidavit. "It was reported that Denzel also had a full extradition warrant for his arrest out of Virginia."
Waddy was wanted in Virginia for failing to appear in court on a charges of "strangulation, assault and battery, and abduction by force," according to court records.
Police "pinged" Waddy's phone, which they said showed up in the area of Utah Tech University in St. George. But officers were unable to locate Waddy at that time.
That evening, however, his vehicle was spotted at a hotel on St. George Boulevard. Officers determined what room Waddy was staying in, and found both him and a woman inside, the affidavit states.
Waddy was arrested on his outstanding warrant, as well as for investigation of marijuana possession and possession of drug paraphernalia. At the time of his arrest, police noted "the investigation is still ongoing about the possible abduction/human trafficking."
Detectives interviewed the woman who had been with Waddy and she told them "she was being forced to engage in sex work by Waddy, that he had been physically assaulting her and that he had (choked) 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," according to an updated court document.
The woman showed police "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," a police affidavit states. She explained to investigators that "he did that to her when she expressed she didn't want to keep having sex with other men."
