{"id":1317724,"date":"2020-01-16T17:15:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-17T00:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=992692"},"modified":"2020-01-16T17:15:00","modified_gmt":"2020-01-17T00:15:00","slug":"woman-sentenced-in-glenwood-hotel-sex-trafficking-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/woman-sentenced-in-glenwood-hotel-sex-trafficking-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman sentenced in Glenwood hotel sex trafficking case"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Judge’s gavel<\/strong>
Getty<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

A 26-year-old Denver woman was sentenced to probation Thursday, concluding the prosecution of three cases stemming from a sex trafficking scheme that operated in Glenwood Springs during the summer of 2017.<\/p>\n

Damara Hester was sentenced to three years probation with a number of stipulations, and will be required to register as a sex offender. That\u2019s a requirement for pleading guilty<\/a> to keeping a place of prostitution, a class 3 felony.<\/p>\n

The prostitution ring involved two minors who were sold for sex out of a Glenwood Springs hotel in July 2017 by Hester and codefendant Dasjuan Goode, who accepted a plea deal<\/a> in August and was sentenced to 10 years in prison<\/a> in October.<\/p>\n

Ron Braden of Edwards pleaded guilty<\/a> to misdemeanor solicitation of a prostitute and contributing to the delinquency of a minor purchasing sex with one of the victims, age 17 at the time, and sentenced to probation in December.<\/p>\n

The three guilty pleas mean that the victims in the case will not have to testify at trial.<\/p>\n

Public defender Elise Myer said Hester \u201cis a victim as much as she is an offender,\u201d and had experienced significant trauma from being part of the sex industry and coming from a family associated with gangs.<\/p>\n

Myer mentioned the recent Battlement to the Bells Anti-Human Trafficking summit in Rifle, where several speakers<\/a> said that addressing human trafficking will require reducing the demand for commercial sex.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Braden, who did purchase sex from a minor, did not plead to a sex offense,\u201d Myer said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my understanding that (Braden) will not have to do nearly the same type of work on himself\u201d that Hester will have to do, Myer told the judge.<\/p>\n

Assistant Attorney General Janet Drake said Hester showed a lack of remorse for her role in victimizing the two teenage girls.<\/p>\n

Drake said Hester has opportunities to change her life, but if she doesn\u2019t her son and unborn child could be at risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf she continues down this path, she will continue to be involved in the cycle of children being separated from parents,\u201d Drake said.<\/p>\n

As part of probation, Hester is required to avoid drugs and go to regular therapy.<\/p>\n

Her internet usage will also be monitored and Hester is not allowed to access other illicit websites like BackPage, which was apparently used in this case to advertise paid sex.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are very young, Ms. Hester. You can do this. You can get away from your past,\u201d Judge Denise Lynch said.<\/p>\n

Hester declined to make a statement at the sentencing hearing.<\/p>\n

Lynch advised Hester to study for a GED or vocational certification, and avoid drugs and gangs.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t let any pimps take advantage of you anymore,\u201d Lynch said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes ma\u2019am,\u201d Hester replied.<\/p>\n

tphippen@postindependent.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Judge’s gavelGetty A 26-year-old Denver woman was sentenced to probation Thursday, concluding the prosecution of three cases stemming from a sex trafficking scheme that operated in Glenwood Springs during the summer of 2017. Damara Hester was sentenced to three years probation with a number of stipulations, and will be required to register as a sex […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1317724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-06 05:17:33","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1317724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1317724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1317724\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1317724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1317724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1317724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}