A Las Vegas man who prosecutors say forced three women to engage in prostitution in San Diego was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in federal prison.
David Warren, 37, trafficked three victims by bringing them from Las Vegas to San Diego, then having them solicit sex customers at local beaches, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
One of those victims flagged down a San Diego lifeguard at Mission Beach last fall, sparking the investigation into Warren. Investigators located the other two women at a local hotel.
Warren’s plea agreement states one of the victims was homeless and that Warren gave her the choice of working as a prostitute or “being left back out on the street.”
Prosecutors said he utilized violence, threats and emotional abuse to force the women to continue engaging in sex work, and the plea agreement outlines incidents in which Warren beat the women or threatened to beat them.
On one occasion in which one of the victims refused to get out of a car, Warren threatened he would break the woman’s jaw and “tie her up for the whole weekend and feed her out of a dog bowl,” the plea agreement states.
San Diego U.S. Attorney Tara McGrath said in a statement, “Profiteers exploit victims of human trafficking anywhere they think they can take advantage, even on the beach in daylight. This brave woman saved herself and others by trusting a San Diego lifeguard who immediately jumped into action.”