{"id":205685,"date":"2022-03-17T06:01:56","date_gmt":"2022-03-17T13:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=205685"},"modified":"2022-03-17T11:36:36","modified_gmt":"2022-03-17T18:36:36","slug":"trafficked-teen-helps-cops-arrest-alleged-las-vegas-casino-pimp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trafficked-teen-helps-cops-arrest-alleged-las-vegas-casino-pimp\/","title":{"rendered":"Trafficked Teen Helps Cops Arrest Alleged Las Vegas Casino Pimp"},"content":{"rendered":"

A teenage runaway who was trafficked into prostitution in Las Vegas has helped LVMPD entrap her alleged trafficker.<\/p>\n

\"Branden
Branden Amir Range, above, was arrested at Bally\u2019s after a meeting with an undercover officer posing as a prospective sex worker. (Image: LVMPD)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to an arrest report seen by 8NewsNow, police detained Branden Amir Range in a sting operation last Friday at Bally\u2019s Hotel & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip.<\/p>\n

He has been charged with sex-trafficking a child under 18, kidnapping a minor, promoting sexual performance of a minor 14-plus, and child abuse.<\/strong><\/p>\n

His alleged victim, whose name and age are redacted in the report, was reported missing by her family. Metro police received a tip that the girl was being advertised on a website commonly used by men to solicit prostitutes.<\/p>\n

An undercover officer contacted the girl via the website on the pretext of negotiating a sexual encounter, according to the report. Metro vice detectives assigned to the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force were able to win the teen\u2019s trust, and she told them Range was her pimp.<\/p>\n

Undercover Operation<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Investigators then set up a meeting with Range at Bally\u2019s. He thought he was meeting a girl who wanted to work for him. In fact, it was an undercover officer.<\/p>\n

During their meeting, Range bragged that he was carrying a gun and narcotics. He was arrested on the spot.<\/p>\n

\n

The girl told police she would usually communicate with Range by using TextNow, which can\u2019t be traced because messages sent through the app are not picked up by the mobile network provider. TextNow itself does not disclose information about the identity of the person using its services.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

But investigators were able to access some messages sent via Instagram in which Range discusses business and orders the girl to \u201chit trop [The Tropicana] for like 2 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Range was found to have an outstanding warrant in his home state of California. He is also prohibited from possessing a firearm because of multiple previous convictions in that state.<\/p>\n

In 2017, The Daily Breeze<\/em> reported that Range was arrested as the suspect in a string of residential break-ins in affluent Palos Verdes Estates, Los Angeles County.<\/p>\n

Casinos Attract Traffickers<\/strong><\/h2>\n

LVMPD has recently stepped up its fight<\/a> against sex trafficking, which is a problem in Las Vegas. The department says 400 children are picked off the streets from prostitution each year.<\/p>\n

\n

Anti-trafficking campaigner Annie Sovcik<\/a> told the World Game Protection Conference in Las Vegas last month that casinos were prime destinations for sex traffickers. That\u2019s because they attract customers who are willing to spend money and take risks, and because they are attached to hotel complexes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Sovcik urged casino operators to train staff to spot telltale signs of trafficking so casinos can become refuges for victims, rather than places where they are traded like cattle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A teenage runaway who was trafficked into prostitution in Las Vegas has helped LVMPD entrap her alleged trafficker. According to an arrest report seen by 8NewsNow, police detained Branden Amir Range in a sting operation last Friday at Bally\u2019s Hotel & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. He has been charged with sex-trafficking a child […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":205686,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81886],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTrafficked Teen Helps Cops Arrest Alleged Las Vegas Casino Pimp<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Branden Amir Range was arrested at Bally\u2019s Hotel & Casino After LVMPD make contact with missing teen, a victim of sex trafficking.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trafficked Teen Helps Cops Arrest Alleged Las Vegas Casino Pimp\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Branden Amir Range was arrested at Bally\u2019s Hotel & Casino After LVMPD make contact with missing teen, a victim of sex trafficking.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trafficked-teen-helps-cops-arrest-alleged-las-vegas-casino-pimp\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-03-17T13:01:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-03-17T18:36:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/range.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"956\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"530\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trafficked-teen-helps-cops-arrest-alleged-las-vegas-casino-pimp\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trafficked-teen-helps-cops-arrest-alleged-las-vegas-casino-pimp\/\",\"name\":\"Trafficked Teen Helps Cops Arrest Alleged Las Vegas Casino Pimp\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trafficked-teen-helps-cops-arrest-alleged-las-vegas-casino-pimp\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trafficked-teen-helps-cops-arrest-alleged-las-vegas-casino-pimp\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/range.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-03-17T13:01:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-03-17T18:36:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Branden Amir Range was arrested at Bally\u2019s Hotel & Casino After LVMPD make contact with missing teen, a victim of sex trafficking.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trafficked-teen-helps-cops-arrest-alleged-las-vegas-casino-pimp\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trafficked-teen-helps-cops-arrest-alleged-las-vegas-casino-pimp\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trafficked-teen-helps-cops-arrest-alleged-las-vegas-casino-pimp\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/range.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/range.jpg\",\"width\":956,\"height\":530,\"caption\":\"Branden Amir Range, above, was arrested at Bally\u2019s after a meeting with an undercover officer posing as a prospective sex worker. (Image: LVMPD)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trafficked-teen-helps-cops-arrest-alleged-las-vegas-casino-pimp\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Las Vegas\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Trafficked Teen Helps Cops Arrest Alleged Las Vegas Casino Pimp\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\",\"name\":\"Philip Conneller\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Philip Conneller\"},\"description\":\"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Trafficked Teen Helps Cops Arrest Alleged Las Vegas Casino Pimp","description":"Branden Amir Range was arrested at Bally\u2019s Hotel & Casino After LVMPD make contact with missing teen, a victim of sex trafficking.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Trafficked Teen Helps Cops Arrest Alleged Las Vegas Casino Pimp","og_description":"Branden Amir Range was arrested at Bally\u2019s Hotel & Casino After LVMPD make contact with missing teen, a victim of sex trafficking.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trafficked-teen-helps-cops-arrest-alleged-las-vegas-casino-pimp\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2022-03-17T13:01:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-03-17T18:36:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":956,"height":530,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/range.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Philip Conneller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@casinoorgphilc","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Philip Conneller","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trafficked-teen-helps-cops-arrest-alleged-las-vegas-casino-pimp\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trafficked-teen-helps-cops-arrest-alleged-las-vegas-casino-pimp\/","name":"Trafficked Teen Helps Cops Arrest Alleged Las Vegas Casino Pimp","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trafficked-teen-helps-cops-arrest-alleged-las-vegas-casino-pimp\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trafficked-teen-helps-cops-arrest-alleged-las-vegas-casino-pimp\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/range.jpg","datePublished":"2022-03-17T13:01:56+00:00","dateModified":"2022-03-17T18:36:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b"},"description":"Branden Amir Range was arrested at Bally\u2019s Hotel & Casino After LVMPD make contact with missing teen, a victim of sex trafficking.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trafficked-teen-helps-cops-arrest-alleged-las-vegas-casino-pimp\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trafficked-teen-helps-cops-arrest-alleged-las-vegas-casino-pimp\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trafficked-teen-helps-cops-arrest-alleged-las-vegas-casino-pimp\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/range.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/range.jpg","width":956,"height":530,"caption":"Branden Amir Range, above, was arrested at Bally\u2019s after a meeting with an undercover officer posing as a prospective sex worker. (Image: LVMPD)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/trafficked-teen-helps-cops-arrest-alleged-las-vegas-casino-pimp\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Las Vegas","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Trafficked Teen Helps Cops Arrest Alleged Las Vegas Casino Pimp"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b","name":"Philip Conneller","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","caption":"Philip Conneller"},"description":"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk","https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205685"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}