A Denver man was sentenced to 16 years in prison on Wednesday for trafficking a minor.

Gabriel Anthony Peterson, 28, was arrested in November 2024 and pleaded guilty in December to a charge of human trafficking of a minor, according to a news release from Denver District Attorney John Walsh. Peterson recruited a 15-year-old girl to perform sexual acts for money in the metro Denver area, according to the release.

The girl called 911 in July 2024, according to an arrest affidavit and the release, and told responding officers that she had been forced into prostitution by Peterson and others.

“Gabriel Peterson took advantage of a young girl in one of the most despicable ways imaginable, and all for his own financial gain,” Walsh said in the release. “This heavy sentence would not have been possible were it not for the incredible courage that the victim showed in coming forward, and it is my hope that this sentence provides her with a measure of comfort and a sense of justice.”

Walsh thanked the prosecutors, investigators and victim advocates of his office for their work on the case, as well as the Denver Police Department’s human trafficking unit, the FBI’s child exploitation and human trafficking task force.