Bellevue police arrest suspected sex trafficker after months of investigation

BELLEVUE, Wash. – Bellevue police arrested a 31-year-old man last week for allegedly sex trafficking a 21-year-old woman in Bellevue’s Factoria neighborhood.

Police said they conducted a month-long investigation that began with a domestic violence call they received the week of April 8. Shortly after police received the initial domestic violence call, officers contacted the victim, who fled the apartment with the help of nearby construction workers and also identified “several warning signs of sex trafficking.”

The case was then assigned to the Bellevue Police Department (BPD) Human Trafficking Unit for further investigation. During this investigation, police learned that the 21-year-old woman was being exploited in Washington state and numerous other states, according to BPD.

The BPD said the case ended with a search warrant for 31-year-old Cedric A. Dorsey. Dorsey has been arrested several times in the past, but was also considered high risk and was probably armed. Because of this, BPD decided to conduct a SWAT operation in the 4100 block of 124th Ave SE around 6 a.m. on May 2nd.

Dorsey initially failed to comply with police, after which the BPD’s Crisis Response Team (CRT) began negotiating, according to officials. The CRT worked with Dorsey’s mother to establish communication with him and convince him to turn himself in.

Police said Dorsey left his apartment around 6:57 a.m. and turned himself in. Police said he was taken into custody on charges of human trafficking, promoting prostitution and illegal possession of a firearm, according to the BPD.

After the operation, Bellevue police searched Dorsey’s home and found approximately $12,000 in cash and three firearms. One of the firearms found by police was banned in Washington state and was also reported stolen in October 2022.

From the officers at the Bellevue Police Department who quickly recognized the warning signs associated with sex trafficking, to the work of the department’s Human Trafficking Unit, this joint effort was truly a textbook example of how to frame a person for committing a horrific sex crime against another person can be held accountable,” said Andrew Popochock, deputy chief of the Bellevue Police Department. “Sex trafficking is a crime and unfortunately occurs in communities like Bellevue. That’s why we urge the public to immediately contact law enforcement if they believe someone may be a victim of sex trafficking so we can hold these criminals accountable and save lives in the process.

According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, Washington has seen a 70% increase in human trafficking victims in six years. These included 192 cases of sex trafficking.