A man with alleged ties to the street gang the “Crips” is facing charges in connection with the pimping and trafficking of a 21-year-old woman with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Colorado Springs, court documents say.

Authorities arrested Tieson Craig, 48, on July 9 after a seven-month investigation revealed how he allegedly used Facebook to advertise women to sex buyers, according to his arrest affidavit. The woman, who reportedly almost died after contracting sexually-transmitted infections, told investigators she had been “pimped out” by Craig for six months and he would beat her if she didn’t bring him money.

The woman was addicted to crack to the point where she would let “whatever happen to her,” telling detectives that Craig sexually assaulted her several times and would hit her at least once a week.

Prosecutors say the human trafficking started soon after the woman met Craig in April 2024. Meeting with four to five sex buyers and receiving drugs afterward would become a “daily occurrence” at a “vape shop” in southeast Colorado Springs, the affidavit states. The woman told detectives anytime she’d tell Craig she didn’t want to do it, he’d hit her.

The Gazette isn’t naming the woman who filed the complaints because she is making allegations of sexual assault.

Detectives linked Craig to at least three profiles on Facebook, the affidavit says. A Facebook profile named “Tieson Craig” shows pictures of several woman in lingerie, and the 21-year-old is listed in the “friends” section under several of the accounts.

Another profile has a picture of a Crips hat and several pictures of Craig. Law enforcement databases confirmed his connection to the street gang, according to the affidavit.

Investigators tied pictures of women found on Craig’s Facebook accounts to several online prostitution websites that provide various services, including “GFE” (girlfriend experience).

After obtaining search warrants for Craig’s various Facebook accounts, investigators uncovered chat logs between Craig and a sex buyer, who was trying to purchase oral sex.

“I’ll take you to this white girl that I know is (down),” Craig said, to which the buyer replied: “I’m with it” and “What she look like?” A couple minutes later, investigators say a video call occurred and then hours later the buyer said he’s “here.”

“In my training and experience, this conversation resembles a sex buyer contacting a pimp or sex trafficker with knowledge that person would be able to set them up with someone to exchange sex for money,” the detective says in the affidavit.

Investigators also uncovered chat logs between Craig and several other women also believed to have been trafficked. In one conversation, a woman asks Craig for some “blues” (drugs) before her “call.” An exchange with another woman shows Craig sending 46 photos of the woman wearing different lingerie and posing in a “sexually provocative manner,” the affidavit says. Investigators found several of the photos on prostitution websites.

“Several of the photographs looked like they were taken from inside a hotel room and taken by someone else,” the detective says in the affidavit. “I know it is common for a human trafficker or pimp to be involved in taking photographs of the individual who is going to be advertised.”

In one conversation, Craig allegedly threatened the woman, saying he would “put the fear of God” in her and go “Crip Crazy” if she didn’t stay “loyal” and answer his phone calls.

The 21-year-old allegedly had similar conversations with Craig via Facebook Messenger and phone calls, the affidavit shows.

Craig’s criminal history includes domestic violence-related assaults, burglaries, kidnappings and sexual assaults dating to 2011, court records show. A majority of the charges were dismissed.

Public records indicate Craig has lived at multiple addresses in El Paso County since 1994.

In the affidavit, the detective notes an instance at a residence in December 2024 in which the caller, a woman, told police that a man, later identified as Craig, assaulted her.

Officers arrived at the home, which was registered to Craig’s father and matched a description that the 21-year-old gave to detectives after she said she had stayed there on several occasions while she was trafficked.

Officers spoke to the woman, who told them she used to date Craig in the past and that they were still “together,” the affidavit says. The woman alleged that Craig assaulted her because she wouldn’t give him oral sex, telling officers that Craig grabbed her throat and hit her with an open hand.

The detective connected the woman to several prostitution websites.

Detectives familiar with the case told The Gazette that traffickers use coercion as a way to get their victims to engage in commercial sex with the ultimate goal of using them for profit. This includes physical force, taking advantage of physical and mental disabilities, “love bombing,” grooming and controlling access to drugs.

Days after the 21-year-old got out of the hospital for various infections that almost killed her, investigators staged a phone call between Craig and her.

As a detective listened, the woman told Craig about her time at the hospital, telling him that she was “sick” from the infections, the affidavit says. During the phone call, Craig set her up with “clients.”

“Do not tell people what you got sick on,” Craig told her, later laughing after the woman agreed.

Craig is being held in the El Paso County jail on a $250,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in court Thursday for a preliminary hearing, which has already been delayed once.

He is facing charges related to sexual assault, human trafficking into sexual servitude and pimping.