TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - A man has been arrested on charges of battery and sexual battery after a woman who described herself as his girlfriend told police that he prostituted her.
Paul Edward Cooper, 30, was arrested Aug. 19, after a Tallahassee Police Department officer filed a probable cause complaint against him.
The complaint says additional charges for human trafficking are pending against Cooper.
The victim, according to the report, said that she met Cooper when he wanted to take her to Key West, Fla. for prostitution. She said she eventually agreed and went with Cooper to cities throughout Florida and Alabama.
She said she initially agreed to work with Cooper as a prostitute but stated that over their four-month relationship, he had become increasingly rough with her.
After they had been together for two months, she said, Cooper became physically aggressive toward her. She said he started keeping all the money she earned, providing her with cocaine, and held onto her identification card and passport.
The document says that as the abuse progressed, Cooper regularly beat the victim and sexually battered her.
During the interview, the victim said she wanted to stop prostituting for him but feared that if she said anything or resisted, he would beat or rape her.
On Aug. 17, the victim said she and Cooper were coming back from Orlando when he became upset with her, beating her.
She told police that he threatened to kill her when she desired to quit and he became concerned that she was in love with a client. The report says he also sexually assaulted her and beat her several times throughout that day.
Cooper left her with bruises on her arms, face, and legs after the incident, the officer wrote.
The probable cause document said that the victim was willing to give investigators more information pertaining to how Cooper trafficked her for commercial sexual activity.
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