Affidavit: Operation Broken Heart suspect forced himself on minor

One of the 23 people arrested by Colorado Springs police as part of a statewide child sex crime bust was in court for an arraignment Monday, and we’re learning more about his alleged predatory behavior against a local child.

Brandon Price was one of the 11 people whose mugshots were released by CSPD last week. They were all arrested during Operation Broken Heart. A total of 88 offenders were arrested, and 23 of them were arrested by Springs police.

Lt. Jim Sokolik with CSPD said, “The number of predators out there is quite astonishing, how they contact children and how they lure children is quite disturbing.”

Springs police said officers targeted suspects who produce, distribute, receive and possess child pornography, engage in online enticement of children for sexual purposes, engage in sex trafficking of children or travel across state lines and sexually abuse a child.

“Here in Colorado during our portion of the operation, we made 88 arrests, 23 which were based here out of our group in Colorado Springs,” said Lt. Sokolik.

Price’s arraignment was rescheduled to August 26th at 8:30 am. After his attorney asked for more time. Price will undergo a psych exam and more information still needs to be gathered.

However, an arrest affidavit for his arrest was released to KRDO Monday, and it details why he faces charges of sexual assault against a child.

Court documents say that Price contacted a minor on the app Snapchat. The child told police that Price used a picture of a young man and attempted to entice the minor for sex. The affidavit says the conversation with Price turned “sexual” within 10 messages.

Price allegedly met with the minor and forced the child to perform sex acts on him. The victim also reported being physically hurt “horribly” by the sexual abuse.

The victim said he was surprised that Price looked a lot older than his picture, and he said he didn’t know what to do after the sexual assault happened. Price took the victim home, and the victim told a friend who reported the incident to authorities.

Police interviewed the victim and got access to the victim’s Snapchat account in an effort to talk to Price. After several messages, an undercover officer convinced Price to meet up in person, and officers noted that his car matched the description of the car given by the victim.

Price was identified by his Virginia ID and military ID. We’ve reached out to local military installations to see where Price is stationed.

Last Friday, police released the mugshots of 11 of the 23 arrested. ( GALLERY ) However, not all of the mugshots have been released yet. CSPD said the other dozen suspects still have cases under investigation.

“12 or 13 that were not released there is still an ongoing investigation,” said Sokolik. “They have been arrested for a crime as part of this but there may be more information that was gathered apart [from] our arrest that would require further investigation.”