Vegas Undercover

This woman looks like a prostitute, and is acting like one.

But she’s really an undercover detective with a specialized squad called the Pimp Investigative Team—PIT for short.

Her story? She's a new arrival in Las Vegas and is trying prostitution for the first time.

Chris Hansen: How do you prepare— mentally for your role?

Undercover Detective: I have a story that I usually stick to. I usually stick to that same story all night long. And I go over that in my mind multiple times.

Her supervisor, Lt. Karen Hughes runs the vice unit.

Lt. Karen Hughes: She's gonna be out there, and her target audience, so to speak, is gonna be a pimp.

Chris Hansen: A pimp.

Lt. Karen Hughes: Somebody that's gonna be out there recruiting for new girls into his stable.

Tonight, we watch as the operation begins off the strip at a known hooker hangout.

Undercover Detective: What—you wanna date or what?

And within minutes, she is propositioned by customers—again and again.

More than a dozen times within 30 minutes. But the real target—the pimps—are nowhere to be seen.

Hansen: I mean she seems to know pretty quickly whether or not she's dealing with a pimp or a john.

So just after midnight they move to a different location...right on the Vegas strip...

Almost immediately, she's approached by this man while we watch from just a few feet away.

Christopher (on hidden camera): I mean, I got a—I know a few services out here where that I can introduce you to.

The undercover police officer was literally on this street less than four minutes before she was approached and as you can see, the conversation is continuing. If she didn’t think he was a pimp she would have walked away by now.

Christopher: It's just all about negotiation...

The suspected pimp suggests one of his favorite ways to advertise her services.

Christopher: I don't know if you ever worked with Craig's List?

Undercover Detective: No.

Christopher: Craig's List is pretty open. It has—you know, you can do pretty much anything on Craig's List. 

He never openly admits he's a pimp. But listen to what he does say.

Christopher: You need somebody that's gonna give you guidance, somebody you rely on, somebody you can call when the chips are down, somebody you can call when the chips are up. You know, somebody that's gonna be there for you and—and keep you motivated, keep you focused. You know what I'm saying? Because it's not easy out here, you know, I mean for anybody, especially in the business 'cause it gets scary sometimes. 

Christopher: You really have to have somebody that's gonna really...

Undercover detective: Somebody to give me guidance?

Christopher: To give you guidance, to give you guidance.

In Las Vegas, encouraging or promoting prostitution is a felony called pandering.

And the officers believe there's no mistaking what he has in mind.

Man:...If you need me to help you, then I'm at your service. Okay, so I mean, you gotta make your next move be your best move. And I mean, if you need me there for you, then you gotta invest in me. You know what I'm saying? What I mean by invest in me—I'm saying, I mean, I can't do things for free.

The undercover police officer pretends she's interested and tells the suspect that she's got an appointment to turn a trick....and will call him when she's done.

Undercover Detective: Can I get your number?

Christopher: You can get my number, but you're gonna have to pay me for it.

Undercover Detective: I have to what?

Christopher: You're gonna have to pay me for it.

Undercover Detective: Can I pay you after I see this guy?... he's gonna call me anytime. 

An hour later, the suspected pimp is back to collect his money.

Christopher: I mean I wanna say—I mean you're fortunate to meet a guy like me 'cause a lot of guys will try to take you.

They walk into a casino.

That's when the undercover officer hands him the cash she says is from the trick she just turned...and police move in.

He agrees to talk to me before he heads off to jail.

Hansen: Hey Christopher, Chris Hansen with Dateline, NBC, how you doing?  Can you tell me what happened tonight?

Christopher: Started hanging out, man.

The suspect insists he never approached her, it was the other way around.

Chris Hansen: Who made the first contact?

Christopher: She made eye contact with me.

Chris Hansen: She made eye contact.

Christopher: I said, "Hey," she said, "Hey."... She's a good lookin' woman, I'm a good lookin' dude. That's what I felt like attracted her to me.

But the real question—was it all about prostitution?

Chris Hansen: Did you tell her that you could be her pimp?

Christopher: I never have... I've never been a pimp in my life. I'm not a pimp.

Chris Hansen: But you see how this looks.

Christopher: I see how it—it looks, but what it looks is not what it really is, you know? I understand that this was a sting operation. I understand that I feel like I've been victimized, I understand that I'm going to jail right now.

Chris Hansen: But you didn't have to take her money, you didn't have to promise her certain things that a pimp would promise—

Christopher: There's a recession. The economy's bad, I can't even find a job nowhere. My intentions wasn't to come out here and do this, my intentions were get a couple drinks and go back home.

Chris Hansen: What woulda happened had she not been—

Christopher: I woulda walked to Seven Eleven, put time on my phone went home, and been watching Dateline NBC tomorrow with somebody else on the news.

Christopher has pleaded not guilty to a charge of pandering.

As you can see, the idea that prostitution is tolerated in Vegas is a myth.

Chris Hansen: There's this image that some people have of prostitution in Las Vegas being this glamorous high class world of call girls.

Lt. Karen Hughes: That's a fallacy. It is violent, it's vile, it's degrading.

This woman says she was caught up in that violent world...a victim she says of a pimp who lured her to Las Vegas for prostitution.

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