Court appearances for ex-chef and girlfriend accused of raping teen girl, recording it

HOUSTON – A former chef and his girlfriend appeared before a judge Thursday morning on several charges, including child sex trafficking, after she recorded him sexually assaulting a teen, authorities said.

Judd Denley, 37, had sex with a 15-year-old girl and Isabel Robinson, who was having an affair with him, recorded the incident on video in order to try and blackmail him, according to court documents.

They are facing several charges, including possession with intent to promote child pornography, compelling prostitution of a minor, trafficking of a child, inducing sexual performance by a child and aggravated sexual assault.

Both Denley and Robinson, 41, appeared separately in court. The judge ordered their bonds to remain at $150,000 each.

VIDEO: Couple charged with sexually assaulting teen girl

The judge ordered the pair to have no contact with the victim.

Court documents said the girl asked Robinson to borrow money, but she didn't have any. Robinson then told the girl that if she had sex with Denley, he would pay her $200, court papers said.

Sometime later, when the girl's father left town, Robinson planned to bring Denley to the girl's father's apartment after school, according to court records.

Court documents said Robinson gave the girl Mad Dog 20/20 and marijuana, and the girl got "really drunk and high" before she was to meet with Denley. The girl told investigators that by the time Denley arrived, she could barely walk and threw up on herself, court documents said.

VIDEO: Denley appears in court

The girl reported that Denley took off her clothes and gave her something to drink that made her feel paralyzed, according to court documents.

Denley entered a room where the girl was laying and asked if she was ready, court documents said. Court records said the girl told Denley she was not ready, but he had sex with her several times while Robinson stood in a corner recording the assaults. After the third encounter, the girl had to crawl to the bathroom to get away, court documents said.

The next morning, Robinson gave the girl $150 and kept the rest for the alcohol and marijuana, according to court records.

The following Monday, after missing a week of school, the girl told someone at her high school what happened, took Robinson's phone and turned it in to the Galveston County Sheriff's office, court documents said.

After obtaining a search warrant for Robinson's phone, investigators found text messages between Robinson and Denley discussing the meeting and referring to the girl as Denley's "special treat." Investigators also found two videos of the sex assaults, according to court documents.

In an interview with investigators, Robinson said she and Denley had been having an affair for four years and had been involved together with multiple partners before Denley approached her about having sex with the 15-year-old girl, court documents said.

Robinson told investigators that Denley started threatening to tell her husband about the affairs and Robinson threatened to use the videos with the teen to blackmail Denley if he tried to end their affair, according to court documents.

The prosecutor in the case encouraged other victims to report abuse, like the 15-year-old girl did.

"Go to a trusted adult. It could be anybody. It could be a relative. It could be a teacher. It could be a camp counselor this summer. Reach out, tell your story and let someone know what's happening to you and we encourage children to do that, as well as adult victims, to just reach out and tell someone, and that adult should report it to police immediately,” prosecutor Johna Stallings said.

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