Denver Deputy Facing Felony Charges

GILPIN COUNTY,Colo. (CBS4) – A Denver deputy is facing charges after allegations surfaced that he sent sexual messages to young teens.

The deputy, 52-year-old Paul Della Rosa, is a 14 year veteran of the Denver sheriff's department who works at the Denver Downtown Detention Center processing laundry.

He is not facing charges for the alleged graphic messages but he is for is for allegedly giving alcohol to three 14-year-old girls while they stayed with him at the Ameristar Casino in Black Hawk last July. Court documents say that one girl drank so much that she threw up during the stay.

Della Rosa is being held at the Gilpin County Jail.

The arrest affidavit details conversations Della Rosa had with the girls through text messages and with his Facebook account. Detectives described the topics as dealing with lewd language, sex, alcohol and dating.

In one message Della Rosa told one of the girls, "You little vixen I knew I liked you for a reason."

"There's obviously an attempt to build a relationship. At one point he refers to his aspirations to be known as a 'cool dad,'" said District Attorney Pete Weir.

Weir said that one of the girls had a vigilant parent who called police.

"The mother of one of the children was actually reviewing her daughter's Facebook page and saw some very disturbing communication between her daughter and Mr. Della Rosa," said Weir.

That same mother reached out to Della Rosa through Facebook saying, "I think it's disturbing that you're even talking to her friend online at all but especially about these things. You of all people as a police officer should understand why it would be questionable."

Della Rosa's wife did not want to comment on the case.

The Denver County Sheriff's Office said that Della Rosa is not on any kind of administrative leave because the charges do not deal with his work at the downtown jail.