Colby Messer back in Denver court facing 6 counts of sexual assault

A Victoria B.C. man facing six counts of sexual assault has made a second appearance in a Denver courtroom.

Colby James Messer was taken into custody March 4  in Las Vegas after U.S. Homeland Security alerted Denver police that he was crossing the border. Reports say he was traveling to Las Vegas to propose to his girlfriend.

The charges relate to alleged sexual assaults in a Denver hotel room last November involving a 27-year-old female . The Denver District Attorney's office has described the assaults as "brutal".

Three other Vancouver Island men are also considered suspects in the case, but the Denver district attorney's spokeswoman, Lynn Kimbrough, told CBC News it's too early to speculate whether they will be seeking extradition.

"The arrest affidavit in the Messer case makes reference to other individuals that had accompanied him here in Denver," said Kimbrough. "They are suspects in an ongoing investigation, but there is nothing formal in terms of an arrest or charges at this point."

$300,000 US cash bond, GPS monitoring

Messer, 30, is out on bail after posting a $300,000 US cash bond. He's also had to surrender his passport and is being monitored by GPS. 

Court documents state Messer and his friends met the victim who was out celebrating her birthday and they all headed to a bar.

The woman claims she remembers drinking with the group of men but does not remember going to their hotel room at the Grand Hyatt.

When she woke up she says she felt she had been sexually violated and went to hospital. She told police she did not consent.

"This is a sexual assault that not just involves multiple suspects but involves objects in a hotel room," said Kimbrough.

The hotel room telephone, television remote control and lamp base were allegedly used in the assault.

Video, Facebook and DNA

Denver Police used hotel surveillance footage, Facebook photos, and DNA testing to identify the suspects.

​Sources told CHEK News in Victoria that Messer and the three others all went to Alberni District Secondary School.

After high school he studied at the University of Victoria, working odd jobs.

His online resume states he worked as a logistics manager at the Coulson Group for several months, negotiating international firefighting contracts for the Martin Mars water bomber. But in a statement, the Coulson Group said he only worked for the company for 10 days as a labourer helping refuel the plane.

Another Victoria company, H2X Contracting, also confirmed Messer worked for them as a manual labourer, not as an operations manager as he claims in his resumé.

Messer is next scheduled to appear in Denver court for a preliminary hearing June 2.

With files from CHEK News