NORTH TEXAS (WBAP/KLIF News ) – Authorities arrested 46 North Texas men in connection with a commercial sex trafficking sting that operated out of hotels in Southlake’s town square and near Stonebriar Centre in Frisco.
The Homeland Security Investigation’s Dallas office said the would-be “Johns” came from all walks of life including a high school teacher, youth pastor, volunteer firefighter and the director of operations for a large hospital network.
According to Supervisory Special Agent for HSI Dallas John Perez, undercover agents posted ads offering sex on several websites where “thousand of ads are posted every single day in the DFW area” and the accused arranged online to meet up at the hotels to pay for it.
The men face charges of solicitation of prostitution, up to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
The arrests were part of a joint operation among North Texas law enforcement including the Arlington, Colleyville, Dallas, Frisco, Irving, Midlothian Police Departments, Dallas and Collin Counties Sheriff’s Departments and the Tarrant County Human Trafficking Task Force.
The sting comes on the heels of the enactment of legislation from U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) and U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar’s (D-Minnesota) to reauthorize the Abolish Human Trafficking Act, which went into effect earlier this month.
The operation coincides with the Department of Homeland Security’s “Blue Campaign,” a national public awareness campaign that educates the public, law enforcement and industry partners on how to spot the signs of human trafficking and respond accordingly.
January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month.
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