Southlake, TX
Categories:
Tactics Used |
|
---|---|
Auto Seizure | ✓ |
Buyer Arrests | ✓ |
Cameras | ✓ |
Community Service | ✓ |
Employment Loss | ✓ |
Identity Disclosure | ✓ |
IT Based Tactics | ✓ |
John School | ✓ |
Letters | ✓ |
License Suspension | ✓ |
Neighborhood Action | ✓ |
Public Education | ✓ |
Reverse Stings | ✓ |
SOAP Orders | ✓ |
Web Stings | ✓ |
Southlake is a Texas city located predominantly in Tarrant County with minor areas extending into Denton County. It is a suburb of Dallas/Fort Worth, and has a population of approximately 31,000. Human trafficking and prostitution activity in the city, as well as the region, have been well documented for decades. Among the tactics used to address both prostitution and sex trafficking are those that target consumer level demand for commercial sex. For example, in January, 2021 dozens of men were arrested in a large-scale undercover prostitution sting in Southlake and Frisco. Roughly a dozen law enforcement agencies participated in the operation Jan. 12 and 13 at a hotel at Southlake Town Square and another hotel near Stonebriar Centre in Frisco. The men had arranged online to meet at the hotels intending to pay for sex. Officials did not immediately divulge names of those arrested. The men face charges of solicitation of prostitution, a felony in Texas punishable with up two years in prison and a $10,000 fine. An Agent who oversees the North Texas Trafficking Task Force, (part of Homeland Security Investigations) said:
“When you think of trafficking, you think of streets in Dallas or Fort Worth or strip clubs. But there’s a lot of demand in the suburbs.”
This was the second extensive commercial sex sting operation in North Texas suburbs within a few month. Police had arrested 23 people in September, 2022 at a short-term rental property in Plano.
Key Partners
- Homeland Security Investigations
- North Texas Trafficking Task Force
- Arlington Police Department
- Colleyville Police Department
- Dallas Police Department
- Flower Mound Police Department
- Frisco Police Department
- Irving Police Department
- Midlothian Police Department
- Collin County Sheriff’s Office
- Dallas County Sheriff’s Office
- Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office
- Dallas County District Attorney’s Office
Key Sources
Web-Based Reverse Stings:
- https://www.dallasnews.com/youth-pastor-high-school-teacher-among-those-arrested-in-sex-trafficking-bust/ (2023)
- https://www.resetera.com/threads/youth-pastor-hospital-director-and-a-high-school-football-coach-among-46-men-arrested-in-north-texas-sex-trafficking-cases (2023)
- https://www.cbsnews.com/dfw/news/prostitution-ring-bust/ (2023)
Sex Trafficking and Child Sexual Exploitation in the Area:
- “Dozens Rescued from Sex Ring, Feds Say”, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, May 18 2002.
- “3 Suspects in Prostitution Inquiry Will Be Charged as Juveniles”, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, May 22 2008.
- “Former Soldier Charged in Fort Worth Trafficking Case”, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, September 20 2012.
- “Human Trafficking on the Rise Across North Texas”, CBS/KTVT-TV 11, September 21 2012.
- “A Tarrant County Couple Pimped Out a 15-Year-Old Girl for Four Months, the Feds Say”, Dallas Observer, April 18 2013.
- “Tarrant County Men Get 15 Years for Forcing Women into Prostitution”, Dallas Morning News, June 5 2013.
- “Sex Trafficking Sentence in Fort Worth”, CBS/KEYE-TV 42, October 18 2013.
- “Texas Woman Sentenced for Forcing Girl into Prostitution”, CBS/KWTX-TV 10, October 18 2013.
- “Woman Gets Six Years in Prison for Forcing Teen into Prostitution in Fort Worth”, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, October 18 2013.
- “Man Sentenced after Trying to Force 15-Year-Old Girl into Prostitution”, CBS/KHOU-TV 11, November 13 2013.
- “Missouri Couple Charged with Luring Girls into Prostitution,” Lake Expo, August 27 2015.
- https://tylerpaper.com/tyler-prostitution-case-reveals-insight-into-modern-day-commercial-sex/ (2017)
- https://www.news-journal.com/tyler-man-arrested-on-child-sex-trafficking-charge (2018)
Background on Prostitution in the Area:
- David C. Humphrey, “Prostitution”, Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association.
- http://www.dallasobserver.com/prostitution-sting-nets-11-people-by-trolling-ads-on-backpagecom (2017)
- https://www.cbsnews.com/southlake-restaurant-linked-human-trafficking-operation-dallas-reopens/ (2019)
- https://fortworth.culturemap.com/news/restaurants-bars/10-31-19-dragon-house-massage-parlor/ (2019)
- https://www.fox4news.com/news/southlake-restaurant-suspected-in-human-trafficking-operation-loses-liquor-license (2019)
State | Texas |
Type | City |
Population | 31105 |
Location |
Comments are closed.