Twin Falls, located in southern Idaho, has approximately 50,000 residents. It’s a small city but is the largest one in Twin Falls County, where it’s also the county seat. Its location along Route 84, a major interstate highway, has been identified by police as a contributing factor in local prostitution and sex trafficking activity. Local law enforcement has reported that much of the city’s commercial sex market is moving online and involves women and girls from other areas. The Idaho Anti-Trafficking Coalition and the Magic Valley A-Team were formed to address such problems, and in 2018 the Federal Department of Health and Human Services commissioned a training session on human trafficking in Twin Falls.

In efforts to reduce demand for commercial sex in the area, police have conducted reverse sting operations and engaged in opportunistic sex buyer arrests. For example, in 2012, the Twin Falls Police Department (TFPD) conducted a handful of anti-prostitution investigations that resulted in the arrests of several sex buyers. These investigations were in response to complaints and tips from local residents and businesses about suspected prostitution activity. In May 2012, TFPD officers conducted a street-level reverse sting at a local park using a female undercover officer as a decoy. Two male sex buyers were arrested as a result. In June 2012, TFPD officers arrested two sex buyers after receiving complaints about suspected prostitution activity at Twin Falls hotels; several prostituted women were also arrested. Following each of the investigations, the sex buyers’ identities were released to the public.