The Colony is a city of approximately 45,000 residents, located in the northern suburbs of Dallas near Denton in Denton County, Texas. Prostitution activity has been well-documented in the city and surrounding communities, and in other areas of the county.

Consumer level demand provides the revenue stream for all prostitution and sex trafficking, and has therefore been targeted by local law enforcement agencies as a strategy for prevention and response. For example, The Colony Police Department and the Denton County Sheriff’s Office conducted a web-based sting in July 2014. According to media reports, TCPD officers “provided undercover officers and perimeter surveillance to a [local] hotel,” while DSCO deputies arrested “roughly a dozen” prostituted women and 14 male sex buyers. Although the details of the sting were not publicized, one officer noted that “most of the trafficking isn’t on the street corner but [on] cyber streets… we could click on an ad and the phones would be blowing up within minutes.” During the operation, authorities also identified and recovered two 17-year-old trafficked girls. In a statement to the public, the TCPD and DSCO reported they would not disclose the names and charges filed against the arrestees, as the investigation remains ongoing. They added that “the operation’s goal was to identify juveniles who had been trafficked in the sex industry and to reduce demand for prostitution services.”