Independence is a city with a population of approximately 122,000, located in western Missouri’s Jackson County, near Kansas City. Internet-based prostitution has been identified as a substantial problem in the city. In addition, cases of child sex trafficking has been documented in the area; for example, in mid-2012, press outlets reported that law enforcement agencies had recovered a 17-year-old girl in Prairie Village, Kansas, after she had been trafficked from Independence by two local residents.

In their efforts to combat such crimes and related problems, the Independence Police Department has conducted sting operations, using public complaints about prostitution from residents which often inform where and when they conduct them.  Police also routinely scan popular websites that advertise “erotic services.”  When they see an increase in the number of ads for Independence, they conclude that it’s time for another reverse sting or sting. For example, in a September 2009 web-based sting/reverse sting operation, the Independence Police Department arrested 27 individuals on prostitution-related offenses. Among the arrestees were 14 prostituted women, one of whom was six months pregnant. Another prostituted woman, who was five months pregnant, asked her customer for alcohol and marijuana. A third woman recovered during the operation was described by law enforcement as a trafficking victim. According to media reports, the woman reportedly had no possessions except for a cell phone so she could use to check in with the man controlling (i.e., trafficking) her.  The man demanded she make a certain amount of money per day, and all of her income was turned over to him.  Police learned she had been working out of a location in Independence for several days prior to when the undercover detective made contact with her.

Thirteen male sex buyers were also arrested during the 2009 investigation, after they solicited sex from a female undercover officer. Law enforcement reported it had conducted similar stings prior, but never had arrested that many people. In 2005, for example, IPD officers conducted a joint investigation with the Blue Springs Police Department that resulted in the arrests of 12 prostituted women and sex buyers after targeting “want ads in alternative newspapers and on the internet.”

IPD officers have also participated in the staging of stings that target adults who solicit commercial sex acts from children online. At least one such operation, conducted in January 2009, was staged in Independence. Officers worked in concert with the Kansas City Police Department, FBI, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to conduct the sting. Seven male sex buyers were arrested as a result; at least one was given “10 years in federal prison without parole and a $5,000 [fine].”

In May, 2022, 32 people were arrested in a massive child exploitation operation conducted across Missouri and Kansas. Authorities with the Department of Homeland Security said 15 of those arrests came from a sting conducted in Independence, Kansas City, Jackson, Platte, and Clay Counties in Missouri, and Bourbon County in Kansas. Multiple law enforcement agencies in the Wichita area teamed up for Operation Blue Ghost, which netted 17 arrests for crimes including aggravated human trafficking, promoting the sale of sex, and purchasing sex acts. Authorities in the Kansas City area collaborated to arrest an additional 15 individuals. According to a release from the Midwest division of the DHS, partners in and around Independence, Kansas City, Clay County, and Platte County in Missouri, and in Bourbon County, Kansas targeted adults willing to travel for the purpose of sexually exploiting a child. Of the 15 arrested in the Kansas City-area sting, authorities said crimes included intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, enticement of a minor, sex trafficking of a child, furnishing pornography to minors, sexual exploitation of a minor, promoting prostitution, aggravated human trafficking, sex trafficking, felony assault on a law enforcement officer, attempted statutory sodomy, and attempted second-degree statutory rape.

Some sex buyer arrests are the result of investigating allegations of offenses against real victims, rather than stings using police decoys.  For example, in June, 2021, a 51-year-old man was arrested and accused of soliciting sex with – and furnishing pornographic materials to – a minor. Jackson County Prosecutors charged the man with patronizing prostitution with a minor, which is a felony, and five misdemeanor counts of furnishing pornographic materials to a minor. According to court records, two teens in Independence were approached by the man at a fast-food restaurant, where he initially offered them jobs at his company. Later, the man allegedly told one of the teens he was willing to pay $500 for nude pictures, according to court documents. The two juveniles said they made the man aware of their age.  Investigators said that a police detective later contacted the man, making him believe he was one of the teens. They discussed the possibility of sending him images or videos of sex acts for money.  The suspect then sent pornographic videos to the police detective and he later asked to engage in sex acts, believing it was the juvenile.