Twentynine Palms is a city of about 27,000 residents in San Bernardino County, California, about 30 miles northeast of Palm Springs. Prostitution and sex trafficking activity have been well-documented in the city and surrounding communities, and in unincorporated areas of San Bernardino County. This activity and the problems and ancillary crimes it generates results in complaints to law enforcement agencies from residents and businesses. Among the more serious crimes associated with the local commercial sex market is sex trafficking. For example, in June 2015, a female juvenile had been abandoned in the desert in Twentynine Palms. Police were called, and the initial investigation found that she showed signs of human trafficking victimization and was immediately placed in a safe location. Investigators interviewed the victim and identified key persons involved in a sexual exploitation trafficking ring in the Morongo Valley. Officials allege the suspects lured young women from areas as far as Ohio and Texas, promising romantic relationships. Once they arrived, the victims were conditioned and made to work as prostitutes.  During a four-month long investigation, several victims were identified, which led to the rescue of three adult victims of human trafficking. In September 2015, authorities served search warrants at six locations in Twentynine Palms and Palm Desert, including hotels, the residences of the suspects and a brothel.  In January 2017, additional conspirators turned themselves in to police to face charges of human trafficking of a minor.  Two residents of Twentynine Palms pleaded not guilty to charges of human trafficking and exploiting a minor during their arraignment hearing.

Among the efforts to combat prostitution and sex trafficking are initiatives designed to reduce demand for commercial sex. For example, in December 2018, the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Office arrested four men in an undercover prostitution operation. The men were arrested as a part of an in-call motel “John operation” conducted by deputies and the San Bernardino County Human Trafficking Task Force.  Part of the operation featured undercover officers posing as prostitutes through online advertisements and deployed at a local motel to target purchasers (Johns). The undercover officers were contacted and solicited for acts of prostitution at a 72000 Block of Hwy 62 in Twentynine Palms by several male suspects. Upon their arrival at the location, the suspects were taken into custody. All four suspects were transported and booked at the Morongo Basin Sheriff’s Station for violation of PC 647(b)(2)- (Sex Buyer) Solicitation for Prostitution.  The San Bernardino County Human Trafficking Task Force is staffed by investigators from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office, San Bernardino Police Department, Ontario Police Department, San Bernardino Unified School District Police, California State Parole, Office of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Some arrests of sex buyers in Twentynine Palms are the result of investigations of offenses against real victims, rather than proactive stings using police decoys.  For example, in December, 2025, a man was arrested on suspicion of soliciting sex from two minors and resisting arrest in Twentynine Palms. San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the area Twentynine Palms Highway and Encelia Avenue in Twentynine Palms where they contacted a 31 year old man, a transient of Twentynine Palms. Deputies say that he had approached teenagers and offered them beer in exchange for sexual acts. The teenagers left the area and called 911.  He was arrested for investigation into contacting a minor with sexual intent and resisting an executive officer. He was held at the West Valley Detention Center on $30,000 bail.

The identities of local sex buyers arrested in other communities have also been publicized.  For example, in February, 2021, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office announced 61 men had been arrested and charged with solicitation of prostitution during a nearly week-long enforcement operation that targeted online sexual exploitation. RCAHT task force members and allied Riverside County law enforcement partners held operations in the cities of Lake Elsinore, La Quinta, Murrieta, Riverside, Palm Desert and Temecula. The task force placed decoy advertisements on popular websites commonly used for the solicitation of prostitution. When prospective customers replied to the advertisement, an agreement for sex was made and time and location was set. When the customer showed up they were arrested. The identities of all the arrested sex buyers were publicly disclosed, and the list included Douglas Ayala, 43 of Twentynine Palms, CA.