Logan is a city in Cache County, UT, with a population of approximately 53,000 residents. The city is notorious for its strict laws and zero tolerance for prostitution and related offenses. For example, according to the city’s laws in 1877, prostitution or owning a house of “ill-fame” was punishable with up to a $100 fine and six months in jail. However, in recent years, prostitution and sex trafficking have been well-documented in the city and surrounding areas. For example, in 2008, local law enforcement conducted a series of operations focused on arresting prostituted women using massage services as a front for commercial sex.

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. Various demand reduction tactics have been deployed by local law enforcement, such as street-level and web-based reverse sting operations. For example, in December 2021, a 32-year-old Garland man was arrested for allegedly sending sexually explicit messages to an undercover police officer who was posing as a 13-year-old girl. The offender was booked into the Cache County Jail. A warrant had been issued for his arrest a month previously. According to the warrant affidavit, the offender messaged a Logan City Police Department officer through a Facebook profile the officer was using to pose as a 13-year-old Logan girl. During the conversation, the suspect allegedly asked the officer to travel to his apartment for $150. The suspect even provided the officer with his address in Garland. The warrant stated that when the officer asked if the money was for drugs, the man replied that it was for sex. He then asked for a photo of the girl and tried to video chat before sending a graphic picture of his genitals. The police officer identified the suspect from a recent jail booking photo from 2018 that appeared to resemble his Facebook profile picture. Prosecutors with the Cache County Attorney’s Office filed criminal charges against the offender in 1^st District Court, including one count of enticing a minor by internet or text, a second-degree felony; and sexual solicitation of a child and dealing in materials harmful to a minor, both third-degree felonies.

Police have also apprehended sex buyers and sex traffickers through citizen reports to law enforcement. For example, in September 2017, a Logan man attempting to report a crime to authorities was arrested after allegedly admitting to attempting to sexually exploit a 16-year-old boy in exchange for money. The offender called the Federal Bureau of Investigation, claiming he was the victim of a scam on Craigslist. According to court documents, in an interview, the offender admitted to officials that he was aware of the victim’s age and had attempted to solicit sex acts regardless. Still, the boy never met the offender at his residence. According to the offender, a person claiming to be the boy’s father met the offender at his residence in North Logan, UT, demanding money to cover the cost of repair to his son’s car, which he claimed his son crashed on the way to the offender’s home. The offender was arrested by Logan police and signed a consent waiver for a forensic download of his cell phone. According to court documents, text messages on the cell phone confirmed solicitation of sex acts and sexually explicit images. In addition, text messages demonstrate that the boy told the offender he was 15 years old and was about to be 16. The offender was arrested by Logan police and was transported to the Cache County Jail on the following charges:

• Two counts of entice, solicit, seduce or lure a minor by internet or text
• One count dealing in materials harmful to a minor – defendant 18 & older
• One count attempted exploitation of a minor

Employment loss is also a consequence of buying sex that occurred in the city. For example, in 2003, a former Cache County Republican Legislator was arrested during a reverse sting operation in Salt Lake City. Officers from the Salt Lake City Police Department cited and released the former legislator on the misdemeanor charge of soliciting prostitution. As a result of his arrest, the sex buyer immediately resigned from his position.