Santa Rosa, CA

Categories:

Tactics Used
Auto Seizure ✓
Buyer Arrests ✓
Cameras ✓
Community Service ✓
Employment Loss ✓
Identity Disclosure ✓
IT Based Tactics ✓
John School ✓
Letters ✓
License Suspension ✓
Neighborhood Action ✓
Public Education ✓
Reverse Stings ✓
SOAP Orders ✓
Web Stings ✓

Santa Rosa is located in Sonoma County, California, north of San Francisco, and has a population of roughly 177,000 residents. As in the neighboring cities of Rohnert Park and Novato, prostitution and sex trafficking have posed persistent and visible problems in the area for several decades and has generated ongoing complaints from local residents. The sex trade has also been associated with many other serious crimes including the targeted sexual assault and homicide of prostituted persons, and the commercial sexual exploitation of minors.

In their efforts to address these problems, local law enforcement have utilized tactics targeting the underlying demand for prostitution, since at least the 1980s. In 1986, Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested nine male sex buyers following a street-level reverse sting along Santa Rosa Avenue. Numerous similar reversals were launched throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with both SCSO officers and Santa Rosa Police Department officers leading the investigations. Additionally, at least two reverse stings have been conducted from within adult-oriented businesses in the community; in the mid-1990s, law enforcement officers apprehended multiple sex buyers after the offenders reportedly solicited undercover officers for commercial sex acts at local massage parlors.

Individuals charged with prostitution-related offenses– including prostituted persons– periodically have their names publicized in the press. In 2000, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported that three vehicles had been seized during a street-level reverse sting, though it is unclear if and when that auto seizure policy was discontinued.

In recent years, several high-profile cases of child sex trafficking have also been documented in Santa Rosa. In September 2012, for example, SRPD officers initiated a sting seeking to identify suspected sex traffickers and recover victims. Over the course of the operation, a 19-year-old Oakland resident was arrested and booked for pimping and pandering, human trafficking, willful cruelty to a minor, possession of a loaded firearm, and outstanding felony warrants. Detectives presented evidence that the man was acting as a sex trafficker/pimp in a suspected sex trafficking operation. After he drove two females to a Santa Rosa hotel where one engaged an undercover officer in solicitation for prostitution. During the investigation, detectives located a 17-year-old female victim inside the vehicle.

Male sex buyers arrested in the community have also been intercepted after attempting to purchase sex from what they believed were underage girls. For example, in February 2014, a reverse sting was conducted targeting adult buyers seeking sex with adult women.  During the operation, one of the men tried to negotiate for paid sexual abuse of a fictitious 13-year-old sister offered by the decoy officer.

John School

In 2014, the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office considered a court diversion program of a “john school” to provide an opportunity for first-time offenders to consider the industry they support when they seek out commercial sex. Features of the program considered included information about the vulnerability of typical commercial sex providers (e.g., likely to have been abused as children, sex trafficked as adolescents, and suffering from trauma) as well as the frequent involvement of pimps who exploit them for profit. The program aimed to roll out in 2014, though city and media reports have yet to confirm its “live.”

Key Partners

  • Santa Rosa Police Department
  • Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department
  • Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office

Key Sources

Sex Buyer Arrests, Identity Disclosure, Business-Based Reverse Stings:

  • “Massage Parlor Sting,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, December 1 1995.
  • “Deputies Arrest Two at SR Massage Parlor,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, March 8 1996.

Street-Level Reverse Stings, Identity Disclosure:

  • “Santa Rosa Arrest 9 in Prostitution Sting,” San Francisco Chronicle, July 12 1986.
  • “Santa Rosa Sued over Police ‘Sting,'” San Francisco Chronicle, September 20 1986.
  • “Prostitution Arrests in Santa Rosa,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 28 1987.
  • “SR Sting Nets 16 Johns; Complaints Trigger Sweep,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, January 5 1996.
  • “Stung on Santa Rosa Avenue,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, January 7 1996.
  • “So-Called Crimes,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, January 11 1996.
  • “Publicized Sting,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, January 12 1996.
  • “Prostitution Sting in SR,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, January 18 1996.
  • “12 Arrested in ‘John’ Sting,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, May 17 1996.
  • “Sex Sting in SR Leads to 13 Arrests,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, June 10 1996.
  • “SR Prostitution Sting Nets 26 Men,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, August 27 1996.
  • “SR Sting Nets 15 Arrests,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, September 22 1996.
  • “Prostitution Sting Nets 29 in Santa Rosa,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, August 8 1997.
  • “12 Men Arrested in Soliciting Sweep,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, December 7 1997.
  • “Prostitution Sting in SR,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, January 11 1998.
  • “SR Prostitution Operation Yields 29 Arrests in 2 Days,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, July 18 1998.
  • “12 Men Arrested in Prostitution Sting,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, October 23 1999.
  • “SR Police Arrest 15 in Decoy Operation,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, May 13 2000.
  • “15 Arrested in SR Prostitution Sting,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, June 11 2000.
  • “9 Men Arrested in Prostitution Sting,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, January 20 2001.
  • “20 Arrested in Prostitution Sting,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, October 4 2001.
  • “Prostitution Sting Nets Nine Arrests,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, July 13 2002.
  • “Prostitution Sting Nets 15 Men,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, April 17 2003.
  • “19 Men Arrested in Solicitation Sweep,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, June 19 2003.
  • “Dozen ‘Johns’ Snared in Santa Rosa Hooker Sting,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, July 30 2010.

Web-Based Reverse Stings, Identity Disclosure:

Auto Seizure:

  • “15 Arrested in SR Prostitution Sting,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, June 11 2000.

Sex Trafficking and Child Sexual Exploitation in the Area:

Background on Prostitution in the Area:

  • “Police Sweep Nets 7 on Suspicion of Soliciting,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, October 1 1994.
  • “Prostitution Suspects Cited,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, December 1 1994.
  • “SR Hooker Bust Nets Six,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, July 10 1995.
  • “Prostitution Sweep Nets 2,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, August 24 1995.
  • “SR Massage Parlor Raided for Prostitution,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, November 30 1995.
  • “7 Arrested on SR Avenue,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, April 26 1997.
  • “Police Crackdown on SR Prostitutes,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, December 12 1998.
  • “SR Backs Massage Parlor Closure,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, July 21 1999.
  • “Police Rewriting Massage Ordinance; Controversial New Law Aims to Weed out Prostitutes from Legitimate Therapists,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, January 23 2001.
  • “10 Arrested in Prostitution Sting,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, April 13 2003.
  • “Police Stings Target Prostitutes,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, August 29 2003.
  • “Prostitution Sting Nets 7,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, December 17 2004.
  • “SR Officials Call Llano Motel a House of Prostitution: City Sues Owners, Seeks to Shut Business, Managers Arrested,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, October 29 2005.
  • “SR Motel Ordered to Ban Prostitutes, Judge Requires Signs Posted, Attorneys Say Owners Already Moving against Illegal Activities,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, November 8 2005.
  • “Llano Motel to Be Demolished,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, February 11 2006.
  • “SR Police Sting Targets Prostitutes on Craigslist: 14 Women, 5 Men Arrested after Officers Arrange to Meet Those Advertising on Web Site,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, July 1 2006.
  • “Human Trafficking a Local Issue, Experts Say,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, July 3 2008.
  • “Human Trafficking,” U.S. Federal News Service, October 28 2008.
  • “Santa Rosa Police Department Conduct Undercover Sting Operations at Massage Parlors,” U.S. Federal News Service, February 23 2013.
  • “Bay Area Law Enforcement Agencies Disclose Details of Underage Prostitution Sting,” Oakland Tribune, July 31 2013.

Documented Violence against Individuals Engaged in Prostitution in the Area:

  • “Big-Rig Driver Sought in Rape, Beating Case,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, August 18 1998.
  • “Serial Killing Suspect Identified in SR Attack; Victim Picks out Trucker’s Photo,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, November 10 1998.
  • “Other Victims May Have Survived,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, November 11 1998.
  • “Women of Streets See Few Options,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, November 15 1998.
  • “Slain Woman Found in SR Motel, Man who Rented Room Questioned, Not Arrested,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, January 18 2003.
  • “Police, Prostitutes Build Tenuous Trust to Fight Violence; Advocates, Officers Join to Encourage Women to Report Attacks by Predators,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, April 18 2003.
  • “Hayward Man Is Haunted by Wife’s Slaying,” Oakland Tribune, July 2 2003.
  • “SR Police: Assaults on 3 Women May Involve 1 Man,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, January 1 2004.
  • “Sketch of Suspect Released in Assaults on Women,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, January 3 2004.
  • “Tip Led to Arrest in SR Assaults, Suspect to Be Arraigned Today on Felony Charges in Series of Sex Attacks,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, February 10 2004.
  • “Man Accused of Attacking 4 Women on Santa Rosa Avenue to Stand Trial,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, March 20 2004.
  • “Woman Testifies to Knife Struggle in SR Rape Trial: Man Charged with 12 Felonies in Attacks on 4 Women,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, November 5 2005.
  • “Man Sentenced to 112 Years in SR Rapes: Judge Rejects Plea for Concurrent Terms after Two of Four Victims Testify,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, December 21 2005.
  • “Prostitute Tells of Ordeal with Accused Serial Killer,” Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, April 11 2006.
  • “Prostitute Testifies in Ford Murder Case,” San Bernardino County Sun, April 11 2006.
  • “Santa Rosa Police Make Pimping Arrest,” U.S. Federal News Service, April 5 2012.
State California
Type City
Population 176938
Location
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