San Patricio County is a county of roughly 70,000 residents located in east Texas, and the county seat is Sinton, TX. San Patricio County is part of the Corpus Christi metropolitan statistical area. Prostitution and sex trafficking activity has been well-documented in the county for decades. This activity and its ancillary crimes have resulted in complaints to local law enforcement from residents and businesses. Drugs, violence, robbery, and gangs commonly occur in connection with commercial sex activity in the county. For example, in 2016, a total of 19 people were charged in a six-count indictment, some of whom are alleged members of the Texas “Mexikan” Mafia (TMM) and charged with conspiring to violate the Racketeer Influence Corrupt Organization (RICO) statute. The indictment alleges the TMM has a constitution that discusses many different aspects of the organization. The constitution states that the TMM is a criminal organization that deals in drugs, assassination contracts, prostitution, robbery and firearms. Additionally, there has been at least one case of the targeted homicide of a prostituted woman reported in the county. In 2003, San Patricio County Sheriff’s deputies alleged that the prostituted woman’s death was connected to her association with local gang members in the county. Police found her body in a truck stop gas station where they believe she died by strangulation. Among the more serious crimes associated with the local commercial sex market is child sex trafficking. For example, in 2017, a South Texas couple was federally indicted on child sex trafficking charges. According to reports, the couple had participated in the sexual assault, sex trafficking, and raping of a 9-year-old girl from 2012 to 2017.

Effort to combat prostitution and sex trafficking activity have included those focused on reducing demand for commercial sex by targeting sex buyers and sex traffickers. For example, in August 2020, the San Patricio County Sheriff’s Department investigators conducted a web-based reverse sting operation targeting individuals seeking to sexually abuse minors in exchange for money. According to investigators, a 55-year-old Mathis man quickly contacted undercover deputies after they posted the decoy ad, “He took the bait and when he took the bait, he took the hook and then our conversation initiated.” The offender was allegedly “expecting a 16-year-old girl from San Antonio to drive down to Mathis and meet up with him.” Deputies said that the man sent explicit pictures of himself to who he thought was the 16-year-old girl. Upon his arrival to the predetermined location, he was arrested by undercover SPCSO deputies and charged with solicitation of a minor. He has since bonded out of jail. The offender’s identity and image were included in reports by local media outlets.

Sex buyers have also been arrested as the result of alternative investigations and residential complaints to local law enforcement. For example, in 1984, the former mayor of Aransas Pass was indicted by a San Patricio County grand jury for multiple soliciting prostitution charges. According to reports, a month-long investigation by the Coastal Bend Major Crimes Task Force, initiated by reports to local law enforcement, the former mayor was found to have solicited two women for commercial sex with himself and other individuals in exchange for money. Although the initial charges were dropped due to a faulty indictment, the sex buyer was received two more indictments from a San Patricio County grand jury later that same month. In 1985, he was given a 180-day probated sentenced and a $200 fine as a result of his arrest. The sex buyer’s identity was included in reports by local media outlets.