San Marcos is a city of roughly 64,000 residents in central Texas and the county seat of Hays County, TX. The city’s limits extend into Caldwell and Guadalupe counties, as well. San Marcos is within the Austin–Round Rock metropolitan area and on the Interstate 35 corridor between Austin and San Antonio. The Texas Triangle is located in the heart of Texas, with the metro areas of Houston, Dallas–Fort Worth, and San Antonio acting as the Triangle’s vertices. The three destination cities are connected through Interstate 35, Interstate 45, and Interstate 10. These highways are popular routes for travel as individuals can easily move between the highly populated cities for either business or leisure. The city’s position along the stretch of I-35 between San Antonio and Austin significantly contributes to the amount of local commercial sex activity within the city and greater county area. Among the more serious crimes associated with the commercial sex market is the international sex trafficking of adults of and children. For example, in 2007, a federal grand jury in San Antonio, charged five individuals with charges related child sex trafficking. According to reports, the five offenders had smuggled multiple underage girls from Nuevo Leon, MX, to San Antonio, TX under the impression that they would be marrying wealthy men in the United States. Upon their arrival to San Antonio, the girls were sex trafficked by the offenders. All five sex traffickers pleaded guilty charges of child sex trafficking amongst additional offenses. One of the offenders was formerly a registered nurse, but as a result of his arrest, surrendered his nursing license. The case was investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in addition to local law enforcement.

In 2020, an investigation into a San Marcos spa resulted in the arrest of an Austin woman on a second-degree felony charge for human trafficking. According to Hays County Sheriff’s Office, the spa was being used for sex trafficking, where individuals were engaging in sexual acts in exchange for money within the spa. In addition to the Hays County Sheriff’s Office, the Anti-Trafficking Unit from the Texas Department of Licensing and Registration and refugee advocates from Austin helped execute the investigation.

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. For example, in April of 2021, seven male sex buyers were arrested in an online sting operation targeting individuals attempting to sexually exploit and victimize minors in exchange for money. According to the Hays County Sheriff’s Office, undercover officers posed as females under the age of 18 and began to communicate with suspects through various websites known to be used to solicit sexual acts. On April 1^st, 2021, three male sex buyers arranged to meet who they believed was a 15-year-old female and were arrested by undercover officers upon their arrival on the charge of prostitution/solicit person under the age of 18. The following day, April 2^nd, 2021, four additional male sex buyers were arrested under the same circumstances on the charge of prostitution/solicit person under the age of 18. Other agencies involved in the joint operation were the Texas Department of Public Safety Criminal Investigations Division, Texas Highway Patrol Division, the San Marcos Police Department and the Hays County District Attorney’s Office. The offenders’ identities, photos, ages, locations, and charges were included in reports from local news sources.