Bell County is situated south of Waco near Killeen in central Texas. It has a population of about 380,000, and cities within the county include Belton and Temple. Prostitution and sex trafficking activity have been well-documented in the cities and unincorporated areas of the 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 problems associated with commercial sex in the area include child sex trafficking.

To combat prostitution and sex trafficking in the area, local law enforcement agencies have targeted consumer-level demand for commercial sex, which provides the revenue stream driving all commercial sex and trafficking. For example, in November 2017, a one-day internet based reverse sting operation led to the arrest of 10 sex buyers. The 10 men were all released after posting bond. Two former local school district employees were among the men arrested, the Bell County Sheriff’s Department announced.

In February 2018, the Bell County Sheriff’s Department led the local part of the “National Johns Suppression” operation. The nationwide coalition of federal and local law enforcement agencies specifically targeting customers of prostitution, and was aimed at reducing demand for purchased sex. Bell County sheriff’s deputies assisted by officers from Bryan and Temple arrested 30 men in a two-day initiative aimed at arresting individuals seeking sex for money. Bell County Special Crimes Unit Investigators handled approximately 5,800 texts and calls in an eight-hour period, in response to decoy ads posted online by police. One of the 30, a Fort Hood soldier, had a knife, six strands of rope, duct tape and a body bag in his vehicle.  Among those arrested were businessmen, four Fort Hood soldiers, two men who are currently on probation for unrelated offenses and three who were transferred to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

The Temple Police Department has conducted reverse stings since 1995 to address community complaints about prostitution in the city, and has released the names of arrested sex buyers since at least 2003. In 2007, for example, TPD officers conducted a two-month-long prostitution sting that led to the arrests of dozens of suspected prostituted persons and their alleged “customers;” among those picked up in the sweep were two 16-year-old trafficked girls. In August, 2019, a combined sting/reverse sting led to the arrest of eight sex buyers, whose identities and photos were included in news releases.  The arrests occurred in the Temple area, and two of the men arrested were Fort Hood soldiers, and another employed at the Killeen Chamber of Commerce.

To punish and deter sex buyers, the Killeen Police Department has also conducted both street-level and web-based reverse stings using an undercover female officer as a decoy. Upon arrest, johns may have their names and identifying information released to the media.  For example, in August, 2020, three Fort Hood soldiers were among nine men who arrived at a location with the impression that they were meeting underage girls to pay them for sex were instead arrested and charged with prostitution during a two-day sting operation by police in Killeen. Most of the men received a felony charge of prostitution under the age of 18, and others  received a Class A misdemeanor charge for prostitution. Killeen’s Special Victim’s Unit partnered with the Texas Department of Public Safety Human Trafficking Program “to locate and arrest subjects who were willing to make overt efforts to pay minors to engage in sexual acts,” according to a press release. Nine suspects were charged and arrested after they contacted officers through various social media platforms and made agreements for sexual acts with girls they believed were 15 or 16, according to police.  The suspects were apprehended without incident when they arrived at a predetermined location. The sting resulted in seven felony prostitution charges and two misdemeanor prostitution charges. Two guns were confiscated.  The identities of the arrested men were included in news reports.