Boardman is a city in Morrow County, Oregon, with a population of approximately 3,500. It’s located on the northern border of the state, about 20 miles west of Hermiston and about 50 miles southwest of the “Tri-Cities” of Washington State (Pasco, Kennewick, and Richland). Prostitution and sex trafficking have been documented in the area, and local law enforcement agencies have been participants in the FBI’s national initiative, Innocence Lost.

In 2017, the Richland Police Department teamed up with the Kennewick Police Department and Benton County Sheriff’s Office to conduct a two-day reverse sting operation in Richland. The operation resulted in the arrest of four prostituted women and six male sex buyers, one of which was the owner of a Boardman large-scale dairy farm. Following the arrest the man allegedly told police he used meth daily and had patronized a dozen prostituted people in two countries. Afterward he offered to make a donation to charity to prevent his arrest, a move that “teetered on bribery,” according to police records. His identity was included in news reports, and the business issued a statement acknowledging the allegations of patronizing prostitution. The man faced the misdemeanor charge of patronizing a prostitute as well as methamphetamine possession, according to information from the website for the Benton County Jail, Kennewick (WA). He eventually pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.