Among their efforts to reduce demand for commercial sex, local law enforcement have staged at operations targeting sex buyers in the county. For example, in 2014, the Boulder Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children led a web-based reverse sting operation focused on targeting individuals seeking to sexually exploit minors in exchange for money online. According to reports, officials posed as a mother of a 12-year-old girl seeking to sexually exploit her daughter online. A suspected sex buyer engaged in communication with undercover officials online and agreed to pay the “mother” in exchange for sex acts with the 12-year-old girl. Upon the offender’s arrival to the agreed upon location, he was arrested by undercover officials. In addition to the Boulder Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children, the Longmont Police Department, the Boulder Police Department, and the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office participated in the investigation. The offender was arrested on charges of sexual assault on a child, a Class 5 felony, solicitation of child prostitution, a Class 3 felony, and criminal solicitation, a Class 4 felony. He was booked in the Boulder County Jail on $50,000 bond. The arrested offender’s identity and image were included in reports by local media outlets.

In September 2021, a similar web-based operation was conducted in Estes Park, focusing on arresting individuals seeking to engage in commercial sex online. The operation was led by the Estes Park Police Department with assistance from The Avery Center, Loveland Police Department, Longmont Police Department, Rocky Mountain National Park Rangers, and Boulder County District Attorney’s Office Forensic Investigators. The focus of the operation was to cite individuals who were soliciting prostitutes. Similar operations have occurred in other Northern Colorado communities. According to reports, during the operation, undercover officers were contacted by over 350 potential sex buyers who were inquiring about prostitution services in Estes Park. As a result of the investigation, five male sex buyers were cited for Soliciting for Prostitution and released. The identities of arrested offenders were included in reports by local media outlets.

Sex buyers and sex traffickers have also been apprehended through alternative investigations or through complaints and tips from residents, businesses, or additional agencies. For example, in 2020, members of the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office and Boulder County Computer Forensics Lab executed a search warrant in the Town of Superior. According to reports, detectives assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) regarding illegal internet activity at a Superior residence, specifically relating to child exploitation material. There were multiple occupants in the residence when the search warrant was executed but through interviews and subsequent searches of electronic devices, detectives were able to identify a 49-year-old man as the suspect. Upon further forensic examinations of the suspect’s electronic devices indicated that he had been using anonymous chat applications and a dark web browser to conduct illegal activity. The suspect frequently posed as a single mother on these chat applications to distribute, receive, and exploit illegal images from other users. There were over 8,000 known child exploitation images and videos found on devices belonging to the offender. The suspect was arrested for six counts of Sexual Exploitation of a Child (possession with intent to distribute), a Class 3 Felony on December 4, 2020.

Loss of employment is also a consequence of buying sex in the county. For example, in 2007, a 46-year-old Boulder middle school counselor was arrested for soliciting sex from an undercover female officer. According to reports, the investigation was initiated after a prostituted woman recognized the sex buyer as her children’s’ school counselor. She notified the school district after the sex buyer allegedly confessed to the prostituted woman that his fantasy was to “have sex with a 12-year-old girl.” Records show he was charged with soliciting prostitution, a misdemeanor. As a result of his arrest, the school placed the sex buyer on paid administrative leave. Upon further investigation, detectives discovered that this was not the first time that the sex buyer had lost his employment for soliciting prostitution charges. In 1994, the offender resigned from his position at O’Connell Middle School in Golden, CO, after attempting to solicit sex from a news reporter in an online chat room. The news reporter named the sex buyer and his place of employment in a piece published in November of 1994. He was allowed to finish out the 1994/1995 school year but, voluntarily resigned at the end of the year. In addition, after the sex buyer was arrested in 2007, a 17-year-old girl reportedly told police that the former counselor had solicited sex acts from her. She told officials that she posted an ad on Craigslist.com in search of a tall British man. According to reports, the two met and drove up Flagstaff Mountain where she said they engaged in commercial sex. After the sex buyer’s arrest, he called the teenage girl and told her to deny their encounter. At the offender’s sentencing in 2009, he asked not to be placed on probation for the prostitution charge to avoid undergoing sex-offender treatment. Instead the judge sentenced the sex buyer to 100 hours of community service and 10 days on a jail work crew.