Bourbon County is a county located in Southeast Kansas with a population of approximately 20,000 residents. Its largest city and county seat is Fort Scott, KS. Prostitution and sex trafficking activity has been well-documented in the county. This activity and its ancillary crimes have generated reports to local law enforcement by residents and businesses. Among the more serious issues associated with the local commercial sex market is child sexual exploitation.

In effort to reduce demand for commercial sex in the county, operations focusing on apprehending and arresting sex buyers and sex traffickers have been conducted in the county. For example, in May 2022, 32 people were arrested in a multi-county child sexual exploitation operation conducted across Missouri and Kansas. Authorities with the Department of Homeland Security said 15 of those arrests came from a sting conducted in Independence, Kansas City, Jackson, Platte, and Clay Counties in Missouri, and Bourbon County in Kansas. Multiple law enforcement agencies in the Wichita area teamed up for Operation Blue Ghost, which resulted in 17 arrests for crimes including aggravated human trafficking, promoting the sale of sex, and purchasing sex acts. Authorities in the Kansas City area collaborated to arrest an additional 15 individuals. According to a release from the Midwest division of the DHS, partners in and around Independence, Kansas City, Clay County, and Platte County in Missouri, and in Bourbon County, Kansas targeted adults willing to travel for the purpose of sexually exploiting a child. Of the 15 arrested in the Kansas City-area sting, authorities said crimes included intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, enticement of a minor, sex trafficking of a child, furnishing pornography to minors, sexual exploitation of a minor, promoting prostitution, aggravated human trafficking, sex trafficking, felony assault on a law enforcement officer, attempted statutory sodomy, and attempted second-degree statutory rape.

Sex buyers have also been arrested as a result of alternative investigations and residential reports to local law enforcement. For example, in July 2022, a 32-year-old Bourbon County man was arrested on numerous felony child sexual exploitation charges including, Indecent, Solicitation Of A Child; Unk Circumstance, Sexual Exploit Of Child; Guardian Permit Conduct, Electronic Solicitation ; With Child >14<16, Commercial Solicitation Of A Child. He was booked in the Bourbon County Jail on a bond of $50,0000.