Bridgewater, MA

Tactics Used

Auto Seizure
Buyer Arrests
Cameras
Community Service
Employment Loss
Identity Disclosure
IT Based Tactics
John School
Letters
License Suspension
Neighborhood Action
Public Education
Reverse Stings
SOAP Orders
Web Stings

Bridgewater is a town of approximately 27,000 residents in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, less than an hour south of Boston. Since at least 2005, police have conducted web based prostitution stings. Four male buyers were arrested in a 2005 reverse sting operation.  Those arrested had their names, ages, and hometowns publicized in local news outlets. In October of 1999, investigators from Bridgewater, East Bridgewater, and West Bridgewater formed the WEB Major Crimes and Drug Task Force. In 2008, this task force conducted a reverse sting using investigators posting ads on Craigslist, which yielded  hundreds of responses. Using Craigslist, police arrested many sex buyers throughout the county; the number arrested in Bridgewater during the major reverse sting in 2008 was not disclosed.

Loss of employment is another consequence of buying sex that has occurred in the city.  In December, 2020, a Bridgewater State University professor was indicted on a variety of charges after several female students reported alleged assaults. The man was indicted on charges of engaging in sexual conduct for a fee, trafficking of persons for sexual servitude, three counts of disseminating obscene matter, rape, and indecent assault and battery on a person over 14.  The man was fired from the university after his arrest was discovered.

Key Partners

  • Bridgewater Police Department
    • WEB Major Crimes and Drug Task Force
State Massachusetts
Type City
Population 27395
Location
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