Brown County is located in southern Minnesota, roughly 100 miles southwest of Minneapolis, and has a population of about 26,000 residents. At least one reverse sting has occurred in the county. In September 2017, eight men were arrested in a reverse sting focusing on those seeking to buy access to sexually abuse minors. The operation was conducted by the Brown County Sheriff’s Department, whose  undercover investigators acted as 16-year-old girls offering to trade sex for money or drugs. The men were charged with agreeing to hire a person under 18 for prostitution. A criminal complaint alleged they responded to an advertisement law enforcement posted on Backpage.com and arrived at an undercover location at a residence in Brown County. The identities of the men were publicly released.