Cloquet is a city of roughly 12,000 residents, located in eastern Minnesota’s Carlton County near Duluth. Prostitution and sex trafficking are well-documented problems in the city and surrounding areas.  For example, in 2003 two local residents were charged with recruiting a 17-year-old girl in Cloquet and transporting her to Illinois where she was forced to commit acts of prostitution for a Chicago-based escort service.

Although efforts to reduce prostitution in the area appear limited, the Cloquet Police Department has conducted at least two reverse stings to identify and arrest sex buyers. According to media reports, the CPD launched the sting in 2010 after receiving information about individuals “seeking prostitution for hire via the internet.” In response, the department conducted a year-long investigation to intercept sex buyers. While the logistical details of the web-based reversal were not disclosed to the public, CPD officers reportedly received “28 inquiries in all which consisted of text messages, emails and phone calls,” culminating in the arrests of 9 men for solicitation at a local hotel. With the investigation complete, the department released the names, ages, and hometowns of each of the arrestees in June 2011.