Collin County is a county of approximately 1 million residents located in the northeastern region of Texas. Collin County is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area and the county seat is McKinney, TX. Instances of prostitution and sex trafficking are well-documented in the county and surrounding communities. Among the more serious issues associated with the county’s commercial sex market is child sex trafficking. For example, in 2017, as a result of a weeklong child sexual exploitation investigation called Operation Medusa, led by the Collin County Sheriff’s Office, Plano Police Department, Collin County District Attorney’s Office, and the North Texas Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, 15 men in Collin County were charged with various offenses ranging from online solicitation of a minor to promotion of child pornography. The offenders’ identities, photos, ages, charges, and locations were included in reports by local news sources. According to reports, since the beginning of the North Texas Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, over of 195 sexual predators, have been arrested in Collin County. In addition to arresting those willing to meet children in person, the task force has also been monitoring the prevalence and circulation of online child sexual abuse material online. In 2021, a similar investigation called Operation Hercules, conducted by the Collin County Sheriff’s Office, The Texas Department of Public Safety, the North Texas Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and five other federal, state, and local agencies resulted in the arrest of 13 men in Collin County on charges of Online Solicitation of a Minor. Investigators additionally seized the suspects’ electronic devices to be forensically examined by the Child Exploitation Unit for evidence. The identities, photos, ages, and charges of suspected exploiters were released by local news sources.

To combat the issue, county and local agencies have adopted aggressive and comprehensive approaches to identify and apprehend sex buyers, such as reverse stings. For example, in 2015, The Texas Department of Public Safety conducted a multi-agency operation focused on combatting the demand for commercial sex by posting decoy advertisements on Backpage.com that resulted in the arrest of four sex buyers. One of the arrested sex buyers was a former dean of the Southern Methodist University law school. He was arrested on prostitution related charges with the option of pleading guilty and attending a pre-trial diversion program (i.e. John School) where upon successful completion, all charges would be dismissed.

In March, 2022, a Denton man was arrested after he tried to solicit a 14-year-old girl for sex. He faced charges of online solicitation of a minor and soliciting prostitution of a person younger than 18 years of age. The Collin County Sheriff’s Office said the man had responded to an ad posted by an undercover investigator he believed to be a 14-year-old girl looking for babysitting jobs. Shortly after, the suspect texted the girl asking if he could pay her $600 for sex and told her to meet him at a local Home Depot parking lot that night. He was arrested there by sheriff’s deputies and held at the Collin County jail, with bail set at $450,000.

In January, 2023, forty-six individuals were recently arrested during a multi-agency operation – that included the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office – targeting the demand for commercial sex across North Texas. The joint law enforcement operation coincided with the Department of Homeland Security’s Blue Campaign to highlight Human Trafficking awareness month.  Among those arrested were a volunteer firefighter, youth pastor, a high school teacher and football coach, and the director of operations for a large hospital network in North Texas. About the operation, the Tarrant County Sheriff said:

“The victims of these heinous crimes are treated like commodities, used to make as much money as possible, as quickly as possible. Those who traffic victims are the scourge of the earth, and we will continue to target those responsible for the trafficking and those who solicit sex from them.”