Edgerton is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,750. Prostitution and activity has been well-documented in the city and surrounding communities, and in unincorporated areas of the county.  This activity and the problems and ancillary crimes it generates results in complaints to law enforcement agencies from residents and businesses.  Among the more serious crimes associated with the local commercial sex market is sex trafficking.

Consumer level demand provides the revenue stream for all prostitution and sex trafficking, and has therefore been targeted by local law enforcement agencies as a strategy for prevention and response. For example, in August, 2022, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) arrested an Edgerton man following an investigation by the Northeast Child Victim Task Force (NECVTF) and the Collin County, Texas Sheriff’s Office, according to a media release from the KBI. Agents from the NECVTF, assisted by the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, conducted a search warrant at a residence in Edgerton, Kansas. During the execution of the warrant,  agents arrested the suspect on a Texas warrant for suspected solicitation of prostitution of a person younger than 18-years-old. Following the arrest, the suspect was booked into the Johnson County Jail. Extradition proceedings to Texas were expected. The man’s identity was included in news reports. This is a case where the law enforcement action against the sex buyer occurred in Kansas, but the crimes and initial investigation occurred in Texas.  Since the arrest of the buyer occurred in this Kansas town, we place the case of implementing the “sex buyer arrest” tactic here for the purposes of Demand Forum.