Furnas County, Nebraska has a population of roughly 4,800. Its county seat is Beaver City. Prostitution activity has been well-documented in the city and surrounding communities, and in other 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. Some cases of the local sex trade have involved involved child sexual abuse materials (CSAM, often called “child pornography” in state criminal laws). A wide range of additional crimes associated with the local sex trade have also been documented, including child sex trafficking. For example, in July, 2012, a woman was sentence in Buffalo County District Court to 80 to 90 years in prison for sex trafficking a child. She had earlier pleaded guilty to felony conspiracy to commit first-degree sexual assault of a child and to two counts of felony possession of “child pornography.” She was taken to the Nebraska Correctional Center for Women in York.  During attorneys’ arguments before sentencing, the Buffalo County Attorney said there are portions of the case that are too vile for the public to hear.The case started when a man at the People’s City Mission in Lincoln reported to police that the woman was trying to traffic children to him.  In February, 2020 an Oxford man was arrested and in custody after a warrant was issued for his arrest for sex trafficking. He was charged with three counts of felony labor/sex trafficking of a minor under the Furnas County warrant.  Court records detailing the alleged crimes were sealed.

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. Sex buyers have been arrested and their identities publicly disclosed.  At least one convicted sex buyer has also been ordered to perform 50 hours of community service. For example, as of May, 2020 eight men had been charged with sexual assault of a child and sex trafficking as a result of an ongoing investigation of an underage sex ring in Southwest Nebraska. One was charged in Furnas County Court with first degree assault of a child and sex trafficking of a minor as a result of an incident that allegedly occurred in September 2019. He was charged with first-degree sexual assault of a child and sex trafficking of a minor, both Class 1B felonies. Another was arrested in January, and pleaded innocent to human trafficking of a minor, first-degree sexual assault of a child, first-degree sexual assault and child abuse. Among the charges faced by the other six defendants were human trafficking of a minor, first-degree sexual assault or a child, and manufacturing “child pornography.” An affidavit in the case was sealed, but a complaint filed said that the case involved a minor between the age of 12 and 16. A comprehensive investigation was conducted by numerous local, county and state law enforcement agencies. This ranges from the Norfolk and Kearney police departments, to the Furnas, Sarpy and Douglas County Sheriff’s offices, to Nebraska State Patrol and other arms of Nebraska’s judicial offices.