Gainesville, FL
Categories:
Tactics Used |
|
---|---|
Reverse stings | ✓ |
Shaming | ✓ |
Auto seizure | ✓ |
Community service | ✓ |
Public education | ✓ |
Neighborhood action | ✓ |
SOAP orders | ✓ |
John school | ✓ |
Letters | ✓ |
Cameras | ✓ |
Web stings | ✓ |
License suspension | ✓ |
Gainesville is a city of approximately 126,000 residents, located in north central Florida’s Alachua County. The city has a chronic and well-documented prostitution problem, and has been cited in news reports as the operational base for sex trafficking rings exploited both adults and minor victims. Sex sellers and buyers alike have reported being assaulted during prostitution transactions, and women involved in prostitution have been specifically targeted for homicide in the city. A serial killer who murdered sex sellers in other Florida cities (Ocala, Sarasota, Pensacola, and Mariana) and in Mobile, Alabama, was also the key suspect in the 1982 murder of a sex seller in Gainesville.
The Gainesville Police Department has conducted street-level reverse stings since at least 1989, in response to complaints from both businesses and residents, and as a means to undermine the commercial sex market that drives sex trafficking and other serious felonies. The GPD often releases the names of individuals arrested for prostitution-related offenses, including johns, and periodically posts arrestees’ identities to the department’s official website. In the early 1990s, police collaborated with Florida prosecutors to release the names of individuals on a “client list” associated with a local prostitution ring. During anti-prostitution operations, the GPD has twice found young children in the vehicles of men attempting to buy sex from their undercover officers. In 2018, a web-based reverse sting focusing on those seeking to buy sex with minors was conducted, and a Gainesville man was arrested after responding to a decoy ad for a 16 year old.
Although they do not appear to be used frequently, in at least two cases, men convicted of solicitation in Gainesville have received SOAP orders. First, in March 1997, an individual accepted a plea agreement after being apprehended during a reverse sting; in exchange for deferred prosecution, he agreed to “pay money to the Clerk of the Court and the Victim’s Memorial Fund or [complete] 15 hours of community service,” and “stay out of specific high prostitution areas in the city.” More recently, following his conviction for “scheming to defraud and embezzlement” in 2009, a former GPD officer charged with embezzling the department and soliciting prostituted women on the job received 24 months of probation and a mandate to “not enter Gainesville and Alachua County’s mapped prostitution areas.”
Key Partners
- Gainesville Police Department
Key Sources
- Reverse Stings with Shaming:
- “6 Charged with Soliciting Prostitution”, Gainesville Sun, October 21 1989.
- “Police Arrest 8 Men in Sting”, Gainesville Sun, August 6 1994.
- “Sting Nets Several Men”, Gainesville Sun, July 8 1995.
- “Prostitute Solicits Deputies”, Gainesville Sun, August 1 1995.
- “Police Target Prostitution”, Gainesville Sun, September 6 1996.
- “Prostitution Sting Nets UF Director”, Gainesville Sun, January 5 1997.
- “Solicitation Charge Denied by Director”, Gainesville Sun, January 6 1997.
- “Still No Charges”, Gainesville Sun, January 30 1997.
- “Sting Nets 8 Arrests”, Gainesville Sun, March 23 1997.
- “Two Men Arrested in Prostitution Sting”, Gainesville Sun, August 1 1998.
- “Prostitution Sting Produces 13 Arrests”, Gainesville Sun, January 15 1999.
- “Crime: Complaints Lead to Stings”, Gainesville Sun, June 16 1999.
- “Different Types of Men Solicit Prostitutes”, Gainesville Sun, June 16 1999.
- “8 Arrested in Reverse Prostitution Sting”, Gainesville Sun, July 15 1999.
- “Prostitution Clients Arrested in Sting”, Gainesville Sun, August 11 2000.
- “Police Arrest 10 People in Prostitution Sting”, Gainesville Sun, August 17 2001.
- “Prostitutes, Pizza Don’t Mix”, Gainesville Sun, November 4 2000.
- “Police Take to the Streets for Prostitution Sting”, Gainesville Sun, October 13 2001.
- “Prostitution: Police Will Keep Making Arrests”, Gainesville Sun, December 3 2001.
- “Couple Arrested for Soliciting Sex from Officer”, Gainesville Sun, October 10 2008.
- “Gainesville Police Arrest Seven in Prostitution Stings”, University of Florida’s Independent Florida Alligator, October 13 2008.
- “Police Conduct Undercover Prostitution Detail,” Gainesville Sun, July 25 2011.
- “Prostitution Sting in Gainesville”, ABC/WCJB-TV 20, November 24 2013.
- “Five People Arrested in Local Prostitution Sting”, University of Florida’s Independent Florida Alligator, November 25 2013.
- Web-Based Reverse Sting, Shaming:
- https://news4sanantonio.com/former-middle-school-teacher-sentenced-for-sex-trafficking-14-year-old (2019)
- http://www.newslocker.com/florida-man-imprisoned-for-trafficking-girl-14-via-backpagecom/ (2019)
- https://www.reuters.com/florida-humantrafficking/florida-man-imprisoned-for-trafficking-girl-14-via-backpage (2019)
- Community Service:
- SOAP Orders:
- Client List:
- Sex Trafficking and Child Sexual Exploitation in the Area:
- “Man Accused in Prostitution Ring”, Miami Herald, October 21 1993.
- “Affidavit Names Medical School Professor; Mother Arrested in Prostitution Case”, Ocala Star-Banner, October 22 1993.
- “Dancer a Suspect in Killing Attempt; Teen”, Gainesville Sun, October 23 1993.
- “Attorney in Prostitution Case Seeks Separate Trial for Client; Trial”, Gainesville Sun, January 7 1995.
- “Sex Ring Inquiry Growing; Underage Women Were Prostituted, Police Say”, Gainesville Sun, May 4 2000.
- “Man Charged with Paying Teen for Sex”, Gainesville Sun, October 20 2005.
- “Editorial: Incomplete Sentence for Groper”, University of Florida’s Independent Florida Alligator, August 4 2009.
- “Former GPD Officer Sentenced to 2 Years for Soliciting Prostitutes”, University of Florida’s Independent Florida Alligator, January 11 2010.
- “Gainesville Man Arrested on Charges of Procuring a Minor for Prostitution”, University of Florida’s Independent Florida Alligator, March 23 2012.
- “GPD: Man Prostituted Girl, 13, After Meeting Her at Church”, Gainesville Sun, March 23 2012.
- “Man Charged with Pimping Girl, 14, in Gainesville”, Gainesville Sun, April 27 2012.
- “Mom Accused of Prostituting Her Children”, Gainesville Sun, May 26 2012.
- “Gainesville Man Arrested for Kidnapping Woman”, University of Florida’s Independent Florida Alligator, July 10 2012.
- “Palatka Man Pleads Guilty to Sex Trafficking”, Gainesville Sun, October 29 2012.
- “Man, 29, Accused of Involving Two Teens in Prostitution,” Gainesville Sun, May 22 2014.
- “Third Convicted in Child Sex Trafficking Ring,” ABC/WCJB-TV 20, January 28 2016.
- Background on Prostitution in the Area:
- “Police Arrest Man on Prostitution Charge”, Gainesville Sun, February 4 1983.
- “Pair in Escort Service Sentenced”, Gainesville Sun, February 17 1991.
- “Accountant Arrested in Escort-Service Case”, Gainesville Sun, December 5 1991.
- “‘Dancing Service’ Searched”, Ocala Star-Banner, September 17 1993.
- “Clifton Says He Needs Help to Pay for Special Patrols”, Gainesville Sun, July 11 1995.
- “Letters: Prostitutes Are Victims”, Gainesville Sun, June 23 1999.
- “Police: Man Performed Sex Act in Front of Boy”, Gainesville Sun, July 19 2000.
- “Prostitution Crackdown Discussed”, Gainesville Sun, November 5 2000.
- “Man Charged Under New Prostitution Law”, Gainesville Sun, October 16 2002.
- “Arrests: Police Plan to Contact Clients on List”, Gainesville Sun, February 13 2004.
- “Police: Mother, Daughter Ran Prostitution Service”, Gainesville Sun, February 15 2004.
- “Men Contacting Police in Probe of Escort Service”, Gainesville Sun, February 16 2004.
- “GPD: Officers Had Sex with Prostitutes on Duty”, University of Florida’s Independent Florida Alligator, November 14 2008.
- “Ex-GPD Officers Face Sex Case Charges”, Gainesville Sun, November 14 2008.
- “Prostitution Charges Filed Against Ex-GPD Officer”, University of Florida’s Independent Florida Alligator, January 29 2009.
- “GPD Officer Confesses and Apologizes for Prostitution”, University of Florida’s Independent Florida Alligator, February 5 2009.
- “Chief Blasts Officers’ Actions”, Gainesville Sun, April 10 2009.
- “GPD Officers Receive Warning for Harassing People”, University of Florida’s Independent Florida Alligator, April 10 2009.
- “Porter Residents to Officers: Apology Not Accepted”, Gainesville Sun, April 21 2009.
- “Two of Three GPD Officers Apologize for Misconduct”, University of Florida’s Independent Florida Alligator, April 21 2009.
- “Future of GPD to Be Discussed”, Gainesville Sun, May 9 2009.
- “Former GPD Officer Receives Probation for Misconduct”, University of Florida’s Independent Florida Alligator, July 30 2009.
- “Prostitution Epidemic in Gainesville”, PBS/WUFT-TV 5, May 18 2012.
- Documented Violence against Individuals Engaged in Prostitution in the Area:
- “Police Still Searching for Clues to Barbaric Murder”, Ocala Star-Banner, February 2 1988.
- “Arrest Murderer, Not Us: Prostitutes”, Ocala Star-Banner, June 25 1994.
- “Letters: Gainesville Police Subtly ‘Abuse’ Area Prostitutes”, Gainesville Sun, July 8 1994.
- “New Leads: Second Letter Holds Promise in Gainesville Murder Case”, Ocala Star-Banner, February 14 1997.
- “Gainesville Police Hunt Serial Rapist”, Lakeland Ledger, July 1 2006.
- “Man Is Suspected in String of Rapes”, Gainesville Sun, July 13 2006.
- “GPD: 1 Cop Bought Sex, 1 Used Position for Sex”, Gainesville Sun, November 13 2008.
- “Man Charged with Sex Battery on Male Prostitute”, Gainesville Sun, June 4 2010.
- “Man Faces Possible Life Sentence in Gainesville Attack”, Gainesville Sun, August 26 2010.
- “Police Conduct Undercover Prostitution Detail,” Gainesville Sun, July 25 2011.
- “Man Robbed by Knife-Wielding Bandit, Police Say,” Gainesville Sun, December 19 2013.
- “GPD: Man in Fake-Gun/Fake-Cop Case Lied about Gun,” Gainesville Sun, July 2 2015.
State | Florida |
Type | City |
Population | 126047 |
Location |
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