Gillette is a city in Northeastern Wyoming of approximately 33,000 residents, located along Interstate 90. It is the largest city and government seat of Campbell County, WY. Prostitution and sex trafficking activity have been well-documented in the city and surrounding communities, and in unincorporated areas of Campbell County. This activity and the problems and ancillary crimes it generates results in complaints to law enforcement agencies from residents and businesses. Crimes that have been reported during prostitution and trafficking activity in the city have been crimes committed against sex buyers, such as stealing/robbery, violence against prostituted women, such as rape, and the operation of illicit massage businesses (IMBs). For example, in 2018, two Montana women were arrested on charges stemming from a prostitution investigation by local officers in Gillette. According to reports, a 40-year-old man alleged that he was approached by two women while at the bar at a restaurant, and agreed to engage in commercial sex with them in exchange for $400. The three went to a room at a hotel, and the women stole the cash and left the room. They eventually returned to the room, but refused to give back the money and threatened to spray the older man with pepper spray. He then left the room and notified the police department. Among the more serious issues associated with the local commercial sex market is child 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. At least one reverse sting has been conducted by the Gillette Police Department the city. For example, in 2017, four men were arrested on suspicion of soliciting prostitution during an 8-hour online sting operation. The names and ages of the men appeared in news releases. In September, 2022, at least four sex buyers were apprehended in a web based reverse sting. In the two day operation the decoy online ads received 79 responses, and four led to suspects arriving to an arranged location, at the correct time, and with the amount of cash that had been negotiated with the undercover detective. At least one of the men believed he was purchasing sex from a 16 year old girl.

Some sex buyers are arrested in Gillette as the result of investigations, rather than proactive reverse sting operations. For example, in May, 2019 a 41-year-old Gillette man was arrested and charged with multiple felonies after soliciting women on dating sites to have sex with him in exchange for money. The man was a previously convicted sex offender, and had been cited for similar offenses in July and August of 2018, and was already on probation. According to an affidavit of probable cause, in August 2018, a female reported receiving a message on a dating website from a man offering her $3,500 to come to his residence and engage in commercial sex with him. The investigation revealed that the profile picture from the various dating apps matched a previous booking photo, and reports were also received from other women during the course of the investigation. The detective in the case conducted a targeted sting, creating a decoy female profile on a dating website and soon received a message from a similar username attempting to solicit sex from the decoy profile. Based on information gathered from the fake profile and the testimony of several other women, a warrant was obtained. The man was charged with four counts of attempted promotion of prostitution and one count of promoting obscenity for sending the detective a sexually explicit picture of a man’s penis. Each felony count is punishable by three years in prison, a $3,000 fine, or both.

In July 2020, a Gillette man was accused of multiple counts of sexually assault and abusing two girls in Gillette over several years, and a mother was charged with promoting prostitution for allegedly setting up her daughter to engage in commercial sex with him in exchange for money. The man pleaded not guilty to five counts of first-degree sexual assault, five counts of second-degree sexual assault, one count of attempted first-degree sexual assault and six counts of third-degree sexual abuse of a minor, all felonies. He also was charged with four counts of sexual battery and one of battery, all misdemeanors. One of the girls told sheriff’s investigators that she was sexually assaulted by the man just about every other weekend for two years — assaults that she said were orchestrated by her mother for money, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in the case. The mother was charged with three counts of promoting prostitution and one count of conspiracy to commit third-degree sexual abuse of a minor, all felonies.