Glendive is a city in Eastern Montana of approximately 5,000 residents. Situated along the state’s Eastern border with North Dakota, it’s the largest city and county seat of Dawson County, MT. Prostitution and sex trafficking activity has been well-documented in the city and greater county area for decades. This activity and its ancillary crimes has resulted in complaints to local law enforcement from residents and businesses. For example, in 1985, a residential complaint led to the arrested of a prostituted woman. According to reports, a man reported the woman to police after she allegedly approached him at a bar in downtown Glendive. Police reported that this was the first prostitution arrest in the city in several years. More recently, the county has experienced issues surrounding child sex trafficking and the sexual exploitation of children.

Consumer-level demand provides the revenue stream for all prostitution and sex trafficking. Local and state law enforcement agencies have conducted at least one web-based reverse sting operation that focused on arresting sex buyers in the area in October 2014. During this sting, officers placed decoy advertisements on a website known for facilitating commercial sex. Two men arranged to meet with what they thought were 13- and 15-year-old girls being trafficked. When they arrived to the predetermined location, they were arrested by police. Both of the men’s names, ages and hometowns were released to the public. Neither sex buyer was from the immediate vicinity–one traveled from Glasgow, MT and the other from Watford City, ND. According to media reports, each was charged with one count of sexual abuse of children. Both were bound over from justice court to Dawson County District Court, and held at the Dawson County Correctional Facility. This operation was led by the Montana Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation, with the support of the Dawson County Sheriff’s Office and Glendive Police Department. The Billings Police Department, the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, the Blaine County Sheriff’s Office, Montana’s Internet Crimes against Children task force, the Montana Gambling Control Division, North Dakota’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security also assisted.