Kalispell, MT
Categories:
Tactics Used |
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Reverse stings | ✓ |
Shaming | ✓ |
Auto seizure | ✓ |
Community service | ✓ |
Public education | ✓ |
Neighborhood action | ✓ |
SOAP orders | ✓ |
John school | ✓ |
Letters | ✓ |
Cameras | ✓ |
Web stings | ✓ |
License suspension | ✓ |
Kalispell is a city in Flathead County, Montana, located across the Canadian border from British Columbia in northwest Montana. Cases of prostitution, including the forced prostitution and sexual exploitation of minors, have been reported in the city, and throughout the county. In 2005, for example, a county businessman was convicted of “luring an impoverished girl and her best friend, ages 16 and 15, to a Kalispell apartment building, then molesting them and performing oral sex on them against their will” in exchange for “several thousand dollars.”
In response, the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office has conducted periodic web stings targeting adults attempting to solicit sex from minors. The FCSO often collaborates with the Montana Internet Crimes against Children Taskforce and local police departments. For example, in August 2014, FCSO deputies teamed with the Taskforce and officers from the Missoula Police Department in an anti-child prostitution investigation. During the operation, officers arrested at least six johns from “the Kalispell area” and another from Missoula. Although the details of the sting were not immediately disclosed, members of the local media reported that at least one of the johns was arrested after he contacted law enforcement to purchase sex from “a 13-year-old girl through a detective posing as her mother.” The man allegedly placed “a series of calls and text messages, [and] arranged to meet either a 10-year-old girl or a 15-year-old girl in exchange for a ‘donation.’ [He] stated he didn’t know which one he wanted because he wanted to see them first.” Following his arrest, the names of some of the johns were released to the public.
In 2017, seven men received misdemeanor citations for responding to a fake online advertisement for prostitutes in northwestern Montana. The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office ran the ad on April 17 and 18 and received 145 emails and 60 text messages. Seven men arranged to meet a woman and were cited when they showed up at a local motel. The operation was a combined effort by the Sheriff’s Office, Kalispell police, the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Northwest Drug Task Force and Homeland Security Investigations. The names of those cited were not released.
Key Partners
- Kalispell Police Department
- Flathead County Sheriff’s Office
- Montana Internet Crimes against Children Taskforce
- Missoula Police Department
Key Sources
Web-Based Reverse Stings:
- “Child Sex Sting Nets Frenchtown Man, 6 More in Flathead”, Missoulian, August 22 2014.
- “Man Arrested for Prostitution”, NBC/KXLH-TV 9, August 22 2014.
- “Child Sex Sting Nets Frenchtown Man, 6 More in Flathead”, Billings Gazette, August 23 2014.
- “Arrests, Charges Made in Child-Sex Sting in Western Montana”, Greenfield Daily Reporter, August 24 2014.
- http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2017/apr/23/seven-men-cited-in-flathead-county-prostitution-st/ (2017)
- http://www.dailyinterlake.com/article/20170421/ARTICLE/170429960 (2017)
- http://www.ktvh.com/2017/04/7-cited-in-flathead-county-prostitution-sting (2017)
Sex Trafficking and Child Sexual Exploitation in the Area:
- “Prostitution Recruiter Sentenced”, Billings Gazette, November 10 2004.
- “Dasen to Stay in Jail”, Billings Gazette, June 19 2005.
- “Dasen Jury Awards Teenage Girl $2 Million”, Billings Gazette, December 11 2005.
- “Teenage Girl Again Sues Kalispell Businessman”, Billings Gazette, January 28 2006.
- “Flathead Law Enforcement Discounts Prostitution Claims”, CBS/KPAX-TV 8, August 8 2011.
- “Prostitution, Rape Charges Dismissed; Flathead County”, NBC/KECI-TV 13, April 8 2013.
- “Child Prostitution Charges Dismissed”, Columbia Falls Hungry Horse News, April 17 2013.
- “Child Sex Sting Nets Frenchtown Man, 6 More in Flathead”, Missoulian, August 22 2014.
- “Man Arrested for Prostitution”, NBC/KXLH-TV 9, August 22 2014.
- “Child Sex Sting Nets Frenchtown Man, 6 More in Flathead”, Billings Gazette, August 23 2014.
- “Child Sex Sting Nets Frenchtown Man, 6 More in Flathead”, Ravalli Republic, August 23 2014.
- “Arrests, Charges Made in Child-Sex Sting in Western Montana”, Greenfield Daily Reporter, August 24 2014.
Background on Prostitution in the Area:
- “Trego Man, Columbia Falls Woman Charged with Prostitution”, Billings Gazette, September 30 2009.
- “Trego Man Pleads Guilty in Flathead County Prostitution Case”, Missoulian, April 23 2010.
- “Kalispell Meeting to Examine Human Trafficking Issue”, CBS/KPAX-TV 8, April 25 2012.
- “77-Year-Old Kalispell Man Pleads Not Guilty in Prostitution Case”, Ravalli Republic, May 25 2013.
- “Kalispell Woman Sentenced on Prostitution Charges”, CBS/KPAX-TV 8, August 16 2013.
- https://www.greatfallstribune.com/my-montana/prostitution-gambling-widespread-throughout Montana (2018)
State | Montana |
Type | City |
Population | 23212 |
Location |
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