Kane County, IL

Categories:

Tactics Used
Reverse stings ✓
Shaming ✓
Auto seizure ✓
Community service ✓
Public education ✓
Neighborhood action ✓
SOAP orders ✓
John school ✓
Letters ✓
Cameras ✓
Web stings ✓
License suspension ✓

Kane County, Illinois has a population of over 530,000,making it the fifth-most populous county in the state. Its county seat is Geneva, and its largest city is Aurora (with over 200,000 residents).  The county is located about 40 miles West of Chicago, near Naperville.  Aurora is the second most populous city in Illinois, with city boundaries extending into Kane, DuPage, Will and Kendall Counties.

Several of the cities in Kane County have pursued anti-demand approaches to combating prostitution and sex trafficking. For example, Elgin is a city of roughly 100,000 residents, and has conducted at least 10 reverse stings since 2001. The men arrested in Elgin are charged with violating a city ordinance.  Autos can also be impounded when used in a crime, including buying sex.  In a June 2014 operation, six subjects were arrested and charged with Solicitation of a Sexual Act, a Class A Misdemeanor, and their vehicles were towed under the City of Elgin local ordinance for soliciting a prostitute, which carries a $1,000 fine. The Aurora Police Department has adopted an aggressive approach to combat demand for commercial sex, including street-level reverse stings at both street level and web-based, and the men are identified in news releases.  Police also impounded the vehicles and must pay $500 each to retrieve them.  To further discourage sex buyers, local law enforcement and city officials may apply stringent penalties to offenders, such as being subject to SOAP (or Stay Out of Areas of Prostitution) orders, barring them from reentering areas known for commercial sex sales.

Police in Aurora and Elgin often collaborate with Kane County as well as state and federal agencies (and those in neighboring cities and counties) to conduct a similar undercover operations that lead to arrests of sex buyers.  Arrested johns may be booked at the Kane County Correctional Center in St. Charles, and the Kane County Child Advocacy Center has assisted during investigations. Kane County prosecutors helped to develop the john school program in Aurora, which was modeled after a successful one in Indianapolis (the Red Zone Program) that had been operating for more than three years previously.

 

Key Partners

Key Sources

National Assessment Survey and Interview

Street-Level Reverse Stings:

Web Stings:

Auto Seizure:

Shaming:

Neighborhood Action:

Neighborhood Action/Shaming/Informal John School:

Sex Trafficking and Child Sexual Exploitation in the Area:

Documented Violence against Individuals Engaged in Prostitution in the Area:

Background on Prostitution in the Area:

State Illinois
Type County
Population 534667
Location
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