Katy is a city in Texas that lies just west of Houston, TX and has a population of approximately 24,000 residents. It is the tripoint of Harris County, Fort Bend County, and Waller County. Katy is located on the outskirts of Houston, Texas, a city the largely documents instances of prostitution and sex trafficking. For example, between March 19th, 2019 and March 28th, 2019, twenty-two local, state, and federal agencies collaborated in an undercover investigation called “Operation Tri Point” that aimed at tackling sex trafficking in Katy and Fort Bend County. The operation resulted in the arrest of 47 individuals, the rescue of eight sex trafficking victims, and two minors. The youngest victim was 16 years old and had run away from home. Other charges such as sexual assault of a child, possession of a controlled substance, unlawful carrying of a weapon, tampering with evidence, and prostitution were also filed. Police did not explain how the task force apprehended the traffickers and discovered the victims but said resident tips and help from the community played a part in similar undercover stings. Officials also noted that the majority of sex trafficking cases in Fort Bend County were facilitated online through social media platforms.  Articles also contained the photos and identities of arrested offenders.

In April of 2019, four men had been officially charged with child sex trafficking in connection to Operation Tri point. The events are said to taken place for at least a week before investigators found her in one of the sex trafficker’s apartments off South Mason Road on February 1st. During that time, the 16-year-old was drugged and transported between suspects’ locations, including various hotels across Harris County. One of the sex traffickers was initially arrested in February for sexual assault of a child after the 16-year-old victim escaped but was soon released after posting a $50,000 bond. Since posting the bond, the offender was at large until late April when authorities were notified of his location after his photo was released to the general public. He was arrested on charges of child sex trafficking and sexual performance of a child. The other three men were arrested earlier in April of 2019 after new information uncovered in Precinct 5’s investigation “Operation Tri-Point.”

In effort to reduce the demand for commercial sex in the city and county, in the spring of 2019 county officials met with the FBI for a briefing on the rise in local cases of human trafficking. In April of 2019 the Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls asked local officials to stay true to their word about fighting sex trafficking, in addition to cautioning the community to be wary of suspicious activity related to the problem. Additionally, the Fort Bend County District Attorney Brian Middleton desires state and local collaboration in order to create a human trafficking division within his office. The division would include up to four investigators and a prosecutor dedicated to anti-human trafficking efforts and would focus on the trafficking of people under the age of 24.