McFarland is a town of about 9,000 residents in Dane County, Wisconsin. Prostitution and sex trafficking have been well-documented in the town, surrounding communities, and unincorporated areas of Dane county. This activity and the problems and ancillary crimes it generates result in complaints to law enforcement agencies from residents and businesses. Among the more serious problems associated with commercial sex in the area include child sex trafficking.

To combat prostitution and sex trafficking, local law enforcement agencies have targeted consumer-level demand for commercial sex, which provides the revenue stream driving all commercial sex and trafficking. In September 2017, Wisconsin’s Attorney General announced the arrest of 25 males in sex trafficking operations conducted across the state. The web-based reverse stings were focused in northern and eastern Wisconsin. The operations focused on people seeking children for sex and sex buyers who solicit prostituted persons. Some of the sex buyers arrested were seeking sex with 14-and 15-year-old children. Charges included soliciting a prostitute, pandering, soliciting a child for prostitution, attempted second-degree sexual assault of a child, child enticement, using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, exposing a child to harmful material, and exposing a child to harmful narrations. The McFarland Police Department was one of the agencies collaborating in these operations. The Wisconsin reverse sting was part of the National “Johns Suppression Initiative.” In a news release announcing the results of the operations, the Attorney General said:

“The only reason human trafficking exists is because there is a demand for buying sex. Those creating the demand – the ‘johns’ who buy victims and the pimps who are exploiting them – are not safe to exploit and coerce people in our state. When I was sworn in as attorney general, I put ‘johns’ on notice. We are coming for you, and for some – we already got you. DOJ’s Human Trafficking Bureau’s arrests this summer will not be the last.”