Missoula, MT
Categories:
Tactics Used |
|
---|---|
Reverse stings | ✓ |
Shaming | ✓ |
Auto seizure | ✓ |
Community service | ✓ |
Public education | ✓ |
Neighborhood action | ✓ |
SOAP orders | ✓ |
John school | ✓ |
Letters | ✓ |
Cameras | ✓ |
Web stings | ✓ |
License suspension | ✓ |
Missoula is the second largest city in the state of Montana with a population of approximately 69,000 residents. Cases of prostitution and sex trafficking have been reported in the city for at least two decades. Local businesses and residents have complained about prostitution, and the community plays a role in law enforcement deciding to conduct operations.
In an effort to reduce prostitution in the city, local law enforcement conduct reverse stings. At times efforts have been ad hoc in nature, as in August 1988, when the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office worked with a confidential informant to arrange a meeting with a john after receiving reports the man was “offering legal services to female clients if they would have sex with him or let him procure them for other men.” The informant met the man at a Missoula hotel, where he then solicited her while MCSO videotaped the transaction. He was promptly arrested, and had his identity publicized.
Officers have also coordinated efforts to conduct web-based operations targeting adults soliciting commercial sex from minors. In December 2013, the MCSO and Missoula County Internet Crimes against Children Task Force conducted a sting wherein officers “posted advertisements on the websites Craigslist and Backpage, posing as an adult female willing to prostitute a 12-year-old female relative.” Six men and one woman were arrested as a result; each was charged with felony child sex abuse, and had their names released to the public. In August 2014, the Task Force conducted a similar reversal with the support of the Missoula Police Department and Flathead County Sheriff’s Office that resulted in the arrest of six johns. Although the details of the operation were not immediately disclosed, members of the local media reported that at least one john was charged with “felony attempted child prostitution after he allegedly tried to set up a sexual encounter with a 13-year-old girl through a detective posing as her mother.”
Additionally, following the discovery of a trafficking ring that recruited and prostituted minor teenage girls in 2010, city officials worked with the recovered victims to identify the men who had purchased sex from them. As a result, 12 johns were arrested and charged with solicitation. According to media reports at the time, “nearly all appeared in Missoula County Justice Court and pleaded guilty or no contest to being clients of prostitution” and were given a “six-month suspended sentences and fines and fees of $635.” Their identities were also publicized.
Key Partners
- Missoula Police Department
- Missoula County Sheriff’s Office
- Missoula County Internet Crimes against Children Task Force
- FBI’s Montana Regional Violent Crime Task Force
Key Sources
- Client List:
- “Missoula Man Pleads Guilty in Craigslist Teen Prostitution Case”, Missoulian, December 11 2010.
- “BLM Employee Pleads Not Guilty in Missoula Case Involving Craigslist Prostitution Ring”, Missoulian, December 14 2010.
- “4 Men Plead Either Guilty or No Contest to Being Clients of Craigslist Prostitution Ring”, Missoulian, December 17 2010.
- “2 Missoula Men in Court on Craigslist Prostitution Charges; 1 Pleads Guilty”, Missoulian, December 20 2010.
- “UM Student Pleads Guilty to Pimping Teen Prostitution Ring on Craigslist”, Missoulian, December 21 2010.
- “Missoula Man Pleads ‘No Contest’ in Craigslist Prostitution Case”, Missoulian, December 23 2010.
- “Clinton Man Accused of Being Craigslist Prostitution Client Skips Court Hearing”, Missoulian, January 20 2011.
- “2nd Missoula Man Pleads Guilty to Running Craigslist Prostitution Ring”, Missoulian, January 25 2011.
- “Potomac Man Pleads Guilty to Attempted Prostitution in Craigslist Case”, Missoulian, January 28 2011.
- “UM Student who Pimped Girls on Craigslist for Beer Money Gets Prison”, Missoulian, February 15 2011.
- “Missoula Man Sentenced for Running Teen Prostitution Ring on Craigslist”, Missoulian, March 9 2011.
- “2 More Men Cited in Missoula Craigslist Prostitution Ring”, Missoulian, March 11 2011.
- “2 More Men Enter Pleas in Missoula Craigslist Prostitution Case”, Missoulian, March 18 2011.
- Street-Level Reverse Stings and Shaming:
- Web-Based Reverse Stings and Shaming:
- Sex Trafficking and Child Sexual Exploitation in the Area:
- “Prostitution Case Suspect Back in Jail”, Spokane Spokesman-Review, December 29 1970.
- “Vice Case Suspects Are Wed”, Spokane Spokesman-Review, April 14 1971.
- “Jury Acquits Accused Man at Missoula”, Spokane Daily Chronicle, November 2 1971.
- “Child Prostitution Ring Uncovered in Missoula; Two Men Arrested”, Missoulian, September 11 2010.
- “Missoula Prostitution Ring Suspects Deny Charges”, Missoulian, September 29 2010.
- “Minnesota Sex Offender Charged with Promoting Prostitution in Missoula”, Missoulian, September 30 2010.
- “Missoula Man Pleads Guilty in Craigslist Teen Prostitution Case”, Missoulian, December 11 2010.
- “BLM Employee Pleads Not Guilty in Missoula Case Involving Craigslist Prostitution Ring”, Missoulian, December 14 2010.
- “4 Men Plead Either Guilty or No Contest to Being Clients of Craigslist Prostitution Ring”, Missoulian, December 17 2010.
- “2 Missoula Men in Court on Craigslist Prostitution Charges; 1 Pleads Guilty”, Missoulian, December 20 2010.
- “UM Student Pleads Guilty to Pimping Teen Prostitution Ring on Craigslist”, Missoulian, December 21 2010.
- “Missoula Man Pleads ‘No Contest’ in Craigslist Prostitution Case”, Missoulian, December 23 2010.
- “Clinton Man Accused of Being Craigslist Prostitution Client Skips Court Hearing”, Missoulian, January 20 2011.
- “2nd Missoula Man Pleads Guilty to Running Craigslist Prostitution Ring”, Missoulian, January 25 2011.
- “Potomac Man Pleads Guilty to Attempted Prostitution in Craigslist Case”, Missoulian, January 28 2011.
- “UM Student who Pimped Girls on Craigslist for Beer Money Gets Prison”, Missoulian, February 15 2011.
- “Man Gets Suspended Sentence for Forcing Missoula Girlfriend into Prostitution”, Missoulian, February 23 2011.
- “Missoula Man Sentenced for Running Teen Prostitution Ring on Craigslist”, Missoulian, March 9 2011.
- “2 More Men Enter Pleads in Missoula Craigslist Prostitution Case”, Missoulian, March 18 2011.
- “Down the Rabbit Hole”, Missoula Independent, August 11 2011.
- “Man Accused of Prostituting 17-Year-Old Girl in Missoula”, Missoulian, September 11 2013.
- “Missoula Man Arrested for Sex Trafficking Charges”, CBS/KPAX-TV 8, September 11 2013.
- “Missoula Man Pleads Not Guilty to Sex Trafficking”, CBS/KPAX-TV 8, October 1 2013.
- “7 Charged in Missoula-Area Child Sex Abuse Sting”, Missoulian, December 21 2013.
- “Frenchtown Man Charged with Attempted Child Prostitution”, Missoulian, August 22 2014.
- “No Jail Time for New York Man Accused of Prostituting Teenage Girl in Missoula,” Missoulian, June 10 2015.
- https://www.missoulacurrent.com/government/2019/01/sex-trafficking-montana/ (2019)
- Documented Violence against Individuals Engaged in Prostitution in the Area:
- Background on Prostitution in the Area:
- “Sex; Bullock Targets Craigslist”, Missoula Independent, September 2 2010.
- “Minnesota Man Charged with Promoting Prostitution in Missoula”, Missoulian, January 4 2012.
- “Man Charged with Promoting Prostitution in Missoula”, CBS/KPAX-TV 8, February 3 2012.
- “Missoula Police Jail Man for Running Prostitution Business at Local Hotel”, Missoulian, February 3 2012.
- “Bail Set at $250K for Suspect in Missoula Prostitution Case”, Missoulian, February 7 2012.
- “2nd Missoula Brother Pleads Guilty to Prostitution Charge”, Missoulian, March 7 2012.
- “Prostitution: Common Missoula Crime, Not Very Visible to Public”, CBS/KPAX-TV 8, March 13 2012.
- “Minnesota Man Sentenced for Promoting Prostitution in Missoula”, Missoulian, May 3 2012.
- “Plea Entered in Missoula Prostitution Ring Case”, CBS/KPAX-TV 8, December 17 2013.
- “Missoula Authorities Find Ways to Counter Human Trafficking”, CBS/KPAX-TV 8, June 5 2014.
- “Alleged ‘Pimp’ Arrested in Bozeman on Prostitution Charge,” Bozeman Daily Chronicle, September 23 2015.
- https://www.greatfallstribune.com/my-montana/prostitution-gambling-widespread-throughout Montana (2018)
State | Montana |
Type | City |
Population | 68876 |
Location |
Comments are closed.