Morgan Hill is a city of approximately 38,000 residents, located near Gilroy in southern Santa Clara County, California. Cases of prostitution (both at street-level and within adult-oriented businesses) and child sex trafficking have been reported in the city, and the area has been included in a list of sites targeted by the FBI’s anti-sex trafficking initiative Operation Cross Country.

In at least one instance, the Morgan Hill Police Department has consciously targeted underlying demand for commercial sex. In September 2006, the MHPD reported it had recently completed a web sting on Craigslist. Officers placed decoy advertisements offering and requesting sex-for-purchase, and arranged to meet with the individuals who responded. As a result, one john, one pimp, and one prostituted woman were arrested. All arrestees’ names and ages were released to the media. Following his arrest, the john reportedly told police “he needed to be released by a specific time to keep a dinner reservation with his wife for their anniversary.”