Naples is a city of approximately 22,000 residents located near Fort Myers in Collier County, Florida.  Prostitution and sex trafficking are well-established problems in Naples and the surrounding communities, generating complaints to the police. The area has also had documented cases of assault and battery committed against prostituted women.

Reverse Stings and Identity Disclosure:

To combat the consumer-level demand driving both types of crime, the Collier County Sheriff’s Office has conducted at least two street-level reverse stings in the city. The first operation, conducted in July 1999, sent female CCSO deputies undercover as prostituted women. Four sex buyers were arrested, and each had his name and other identifying information publicized by the local media. In October 2013, the CCSO teamed with officers from the Naples Police Department to conduct a second reverse sting. Although it remains unclear if the investigation began online, news reports stated that at least one sex buyer was intercepted after “calling an undercover officer to arrange a meeting,” suggesting that the operation may not have been conducted at street level. In total, nine sex buyers were arrested. In the days that followed, law enforcement released the names and mugshots of all of the arrestees.

In January 2018, a Circuit Court Judge was arrested in a prostitution sting in Naples and later agreed to a deferred prosecution program, where charges would be dropped if he met the following conditions:

•  six months of supervision with early termination when all conditions are met
•  pay a $1,000 fine, with half going  to the drug court program and the other half to a DCF trust fund
•  pay $50 for the cost of prosecution, attend an AIDS workshop/STD screening
•  complete the ‘More to Life Restorative Justice Program’ about the negative effects of prostitution/human trafficking

John School

The last condition is essentially a “john school” program. The Restorative Justice End Demand Education (RJEDE) is an 8-hour course on human trafficking and prostitution prevention created by Dr. Brook Bello’s Youthiasm, and licensed by ‘More Too Life.’ The program offers a comprehensive education to court-appointed sexual offenders, buyers, referred men at risk of committing sexual violence, and volunteer participants. The educational model is designed to teach sex buyers about the vital role they have in “ending demand, prostitution, protecting children and young women, and help bring healing and transformation to the victims and themselves.” The program includes a history of prostitution, human trafficking and its root causes, healthy relationships, sexually transmitted diseases, and “the vices and issues men in the 21st-century face.”