Investigators from the Nicollet County Sheriff’s Office, New Ulm Police Department and the Mankato Department of Public Safety conducted a reverse sting in Nicollet County in June of 2017, and made four arrests. The charges range from soliciting prostitution to narcotics violations. The names, ages, and arrest information were made available when the criminal complaints were completed. The soliciting charge carries a maximum of a year in jail, a $3,000 fine, or both. In October 2017, one of the men arrested in the June 2017 reverse sting was sentenced to a year probation from Nicollet County Court. He received a stay on a year of jail time with the probation, and was also ordered to serve 40 hours of community service. He was one of four people arrested during a sting in North Mankato conducted by the Nicollet County Sheriff’s Office, New Ulm Police Department and Mankato Department of Public Safety.

Agencies participating in the sting had been trained in conducting prostitution and human trafficking investigations. The stings were made possible by grant funding from the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota and the Office of Justice Programs to Nicollet, Brown, and Blue Earth Counties, and more than 116 arrests have been made during the operations from 2015-2019.  The investigations were part of the “Minnesota girls are not for sale” campaign that was taking place statewide.  For example, in May, 2019 five male sex buyers were arrested during a prostitution sting conducted at a hotel in Nicollet County, and their identities were released. The Nicollet County Sheriff’s Office, Mankato Public Safety, New Ulm Police and the Minnesota River Valley Drug Task Force all assisted with the investigation.