Payne County is located in north-central Oklahoma and has population of approximately 82,000 residents. It is located along the Interstate 35 corridor and is about equidistant from Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Its largest city and county seat is Stillwater, OK. Prostitution and sex trafficking are known to occur in incorporated and unincorporated areas of the county. This activity and its ancillary crimes have generated complaints to police by residents and businesses. Among the more serious crimes associated with the commercial sex market are child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and child sex trafficking.

Police responses to local commercial sex have included attempts to combat demand. For example, in November 2013, during a two-day sting operation targeting both prostituted persons and sex buyers, 26 people were arrested and charged with prostitution offenses; 15 male sex buyers and 10 prostituted persons. Arrested offenders ranged in age from 19 to 66 years old, the 26 arrestees faced charges including prostitution, solicitation of prostitution, pandering, and aiding and abetting prostitution. Some arrestees were charged with additional, non-prostitution related offenses, including accessing a computer to violate state statutes, possession of marijuana; resisting arrest; public intoxication; possession of drug paraphernalia; and possession of a controlled dangerous substance. The Payne County Sheriff’s Office and the Perkins Police Department assisted the “Special Projects Unit” of the Stillwater Police Department and the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics during the two-day operations. An article in December 2013, stated that an additional six men were arrested during a prostitution sting in Stillwater. The men were charged with soliciting prostitution after allegedly placing money on a countertop at a Stillwater hotel in exchange for sex.

Prostitution offenses in the county are punishable as misdemeanors with jail time of up to one year or a fine of up to $2,500 or both, and required community service of up to 80 hours if convicted. We are not certain if the community service provision is actually applied to sex buyers or prostituted persons, or if any convicted persons actually see jail time or maximum fines.

Sex buyers have also been arrested as a result of alternative investigations and residential reports to local law enforcement. For example, in October 2019, a Perkins businessman was arrested and charged with soliciting prostitution, violating the Oklahoma Computer Crimes Act, and making obscene electronic communications, for his communications with a high school girl who had sought employment in an automotive business. On Oct. 10, 2019, an 18-year-old girl arrived at the Perkins Police Department to report disturbing texts and snapchat conversations she had with a man after speaking to him about a job opening he had at his office at an automotive shop in Perkins. The girl said had heard about a potential job opening in the business and took a friend with her to check to see if the business was legitimate and potentially complete an application. The girl, who attends school, spoke with the man at the auto shop and the following day the man asked for her Snapchat account to continue discussions about the job. She began receiving sexual messages about her appearance. She reported this to the police department after then man sent via Snapchat a screenshot of himself, and a message that the girl could earn money if she sent him photographs of her body. While police were chatting in an undercover capacity as (the girl), the man sent a video of him flipping through several $100 bills and said the stack of money consisted of $10,000. The man offered to pay $100 to look at her bare body, another $100 to “cuddled for a bit” and if they “did more, he would pay me more.” The man was arrested and charged in Payne County District Court with misdemeanor counts of soliciting prostitution and making obscene electronic communications and a felony count of unlawful access to a computer to violate Oklahoma statutes. Unlawful access to a computer to violate Oklahoma statues is punishable by imprisonment for not more than five years or by a fine of not more than $5,000 or both. Soliciting prostitution is punishable by imprisonment for 30 days to one year and/or a fine up to $25,000. Making obscene electronic communications is punishable by imprisonment for up to one year and a fine of up to $1,000.

Identity disclosure is has also been used as a tactic to reduce demand for commercial sex in the county. For example, as a result of the 2013 reverse sting operation, information about the arrested sex buyers was placed on the Oklahoma City website “JohnTv.” This website was created to disclose the identities of arrested sex buyers and sex traffickers arrested in the area.

Employment loss is also a consequence of buying sex within the county. For example, in 2019, two Ripley School District employees were arrested during a web-based reverse sting targeting sex buyers and sex traffickers at illicit massage businesses in the state (IMBs). The year long operation, focused on apprehending sex buyers and sex traffickers who utilized Reddit and Discord to communicate with potential prostituted persons / sex trafficking victims at local IMBs. The investigation also sought to identify and rescue sex trafficking victims. According to reports, Operation Velvet Fury, occurred in four Oklahoma counties and was a collaboration of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. The Ripley ISD employees arrested included a Ripley middle school support teacher and the Ripley ISD Superintendent. The support teacher was believed to be one of six ringleaders of the suspected sex trafficking operation. A Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler stated that the operation was initiated by the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office in an effort to combat commercial sex by apprehending individuals driving local demand,

“If you are a consumer of paying for sex and victimizing women, we are coming for you.”

According to reports, as a result of their arrests, both the middle school teacher and the Superintendent were removed from their positions with Ripley ISD. In a statement from the Ripley Schools Facebook Page, an Interim Superintendent was appointed as a result of the sex buyer’s arrest.