Plano is a city on about 288,000 residents in north Texas, within Collin and Denton Counties. The city lies within the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area. Instances of prostitution and sex trafficking are well-documented in the city and throughout the region.  A problem emerging in the city in late 2022 was prostitution and sex trafficking occurring in short term rental properties.  The temporary nature of the occupancy makes it more challenging for law enforcement to respond in time to tips and to launch investigations of possible “pop-up brothels” that may operate for as little as 24 hours before being dissolved, and reappearing elsewhere. For example, in September, 2022, police arrested two women during a raid on a Plano home that was being used in a sex trafficking ring. Investigators said the home on Las Palmas Lane near Ports O Call Drive was a short term rental being used for the operation. Dallas Police arrested a 41-year-old woman for aggravated promotion of prostitution and a 22-year-old woman on an assault warrant from Hays County.  Officers questioned and released several other people at the home. The Dallas Police Department said it first received information about the sex trafficking ring operating in North Dallas in July 2022, and that the investigation was ongoing. In 2022-2023, residents and police noted increasing problems occurring in and around residential short term rental properties used for prostitution and sex trafficking.

Among the more serious issues associated with the county’s commercial sex market is child sex trafficking. For example, in 2017, as a result of a weeklong child sexual exploitation investigation called Operation Medusa, led by the Collin County Sheriff’s Office, Plano Police Department, Collin County District Attorney’s Office, and the North Texas Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, 15 men were charged with various offenses ranging from online solicitation of a minor to promotion of child pornography. The offenders’ identities, photos, ages, charges, and locations were included in reports by local news sources. According to reports, since the beginning of the North Texas Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, over 195 offenders have been arrested in Collin County. In addition to arresting those willing to meet children in person, the task force had also monitored the prevalence and circulation of online child sexual abuse material online.

Consumer level demand provides the revenue stream for all prostitution and sex trafficking, and has therefore been targeted by local law enforcement agencies as a strategy for prevention and response. For example, in December, 2022 and January, 2023, twenty-three people were arrested in relation to an online sex trafficking scheme, focusing on prostitution occurring in short term rentals in Dallas and Plano.  The Dallas Police Department (DPD) said its Special Investigation Division ran an operation targeting online sex trafficking in the city of Dallas and Collin County. The operation led to the arrest of 23 individuals for Solicitation of Prostitution; the male sex buyer identities were publicly disclosed.