Ranger is a city in Eastland County, TX and has a population of approximately 2,300 residents. Prostitution and sex trafficking are not prominent issues within the area however, a few instances have been documented within the city of Ranger and its surrounding communities. For example, in 2020, as a result of a multiyear operation, a 73-year-old Cisco man was arrested and taken into custody on charges of continuous trafficking of persons, compelling prostitution, and indecency with a child. According to the Cisco Police Department, the sex trafficker was accused of trafficking multiple teens from the community, providing them with marijuana, money, and shelter in exchange for sexual acts. The total number of victims was unknown by officials at the time of the report, but reports did state that the boys were all between the ages of 16 to 19. The offender was booked in the Eastland County Jail on bonds totaling to $275,000. Additionally, in 2021, the same offender was arrested and charged with prostitution for an offense that occurred in December of 2020 while he was out on bond for the aforementioned crimes. Since the offender was on bond at the time of the new offense, the existing bonds were declared insufficient by the court. The new charged resulted in offender’s arrest and booking at the Eastland County Jail in lieu of $379,000 bond.

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. Loss of employment is a consequence of buying sex that has occurred within the city. For example, in February of 2016, a Ranger High School coach submitted a letter of resignation the morning after he was arrested during an online prostitution sting in McClennan County, TX. According to officials, the sex buyer was operating a Ranger ISD work vehicle when he attempted to purchase sex from an undercover detective. The Ranger ISD Superintendent was made aware of the offender’s arrest and immediately placed the offender on administrative leave. According to the Superintendent, the sex buyer submitted a letter of resignation the morning after his arrest. The offender had served as the head baseball and assistant football coach at Ranger ISD and was among 46 additional suspects arrested for prostitution and/or sex trafficking offenses. The month-long operation targeted sex buyers and sex traffickers/pimps. Detectives contacted potential suspects by posing as prostituted people online. The McLennan County Sheriff’s Office reported that several of the arrested offenders were specifically seeking sexual encounters with minors. The sting resulted in 31 felony and 48 misdemeanor charges in total. The sex buyer’s identity, photo, age, location, and charge were included in reports from local news sources.