Ripon is northwest of Modesto on Highway 99 in San Joaquin County, in the Central Valley region of California. Ripon is one of San Joaquin County’s most rural communities, with a population of about 16,000. Other cities within San Joaquin County include Stockton, Manteca, and Lodi. Sex trafficking and prostitution are longstanding problems throughout the county, in unincorporated areas and within the cities and towns, including Ripon. When the number of human trafficking cases throughout San Joaquin County was steadily increasing in 2016 and 2017, the District Attorney’s Office announced it was making efforts to educate the public and urge local residents to be more vigilant in combating the issue. In a statement from the public information officer at the district attorney’s office, there were 28 cases of human trafficking, pimping, and pandering in San Joaquin County in 2016. In the first third of 2017, there were three confirmed cases of human trafficking and more tips and leads being explored. Two unconnected long-term investigations into human trafficking in the county resulted in the recovery of eight girls, ages 14 to 17, and the arrest of almost two dozen people in early 2017.

In 2013, the Ripon Police Department conducted a sting at an undisclosed motel, contacting escorts on the Internet. Some of the escorts offered sex for money. During the course of their investigation, detectives arranged to meet a 17-year-old girl who was being advertised on a popular website. After speaking to an undercover officer at the motel, the girl was arrested on suspicion of prostitution and drug possession, authorities said. The girl received a misdemeanor citation and was released to a parent’s custody. In May 2016, detectives from the Ripon Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU), with assistance from an allied agency, conducted undercover operations at massage parlors on W. Colony Road and N. Wilma Ave. Undercover operatives responded to each of the businesses and during the course of the investigation they were reportedly propositioned by a masseuse for a sex act. The masseuses were arrested on suspicion of solicitation of prostitution and booked into the San Joaquin County Jail on misdemeanor charges. This sting operation was part of an ongoing investigation into reports of illegal activities occurring at local massage businesses. The name of the allied agency that assisted in the investigation was withheld to protect the integrity of the undercover operatives.

Among the tactics used to address such problems are those designed to curtail consumer-level demand. In August 2012, a truck driver was cited at a San Joaquin County truck stop after admitting to police he and a female engaged in a sexual act for money inside the cab of his truck. Police were called to a Truck Plaza in Ripon to investigate a report of prostitution. The sex buyer was cited and released on a charge of solicitation of prostitution, and his identity included in news reports. Two others were arrested and charged for facilitating the encounter; one was arrested on suspicion of prostitution, conspiracy, and contributing to delinquency of a minor. The girl admitted to officers she put an ad on the Internet to be contacted for a “good time,” and she engaged in a sex act with the man at the lot. Two males admitted driving the girl to meet the trucker. One was arrested on a parole hold, suspicion of conspiracy, aiding in prostitution, and contributing to delinquency of a minor. The other was cited and released on charges of conspiracy, aiding in prostitution, and circulating unauthorized money.