Rothschild is a village of roughly 5,500 residents, located near Wausau in central Wisconsin’s Marathon County. In partnership with the Wausau Police Department, Rothschild Police have staged reverse stings in the community targeting sex buyers. For example, in December, 2014, RPD and WPD officers placed two decoy advertisements to a website known for commercial sex sales. “During the operation, 27 different individuals responded to the [listing] and sent approximately 350 text messages” to the phone number listed in the advertisement. One john was ultimately apprehended at a Rothschild motel. Following his arrest, the man’s name, age, hometown, and place of employment were publicized by local media outlets.

In October 2018, Rothschild Police cited eight men during a reverse sting for soliciting a prostitute. Rothschild detectives posted online ad for prostitution and responses from potential buyers were fielded by undercover officers. One of the men cited was a school district’s Director of Human Resources and Employee Relations, and had also served as its interim superintendent during the 2017-2018 school year. Soliciting a prostitute is not necessarily a criminal charge, and the individual municipality can decide whether those accused are cited with an ordinance violation, or charged with a criminal offense.