Southlake is a Texas city located predominantly in Tarrant County with minor areas extending into Denton County.  It is a suburb of Dallas/Fort Worth, and has a population of approximately 31,000. Human trafficking and prostitution activity in the city, as well as the region, have been well documented for decades. Among the tactics used to address both prostitution and sex trafficking are those that target consumer level demand for commercial sex.  For example, in January, 2021 dozens of men were arrested in a large-scale undercover prostitution sting in Southlake and Frisco. Roughly a dozen law enforcement agencies participated in the operation Jan. 12 and 13 at a hotel at Southlake Town Square and another hotel near Stonebriar Centre in Frisco. The men had arranged online to meet at the hotels intending to pay for sex. Officials did not immediately divulge names of those arrested. The men face charges of solicitation of prostitution, a felony in Texas punishable with up two years in prison and a $10,000 fine.  An Agent who oversees the North Texas Trafficking Task Force, (part of Homeland Security Investigations) said:

“When you think of trafficking, you think of streets in Dallas or Fort Worth or strip clubs.  But there’s a lot of demand in the suburbs.”

This was the second extensive commercial sex sting operation in North Texas suburbs within a few month. Police had arrested 23 people in September, 2022 at a short-term rental property in Plano.