Stanton, CA

Tactics Used

Auto Seizure
Buyer Arrests
Cameras
Community Service
Employment Loss
Identity Disclosure
IT Based Tactics
John School
Letters
License Suspension
Neighborhood Action
Public Education
Reverse Stings
SOAP Orders
Web Stings

Stanton is a city of approximately 38,000 residents, located south of Anaheim in northern Orange County, California. Commercial sex activity, at times involving the trafficking of both adults and minors, has been reported in the city for over 30 years. In the mid- to late 1980s, local businesses and residents reported a rise in prostitution activity in the city. 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. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department conducted a series of street-level reverse stings to identify and arrest sex buyers. The operations, which typically employed undercover female officers as decoys, were hugely successful. In November 1985, a single sting resulted in the arrest of close to 90 male sex buyers. Their identities were not released to the public. In July 2014, local media outlets reported that the Stanton City Council had adopted a “shaming” policy, and would publicly disclose the identities of thse arrested for solicitation in the city. In an article for the Voice of Orange County, Stanton officials stated that “the city is [currently] sending names to media outlets – but they are also considering publishing them on the city’s website.”

Key Partners

  • Orange County Sheriff’s Department
  • Stanton City Council

 

Key Sources

Sex Buyer Arrests:

Street-Level Reverse Stings:

  • “Anaheim, Stanton Increase Arrests of Prostitutes, Clients” Los Angeles Times, November 20 1985.
  • “Stanton: Fight Prostitution with Publicity; But Newspaper Editors Balk at Naming Names”, Orange County Register, January 21 1987.
  • “Stanton May Advertise Names of Prostitutes, Customers; City Considers Buying Space after Newspapers Refuse to Publish Names for Free”, Orange County Register, February 3 1987.
  • “City Gets Tough on Prostitutes; Stanton OKs Crackdown along Beach Boulevard”, Orange County Register, March 11 1987.

Identity Disclosure:

Neighborhood Action:

  • “The Battle for Beach Boulevard; Residents Confronting Prostitutes and Clients”, Orange County Register, March 8 1987.

Sex Trafficking and Child Sexual Exploitation in the Area:

Documented Violence Against Individuals Engaged in Prostitution in the Area:

  • “Prostitute Raped, Beaten”, Orange County Register, February 28 1987.
  • “Star Witness for Murder Trial Disappears; Prostitute who Saw Killing Flees as Result of Stanton Crackdown”, Orange County Register, May 1 1987.
  • “‘Missing’ Prostitute Takes Stand; Woman Located in Jail Testifies for Prosecution”, Orange County Register, May 2 1987.
  • “Prostitute’s Client Convicted of Murder in Shooting Death”, Orange County Register, May 20 1987.
  • “Police Arrest Orange Man, 28, in Stabbing Death of Prostitute”, Orange County Register, June 25 1994.
  • “Rapist’s Sentence: 34 years; Courts: Jesse J. Chava’s Preaching to Prostitutes Was His Undoing, Police Say”, Orange County Register, August 15 1995.

Background on Prostitution in the Area:

  • “A Frustrating Game of Cat-and-Mouse with Hookers; Prostitution Problem Stretches Resources of Stanton’s Undermanned Police Force”, Orange County Register, February 16 1987.
  • “Prostitution Gives Stanton Residents, Police a Headache”, Orange County Register, February 16 1987.
  • “Stanton Tries to Eradicate Prostitution; Solutions Will Come Slowly, Residents Told”, Orange County Register, February 17 1987.
  • “Stanton’s Mayor Takes Prostitution Message to Street; Sapien Says Problem ‘Out of Control’ on Beach Boulevard”, Orange County Register, February 21 1987.
  • “Stanton Merchants Fed Up with Prostitution; Group Hires Guard to Fend Off Women Soliciting Customers”, Orange County Register, March 3 1987.
  • “Looking for Hookers”, Orange County Register, March 16 1987.
  • “She Battled Prostitution and Won; Woman of the Year, with Community Help, Got Hookers Off Streets”, Orange County Register, April 14 1987.
  • “56 Arrested as Police Make Four-City Prostitution Sweep”, Orange County Register, May 13 1987.
  • “Stanton Searches for Solution to Prostitution Problem”, Orange County Register, July 2 1987.
  • “Stanton Has Become a Popular Spot for Prostitutes”, Los Angeles Times, August 9 1992.
  • “Stanton Targets Beach Blvd. Prostitution”, Orange County Register, August 13 1992.
  • “Cleaning Up Beach Blvd. Crime; Residents Sick of Prostitutes, Drug Dealers and Crime along Beach Boulevard in Anaheim, Buena Park and Stanton Are Getting Organized”, Orange County Register, September 29 1994.
  • “Stanton at Bleak Crossroads”, Los Angeles Times, June 25 2012.
  • “Stanton to Battle Against Prostitution”, Garden Grove Journal, April 10 2013.
State California
Type City
Population 37970
Location
Comments are closed.