Sugar Land is a city just southwest of Houston, TX, with a population of approximately 110,000 residents. It is the largest city in Fort Bend County, TX. Instances of prostitution and sex trafficking have been documented in the city and surrounding communities. Among the more serious issues associated with the city’s commercial sex market is sex trafficking. For example, in February of 2021, multiple federal, state, and area law enforcement agencies conducted an undercover operation targeting sex trafficking in Fort Bend County. The three day operation, called Operation Cupid, resulted in the arrest of 30 individuals as well as the rescue of a child sex trafficking victim. Craig Priesmeyer, assistant district attorney for the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office said the operation was targeting the demand side of sex trafficking,

“Trafficking is a two-sided problem, supply and demand, and Operation Cupid was designed to try and eliminate the profitability of commercial sex by targeting those whose sole purpose to show up for an operation like this was to purchase sex.”

The investigation was led by the Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance with assistance from the Sugar Land Police Department, Houston Police Department, Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office, Missouri City Police Department, Department of Public Safety, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, and the Department of Homeland Security.

In effort to reduce the demand for commercial sex, law enforcement has deployed various demand reduction tactics that focus on apprehending sex buyers, such as reverse sting operations. For example, in October of 2021, local and county officials conducted a reverse sting operation in the Sugar Land area called, “Operation Trick or Treat.” As a result of the investigation, 26 male sex buyers were arrested and charged with soliciting prostitution. The identities and photos of arrested sex buyers were released by police to local media outlets. According to the Fort Bend County Sheriff,

“The massive success of this operation is the result of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies coming together with the common goal of ridding our streets of illegal and illicit sexual activity, including those who promote it. While Operation Trick or Treat was performed strategically and captured some offenders, we know we still have more work to do.”

It is unclear whether the reverse sting operation was conducted at street-level or was web-based. However, according to Fort Bend County District Attorney Brian Middleton, the covert operation is a part of a longstanding trend of strategic operations that similarly target the demand for commercial sex in the county,

“We’re being very proactive. Sex buyers should be aware that any given day they’re being targeted. They should know that every day there’s an investigation in Fort Bend County, and it’s only a matter of time before you’re caught. By targeting the demand, we’re addressing the root of the problem. Victims who are being trafficked are not the problem. It’s the people who are paying for sex and victimizing these individuals that we’re out to get.”

The crime of sex buying, once a Class B misdemeanor, is now a state jail felony in Texas following the passage of House Bill 1540 and Senate Bill 1036 in the 87th legislative session. All 26 men were charged with the state jail felony offense of soliciting prostitution (sex buying).

In addition to reverse sting operations, sex buyers and sex traffickers have also been apprehended as a result of residential reports to police. For example, in 2015, police officers responded to a citizen complaint concerning possible prostitution activity occurring at a Sugar Land hotel. According to reports, officers found a woman and a man, different from the caller, in the room. The prostituted woman admitted to officers that two men had solicited sex acts from her. The prostituted woman and the male sex buyer were arrested by officials and transported to the Fort Bend County Jail. Their names were released in reports by local media outlets. In 2018, an auto theft call in the Sugar Land area ended in several arrests for numerous charges including human trafficking and promotion of prostitution. Authorities were called to a local mechanic shop in Sugar Land to investigate a possible case of auto theft, in which officers immediately requested dispatch to run the driver’s license and name. Dispatch reported that the male driver and the female passenger had outstanding warrants for human trafficking, compelling prostitution, aggravated promotion of prostitution, and criminal conspiracy. Both the driver and the passenger were arrested and placed into custody.