Terre Haute is a city in (and the county seat of) Vigo County, Indiana. It is situated five miles east of the state’s western border with Illinois. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of approximately 61,000. Prostitution and sex trafficking activity have been well-documented in the city and surrounding communities, and in unincorporated areas of the county, for more than 100 years. It it reported that at one point in the early 20th century, Terre Haute was home to nearly 60 brothels and almost 1,000 prostituted women. This activity and the problems and ancillary crimes it generates results in complaints to law enforcement agencies from residents and businesses. In July, 2017, police arrested four women on prostitution charges after raids at three Terre Haute massage businesses that were actually a front for prostitution businesses; all three properties were eventually shut down. A tip to the Vigo County Sheriff’s Department launched an 11 month investigation. According to the probable cause affidavit, a concerned wife showed detectives a website soliciting prostitution. A woman showed deputies an additional website, which stated that men were still accepted past midnight. Deputies learned that four women, none of whom spoke English, would rotate between the three local businesses depending on client requests.

Among the more serious crimes associated with the local commercial sex market is sex trafficking. In May, 2016, Terre Haute police conducted a prostitution and sex trafficking investigation, “Operation Back Page to Front Page,” resulting in the arrest of five people allegedly involved in prostitution arranged on the Internet.  It also produced the rescue of a minor allegedly being trafficked to the Kentucky Derby.  The sting operation took weeks to set up, involving several detectives and three FBI agents who gathered information on an unregulated classified listing website, where ads had been placed by people offering massages, companionship and escort services. The sting resulted in the rescue of a minor female allegedly brought to Terre Haute from northern Indiana by two people charged with human trafficking. In February, 2021, Indiana State Police said that Indiana ranks 22nd in the country in the number of human trafficking cases, and a survivor described being trafficked with Terre Haute. In a national human trafficking operation, in 2022, the FBI Indianapolis said one of the juvenile victims found was located in the Terre Haute area.

Consumer level demand provides the revenue stream for all prostitution and sex trafficking, and demand reduction tactics have been used in the city.  For example, in 2013, a Terre Haute man was arrested and faced two misdemeanor charges of “patronizing a prostitute.” A Terre Haute Police investigation was launched after a woman reported that a man had entered her residence and allegedly performed a sex act even though she objected. The woman said that he threw $6 at her as he was preparing to leave and indicated that the money was in exchange for the sex act. The probable cause affidavit filed in court did not indicate that the woman was engaged in prostitution. State law defines “patronizing a prostitute,” in part, as a person offering to pay another person to participate in sexual conduct or intercourse. The police report states that a sweatshirt that the woman was wearing at the time was collected for evidence, and it was sent to a laboratory for testing. The test results were received and police requested an arrest warrant for the man based in part on the DNA evidence found on the clothing. The man bonded out of the Vigo County Jail after his arrest and later appeared in court with an attorney.