Texas City is a city of approximately 54,000 residents, situated on Texas’ Gulf Coast in Galveston County, near Galveston and League City. The city has reported significant problems with prostitution and related crime, including multiple high-profile cases of prostitution-related homicide. In 2008, for example, a male sex buyer was tortured and murdered in a city hotel room by two men after refusing to pay a woman he had procured for commercial sex. In 2010, the two men involved were each sentenced to roughly 40 years in prison for the murder. In an unrelated case, a serial killer who specifically targeted sexually exploited persons murdered two women in Texas City. According to media reports, the two victims’ bodies were discovered in 2001. Soon after, a woman involved in prostitution from Galveston came forward and reported “been beaten, bound and left naked in the same field” where the bodies had been found. In 2004, a Texas City resident pled guilty to the two killings, and was sentenced to at least 70 years in prison.

In their efforts to combat demand driving prostitution and sex trafficking locally, the Texas City Police Department has conducted several street-level reverse stings using police decoys. Reversals are often conducted in parallel with operations targeting those being sold for sex; in late October 2015, for example, 11 male sex bueyrs (and two women offering prostitution) were arrested following a street-level reversal in the city. Although the logistical details of the operation were not disclosed, law enforcement reported the sting was a joint effort between the TCPD, Chambers County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Marshals Office, and League City Police Department. All of the arrestees’ names and mugshots were publicized in press.

To our knowledge, the city does not apply any special sanctions (such as community service or a john school) designed for arrested sex buyers.