Wellington is a statutory town in Colorado, within Larimer County, and has a population of approximately 12,000 residents. It is located near the Wyoming border north of Denver and is part of the Fort Collins metropolitan area. For at least two decades, instances of prostitution, particularly those arranged online and conducted within city hotels and adult-oriented businesses, have been reported throughout Larimer county. Among the more serious issues associated with the city’s commercial sex market are commercial sexual exploitation of children and child sex trafficking. For example, in 2021 LCSO investigators, along with members of the LCSO Strategic Enforcement Unit, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, conducted a joint sting operation in two different locations in Larimer County focused on apprehending individuals who were actively seeking to sexually exploit minors in exchange for money. The operation was conducted over a period of two days, from December 1 to December 3, and resulted in the arrest of four men on charges of Internet Luring of a Child w/Intent for Sexual Contact or Exploitation, in addition to other related charges. The identities and images of arrested offenders were released by the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office.

Efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex in the area have been documented. For example, in June 2019, an operation intended to reduce the demand for prostitution and sex trafficking in Larimer County led to the arrest of eight men who were allegedly patronizing prostituted women. The Larimer County Sheriff’s Office coordinated eight arrests along the Interstate 25 corridor, issuing citations for eight men charged with patronizing a prostitute, a Class 1 misdemeanor, and soliciting for prostitution, a Class 3 misdemeanor. The operation took place between Loveland and Wellington, with the Fort Collins Police Services and human trafficking-focused nonprofit Free Our Girls collaborating on the operation. The LCSO said that it was the first reverse sting operation of 2019, and police seized $1,290 during the operation. The identities of the arrested men were included in the press statements.

Some sex buyer arrests are the result of investigating incidents of where real people are sexually exploited, rather than proactive operations using police decoys.  For example, in a Wellington resident was arrested and has his identity publicly disclosed for events that occurred in Windsor. In September 1997, an incident that began with a report of a stolen wallet at a Windsor hotel resulted in the arrest of three individuals, including a man from Wellington.  According to Windsor police, the man was staying at the hotel and called for the services of two Fort Collins women who worked for an “exotic dance” company. When the women finished performing they asked for payment, and the man claimed not to have his wallet. One of the women called the police to report a stolen wallet, and when police arrived, they were told that the sexual assault was in progress at the hotel. It was alleged that the man was trying to rape both of the women. During the investigation, one of the women reported that the man had offered them $100 to perform oral sex, and the man later admitted that he had offered the women money for sex. The man was charged with soliciting prostitution.