West Valley City is a suburb of Salt Lake City, Utah, and lies within Salt Lake County. Its population is approximately 140,000 residents, making it the second largest city in Utah. Prostitution and sex trafficking activity have been well-documented in the city and surrounding communities, and in unincorporated areas of the county. This activity and the problems and ancillary crimes it generates results in complaints to law enforcement agencies from residents and businesses. Among the more serious crimes associated with the local commercial sex market is sex trafficking, some of which has involved child sexual abuse materials (CSAM, often called “child pornography” in states laws). For example, in October 2022, a man was arrested in West Valley City after allegedly selling photos and videos of a teenage girl online and sex trafficking her in exchange for drugs and money. According to a probable cause statement, the man first met the victim in 2019 when she was 14, and he allegedly knew how old the girl was when they started dating in 2020 and “insisted she tell people she was 19 years old.” The victim reported to officers that the man posted images and videos of her on websites used for purposes of engaging in commercial sexual activity despite her telling him not to. The victim said her relationship with the man became “toxic and violent,” and she told police he grabbed and kicked her.

A wide range of additional crimes occurring within local prostitution transactions has also been documented. For example, in September 2009, ten people, including a man who police say was trafficking his 17-year-old “girlfriend,” were arrested during a multiagency sting operation. Investigators from South Salt Lake, West Jordan, West Valley City and Sandy police departments conducted undercover operations at different motels across the valley. Detectives called personal ads on Craig’s List, Backpage and City Vibe and arranged meetings with undercover officers at the motels. Once the prostituted person offered sex in exchange for money, officers monitoring the situation from a back room came came forward to make an arrest. One suspect was charged with “exploiting a prostitute.” Other charges included disorderly conduct, obstruction, and possession of a controlled substance. Arrests were also made for business license violations. In April, 2011, three people were arrested in a prostitution sting in the city. West Valley City Police undercover officers responded to an ad on the Internet and met with women suspected of providing prostitution. A man was arrested for felony operation of “houses of prostitution,” while two women were arrested for prostitution. In March 2021, a West Valley City man was arrested on charges including felony “aggravated exploitation of a prostitute.” A probable cause statement from the 3rd District Court of Salt Lake County said the man was charged with: distribute/offer/arrange distribution of a controlled substance, a second-degree felony; aggravated exploitation of prostitution, a second-degree felony; possession or use of a controlled substance, a third-degree felony; use or possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor, and assault, a class B misdemeanor. The woman was a heroin addiction, and the man was “a major drug dealer” who supplied her and other women with heroin, and also dealt heroin, crack cocaine, and oxycodone. The sex trafficker/pimp had come to visit her at a hotel and they got into an argument; then she got into the bed of his truck, and the man intentionally sped up and slammed his brakes on, causing her to hit her face on the truck. In May 2021, the owner of two massage parlors was charged with prostitution after a nearly 18-month investigation. She was charged with two counts of exploiting prostitution, three counts of prostitution, and three counts of money laundering.

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. For example, sex buyers have been arrested and had their identities disclosed in the city. In July 2022, a man was arrested after pulling a gun on a masseuse, demanding that she remove her clothes, assaulting her when she tried to escape and stealing her phone and credit card. According to arresting documents, the man went to the massage business as a sex buyer. He paid for a massage, went to the room where he got undressed, and laid on the bed. When the masseuse entered his room, the man told her to remove her clothes, which she refused. He then brandished a handgun towards her, and the masseuse noticed that the man also had a condom and a BDSM mask that he hid underneath a towel. The suspect kept demanding her to remove her clothes, but she still refused. He eventually put down the gun where the masseuse attempted to escape the room by jumping on the table and rushing to the door. The man was able shut the door on the masseuse’s finger, grabbed by her wrist, and pulled on her, but she was able to get out of the room. The man took her iPhone in a pink case, and escaped from the back of the building. The masseuse took a picture of him and his car with her personal phone as he was leaving. Police located the man by searching his licensee plate number and took him into custody at his home with support from SWAT, according to arresting documents. Police executed a search warrant in the man’s home, where they found a handgun, ammunition, condoms, a pink iPhone case, and a credit card with the masseuse’s last name. Police found that the suspect had a criminal history in California, including prostitution, drug and alcohol crimes, and threatening to shoot a woman with a handgun. The man was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for aggravated sexual assault, aggravated kidnapping in the course of committing unlawful detention, aggravated assault, possessing another credit card, use and possession of drug paraphernalia, and theft.

In November, 2022, a man was arrested in a web-based sting seeking to sexually abuse a 13 year old girl. The defendant made a social media post looking for “YngrGirls” who enjoy “OldrDads,” and then had sexually explicit communication with a female he thought was 13 years old. The affidavit reportedly stated that the man “had previously engaged in chats with the same supposed minor girl during which he repeatedly requested compromising photographs of the girl and discussed sex acts.” According to the affidavit, the man started texting his identity and offered to pay $150 for sex acts and made plans to meet at a hotel in West Valley City. The man drove there and was taken into custody while possessing $150 and condoms. He acknowledged conversing with a 13 year old girl during an interview and said he would pay $150 for sex he was arrested on suspicion of texting or using the Internet to entice a juvenile.