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Youth pastor, teacher among 46 arrested in North Texas prostitution sting

A youth pastor. A high school teacher and football coach. And an operations director of a large hospital network.

These were among the 46 men arrested in a massive undercover prostitution sting this month in Frisco and Southlake, local and federal authorities announced.

Roughly a dozen agencies participated in the operation Jan. 12 and 13 at the Hyatt near Stonebriar Centre in Frisco and the Hilton at Southlake Town Square. The men had arranged to meet at the hotels intending to pay for sex, authorities said.

Officials have not divulged names of those arrested. The men face charges of solicitation of prostitution, a felony in Texas punishable with up two years in prison and a $10,000 fine

“When you think of trafficking, you think of streets in Dallas or Fort Worth or strip clubs,” said Agent John Perez, who oversees the North Texas Trafficking Task Force, part of Homeland Security Investigations. “But there's a lot of demand in the suburbs.”

This is the second extensive commercial sex sting operation involving North Texas suburbs in recent months. Police arrested 23 people after an investigation at short-term rentals in Plano and Dallas.

In addition to the trafficking task force, agencies that took part in this month's operation included the Arlington, Colleyville, Dallas, Flower Mound, Frisco, Irving and Midlothian police departments; the Collin, Dallas and Tarrant county sheriff's departments; and the Dallas County district attorney's office.

The operation coincided with the 's Blue Campaign to highlight Human Trafficking Prevention Month, which is January.

“The victims of these heinous crimes are treated like commodities, used to make as much money as possible, as quickly as possible,” Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn said in a prepared statement. “Those who traffic victims are the scourge of the earth, and we will continue to target those responsible for the trafficking and those who solicit sex from them.”

of sexual trafficking and exploitation have grown immensely in recent years, heightened by a handful of high-profile cases. Last year, a 15-year-old girl disappeared from a Dallas Mavericks game at American Airlines Center and was found a few days later in Oklahoma City; three people were arrested on charges of human trafficking.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, co-wrote legislation with Democratic Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar to reauthorize the Abolish Human Trafficking Act, which provides tens of millions of dollars to law enforcement and social-service agencies to combat sexual exploitation. The law went into effect earlier this month.

 

This “Eyes on Trafficking” story is reprinted from its original online location.

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PBJ Learning is a leading provider of online human trafficking training, focusing on awareness and prevention education. Their interactive Human Trafficking Essentials is used worldwide to educate professionals and individuals how to recognize human trafficking and how to respond to potential victims. Learn on any web browser (even your mobile phone) at any time.

More stories like this can be found in your PBJ Learning Knowledge Vault.

 

EYES ON TRAFFICKING

This “Eyes on Trafficking” story is reprinted from its original online location.

ABOUT PBJ LEARNING

PBJ Learning is a leading provider of online human trafficking training, focusing on awareness and prevention education. Their interactive Human Trafficking Essentials online course is used worldwide to educate professionals and individuals how to recognize human trafficking and how to respond to potential victims. Learn on any web browser (even your mobile phone) at any time.

More stories like this can be found in your PBJ Learning Knowledge Vault.