'Biggest Sex Trafficking Bust Ever For McLennan County' Texas Mostly Snared Adult Sex Workers
"Putting criminals in jail is our favorite pastime," says Texas sheriff.
The headline from a South Texas ABC affiliate KIII-TV: "56 Arrests, More To Come In Biggest Sex Trafficking Bust Ever For McLennan County Sheriff's Office" (MCSO).
The details: "Most were adult women, 18-50," who were working as sex workers and arrested for prostitution, or people seeking to pay for sex. McLennan County Sheriff's Office deputies, some working undercover, were assisted by an anti-sex-trafficking organization and the Department of Homeland Security. The sheriff's office brought 89 charges so far and seized $4,500 from those arrested.
Yes, the federal agency tasked with national security, people claiming to help those forced into prostitution, and undercover detectives teamed up to arrest a bunch of adult women for getting paid to have sex and take their money.
I don't even know what to say anymore at this point. But there you have it: one more example of our efforts against "modern slavery" at work.
"If we can save an individual, that's part of our goal, not just to throw people in jail," McLennan Sheriff Parnell McNamara said at a press conference. "However, make no mistake, putting criminals in jail is our favorite pastime."
This was the MCSO's fifth prostitution sting operation in the past year-and-a-half, according to KIII-TV. "The first sting had 20 arrests, the second had 29, the third had 44, the fourth had 49, and the fifth will have 61 once all five people with outstanding warrants are caught."
While claiming that the women arrested were forced into prostitution, MCSO also put their mugshots up in a Facebook album.
"Detectives posed as both prostitutes and 'Johns' throughout the investigation," explains the sheriff's office Facebook page. "As a result of this operation detectives created 62 cases, resulting in 61 arrests, and a total of 89 charges. They have identified 5 cases which will be worked in conjunction with Homeland Security for possible federal prosecution. They were able to locate and arrest or issue warrants for 11 individuals who assist in the management of prostitution, commonly referred to as pimps. As a result of the investigation approximately $4,500 in U.S. Currency was seized, along with quantities of illegal narcotics. Over the last 19 months these detectives have initiated a total of 200 cases, showing this community that this form of modern day slavery is in our back yard."